No list of suspense or thriller films can be complete without mention of English film-maker/director Alfred Hitchcock. He helped to shape the modern-day thriller genre, beginning with his early silent film The Lodger (1927), a suspenseful Jack-the-Ripper story, followed by his next thriller Blackmail (1929), his first sound film (but also released in a silent version). Hitchcock would make a signature cameo appearance in his feature films, beginning with his third film The Lodger (1927), although his record was spotty at first. After 1940, he appeared in every one, except for The Wrong Man (1956). Although nominated five times as Best Director (from 1940-1960), Hitchcock never won an Academy Award.Thriller and Suspense Films: These are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.
If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that restlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.
Thrillers are often hybrids - there are lots of varieties of suspense-thrillers.
From the information I found on http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html I learnt that thrillers there are several different types of thrillers and it is the excitement that gets built up that creates the tension and suspicion. Often thrillers have dangerous challenges the characters have to face and sometimes even potential death situations.
Example of some thrillers:
- action- or adventure- thrillers
- sci-fi thrillers (such as Alien (1979))
- crime-caper thrillers (such as The French Connection (1971))
- western-thrillers (such as
High Noon (1952)) - film-noir thrillers (such as Double Indemnity (1944))
- even romantic comedy-thrillers (such as Safety Last (1923))
No comments:
Post a Comment