Thrillers

The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television. It includes numerous, often overlapping sub-genres.

They usually have the characteristics of fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who interrupt the plans of the more powerful and dominant villains. Literary devices such as suspense and slow music extensively.

Thrillers began as ancient epic poems for example:

• Epic of Gilgamesh• Homer’s Odyssey• Mahabharata

Little Red Riding hood is a common early example of a psycho-story which is a well known thriller.

‘The Andromeda Strain’ in 1969 is thought it be the first novel of a thriller. It is known as a Medical-Thriller.

Thrillers reply on anticipation (suspense scenes) and cliff hangers.

Early thrillers almost all of them were set in a common structure; a problem, an escape, a mission or a mystery.

One of the earliest thrillers was by Harold Lloyd named Safety Last. This was a comic written in 1923.

Hitchcock was known as ‘The Master Of Suspense Thrillers; this began with ‘The Lodger’ in 1927, a story involving Jack the Ripper. His second film was ‘Blackmail’ in 1929, this film was also released as a silent version. His third film ‘The Wrong Man’ in 1956. This third film was nominated five times for Best Director throughout 20 years. Hitchcock has had a few more films since.