History of the thriller genre
The three main sub-genres that thriller films are usually organised into are
mystery, suspense and detective thrillers. Thriller films create tension,
anxiety, and ambiguity, an increase on expectations, high levels of expectancy,
suspense and excitement. A thriller genre has a narrative aim to pursue a
single minded goal of thrills towards the audience as well as tension to keep
the audience ‘on the edge of their seats’. Thrillers usually take place in
settings like ordinary suburb/cities. However sometimes they may take place
partly or wholly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, Polar Regions,
deserts or the high seas. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently ordinary
citizens unfamiliar to danger. Though more common in crime thrillers, there may
be a mob or a gang of men accustomed to danger, like police officers and
detectives for example. While heroes have traditionally been men, woman lead
characters has increased and become fairly popular. For example: Lost the
television show is based on a desert island whereas the television show 24 is
set in New York city.
In many sentiments the media believe that the thriller genre has changed from being more psychological to blood and gore based. The horror genre has slightly influenced the thriller genre in the recent years; they have more gore/sadistic violence, terror, brutality and death counts. Recent thrillers that went down this path were Funny Games, Untraceable, The last house on the left and P2. Thriller genres can correspondingly mix into the sub-genre conspiracy thrillers, mystery thrillers, political thrillers, psychological thrillers, disaster thrillers and religious thrillers. While most thrillers are formed in some combination of the above sub-genres they have recently been mixed with the horror genre, spy genre and action/adventure.
Heavy rain was a well selling video game related to the thriller genre made for PlayStation 3. Heavy rain allows you the audience to make your own decisions as to where the story will lead you giving you four perspectives, and one task. The gaming character has to track down a killer that is on the loose. This game is full of exciting, tense and anxious situations leaving the player on edge and with high levels of suspense. This is probably one of the most appealing games on the market as part of the allure is the act in which that the story isn’t just told but is given a chance to be directed into how it is told. The plot is usually taken by the villain character who dowries obstacles that the hero or heroine must over look and get through. Suspense novels are the key to thrillers, one could argue that a film without a suspense filled enigma is not made for success. Thriller films are packed with non-stop action, high stakes, red herrings, plot twists that all not only surprise but excite the audience, in settings that are exotic and vibrant and have a constant pace that builds up throughout the film this explodes at the adrenalin packed climax.
A few examples of thriller films that have followed this theory of evolution of the thriller genre are movies such as 'Sinister' which was made in 2012. Sinister was given a 34 out of 50 on the IMDB page for parental guidance. In both categories 'Violence and Gore' and 'Frightening/Intense Scenes' the film was rated 8 or more out of 10 this is high in comparison to a films such as Psycho made in 1960 which was not even rated out of 50 on the IMDB and was simply noted as 'suitable for anyone over the age of around 10 by today's standards' These two movies are examples of how the Horror/Thriller genre has developed and taken gore scene's to the next level, some people may have different views on how thriller movies are influencing serial killers and crimes and how disturbing they might be to a young audience yet other's praise the director for his handy work and realist acting within the films.
Alfred Hitchcock once said: “The purpose of a thriller is to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it’s like.” As the years have gone on do you think people have taken this point a little too far?
In many sentiments the media believe that the thriller genre has changed from being more psychological to blood and gore based. The horror genre has slightly influenced the thriller genre in the recent years; they have more gore/sadistic violence, terror, brutality and death counts. Recent thrillers that went down this path were Funny Games, Untraceable, The last house on the left and P2. Thriller genres can correspondingly mix into the sub-genre conspiracy thrillers, mystery thrillers, political thrillers, psychological thrillers, disaster thrillers and religious thrillers. While most thrillers are formed in some combination of the above sub-genres they have recently been mixed with the horror genre, spy genre and action/adventure.
Heavy rain was a well selling video game related to the thriller genre made for PlayStation 3. Heavy rain allows you the audience to make your own decisions as to where the story will lead you giving you four perspectives, and one task. The gaming character has to track down a killer that is on the loose. This game is full of exciting, tense and anxious situations leaving the player on edge and with high levels of suspense. This is probably one of the most appealing games on the market as part of the allure is the act in which that the story isn’t just told but is given a chance to be directed into how it is told. The plot is usually taken by the villain character who dowries obstacles that the hero or heroine must over look and get through. Suspense novels are the key to thrillers, one could argue that a film without a suspense filled enigma is not made for success. Thriller films are packed with non-stop action, high stakes, red herrings, plot twists that all not only surprise but excite the audience, in settings that are exotic and vibrant and have a constant pace that builds up throughout the film this explodes at the adrenalin packed climax.
A few examples of thriller films that have followed this theory of evolution of the thriller genre are movies such as 'Sinister' which was made in 2012. Sinister was given a 34 out of 50 on the IMDB page for parental guidance. In both categories 'Violence and Gore' and 'Frightening/Intense Scenes' the film was rated 8 or more out of 10 this is high in comparison to a films such as Psycho made in 1960 which was not even rated out of 50 on the IMDB and was simply noted as 'suitable for anyone over the age of around 10 by today's standards' These two movies are examples of how the Horror/Thriller genre has developed and taken gore scene's to the next level, some people may have different views on how thriller movies are influencing serial killers and crimes and how disturbing they might be to a young audience yet other's praise the director for his handy work and realist acting within the films.
Alfred Hitchcock once said: “The purpose of a thriller is to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it’s like.” As the years have gone on do you think people have taken this point a little too far?
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