History of the Thriller genre

1920's-1930's

• Alfred Hitchcock promoted thriller genre through silent film 'The Lodger'
• He was influenced by expressionist techniques in Germany

1940's

• This is when sub genres started to emerge
• In 1944, George Cukor created psychological thriller 'Gaslight'

1950's

• Alfred Hitchcock added 'technicolour' to his thrillers
• He also made 'Strangers on a train' in 1951

1960's

• In 1962, J. Lee Thompson directed 'Cape Fear'
• Michael Powell directed intense thriller 'Peeping Tom'

1970's

• Thriller films became increasingly violent
• For example, in 1972, Alfred Hitchcock released film 'Frenzy' which was given an R rating

1980's

• Phillip Noyce directed film 'Dead Calm' in 1989 which influenced a number of thrillers in following years

1990's

• One of the most famous thriller's released in this decade was Jonathon Demme's crime thriller ' The silence of the lambs' released in 1991