The History Of A Psychological Thriller

1920’s

• ‘The lodger’ was a British psychological thriller made in 1926 by Alfred Hitchcock. It is a black and white silent movie, and the rating is a PG. This can show that it may not be as scary or thrilling, and due to the lack of technology the movie will not be as believable. However their DVD case it very thrilling, which shows their audience what the genre is. They have done this by the colour scheme of black and grey, which are very gothic colours, as well as the picture of the man, (maybe main character) with a insane look on his face.

1930’s

• ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ was produced in 1932 by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack it is a 78 minute movie. Keywords for this movie are “madman, escape, psychopath, slaughter” these are typical conventions of a psychological thriller, however the certificate rating of 12 show that only frequent violent scenes are used, therefore we are unable to see the emphasise on murders or horror scenes.

1940’s

• Rebeca was a famous film made in 1940 by Alfred Hitchcock, it is a black and white movie which doesn’t appeal to a younger generation, also its lack of technology. The music however flows with the genre because it creates the tension and suspense needed to make it fit with the style of film.

1950’s

• During the 1950 was WWII, what was witness from the war was reflected in their movies. ‘The man who cheated him-self’ was a movie made in 1950 by Felix E. Feist, The reviews for this movie say that the cinematography was good along with the editing, soundtrack and cutting, but there were a few missing frames. This proves that the technology is improving.

1960’s• ‘The sinister urge’ is a 1961

psychological thriller directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. there is no certificate rating for this movie, however the caption for the poster to this movie is “compulsive killer strikes terror” and “a psycho with the urge to kill”. This draws in the audience because it is showing advertisements in different ways. The Red writing on a white background connotes to blood, showing that there is a lot of murder in this movie. The pictures as well show signs of a struggle.

1970’s• ‘Sleuth’ was made in 1972 by Joseph

L.Mankiewicz, it is a colour movie. This movie is about a sleuth as told in the title, the title however doesn’t really link with the genre, which could potentially mislead the audience in what they are watching or going to watch. The keywords for movie are typically conventions you want/expect to see in a psychological thriller. The picture shows the massive change between the 1960’s to the 1970’s, the quality of the picture, and the 15 age rating shows that the film become more thrilling.

1980’s

• ‘Brimstone and Treacle’ was released in 1982 but Richard Loncraine. It has a certificate rating of 18 this means that extreme violence is allowed to be shown, including blood and gore, also bad language, and even sexual scenes such as rape, which is actually part of the movie. The DVD cover looks very gothic and thrilling as there is a lady screaming and a man praying on a black background.

1990’s

• ‘Silence of the Lambs’ 1991 by Jonathan Demme. This movie includes a psycho villain and a Hannibal, and a certificate rating of an 18. The perspective of the movie is very good as it incorporate a lot of aspects needed that may not have been used in earlier films. For example it shows ripped of human skin being eaten.

PRESENT DAY• In present day psychological thrillers, the use of different types of

technology and CGI. Recently I have realised that not only does the technology make the film scary but the camera shots, angles and how they cut the scenes. This is shown very well in “Black Swan”. The very fast cuts in this movie make the scene feel fast and scary. Where as in silence of the lambs in 1991, there weren’t as many which made the film very slow paced, and lingered on the detailed.

OVER TIME• Over time many things have changed in a psychological

thriller, the most is the technology, which is key to making the film as realistic as possible. Another thing is the certificate rating, over time the certificate ratings have gone up. This is probably because psychological thrillers have gotten al little bit more frightening but mostly they have gotten more gorier and sadistic. The lighting as well can make a massive effect on the outcome of a movie, as it can add quality to a film which makes the film more realistic. The posters and film cover for different films, also give the thriller effect, along with the font of the film titles, it shows what type of psychological thriller it is. For example murder mystery based, a kidnapping plot, mind puzzling based.