History of the thriller 1920-now

Billie-Mae Roberts

What is a thriller?• Thrillers can be

characterized and defined by the moods they can elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of anxiety, anticipation, suspense, excitement and surprise.• Some successful thriller

directors are Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King.

The first thriller movie• The first ever thriller movie made was ‘Safety Last’ in

1923, it was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor and it was written by Hal roach, Sam Taylor and Tim Whelen.

Thrillers in the 1920’s• Alfred Hitchcock a

successful thriller director brought out his first thriller film in 1926, it was a silent film called ‘The Lodger’ this was a suspenseful Jack the Ripper story. He then brought out his second ‘Blackmail’ in 1929 this was his and Britain's first sound movie.

Thrillers in the 1930’s • Fritz Lang brought out ‘M’ in 1931, it

was written by Thea Von Harbou and Fitz Lang. It starred Peter Lorre and Ellen Widmann.

Thrillers in the 1940’s • Alfred Hitchcock continued

making his successful thrillers which included directing ‘Foreign Correspondent’ in 1940, which tells the story of an American reporter who is trying to expose enemy spies in Britain. ‘Rebecca’ in 1940, which is about a self conscious bride who is tormented by the memory of her husband’s dead first wife. ‘suspicion’ in 1941 which is about a wife who suspects her husband is planning to murder her.

Thrillers in the 1950’s• ‘Night of the Hunter’ directed by Charles Laughton in 1955,

this was his only film. The screenplay was written by James Agee and it was based off of the novel by Davis Grubb.

Thrillers in the 1960’s• ‘Psycho’ one of the most iconic thriller films

came out in 1960 and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Joseph Stefano and based of off the novel written by Robert Bloch

Thrillers in the 1970’s • In 1974 Francis Ford Coppola directed ‘The

Conversation’ it was also written by the same person

Thrillers in the 1980’s • ‘Blow Out’ which was directed by Brian De Palma

came out in 1981. it was also written by Brian De Palma.

Thrillers in the 1990’s• In 1991 Jonathan Demme directed ‘The Silence

Of The Lambs’ which was based off of a novel by Thomas Harris. The screenplay was written by Ted Tally.

Thrillers in the 2000’s • In 2004 Quentin Tarantino directed ‘Kill Bill:

Vol. 2’ which was written by the same person.

Thrillers in the 2010’s

• In 2013 James DeMonaco directed and wrote ‘The Purge’. He also directed ‘The Purge: Anarchy’ in 2014 and ‘The Purge: Election Year in 2016. These films are based on a future dystopic America where for 12 hours once a year all crimes are legal, including murder.