History of thrillers

I've been looking into the history of thrillers as i've decided it's a useful thing to know and it's very interesting to see how thrillers have developed over the years. The really old ones seemed unrealistic as technology has improved alot now, but back then I realise that it would have looked very real and shocked viewers.


The lodger is one of the first thrillers, made by Alfred Hitchcock in 1926. This is about a landlady who suspects her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.

In the 1950's was when Hitchcock started adding technicolour to his thrillers, as the time changes you can see the development. Strangers on a train, made in 1951 is about a psychotic socialite who confronts a tennis star on how two complete strangers can get away with a murder, a theory that he plans to follow through.

Thrillers now, borrow themes and elements from those in the past, but to avoid repetition, tend to add in aspects of horrors genres, such as sadistic violence/gore etc. This is why often, some people mistake thrillers for horrors. The ward is a modern thriller made in 2010 centered on an institutionalised young woman who becomes terrorised by a ghost, with a big twist at the end.



As you can see by watching these thriller opening sequences, thrillers and technology used to make them has developed and evolved very much. I think the old thrillers are very classic and interesting to watch. In 'The lodger' you can see that it's shot in a sepia tone and the characters almost have a glowing outline around them. The characters' makeup looks very subtly gothic, making the film more ominous. The opening of 'Strangers on a train' is very ambiguous and shoots from a high angle only allowing the viewer to see feet walking, this causes curiosity for the viewer and keeps them interested. 'The ward' is very different from the previous two opening sequences and shows a more modern approach to thriller movies. The shattered glass could connote to the reader that the protagonist herself is broken into pieces. This opening sequence, unlike the other two, is shot in colour, reinforcing the difference between old and new thrillers.