(1930's)
British Thriller directed by Maurice Elvey, which is based on a novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes.
Starring: Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan and A.W. Baskcomb.
A maniac, who stalks and murders street-women at night terrorizing London. Michael Angeloff, a Hungarian musician, takes lodgings with the parents of Daisy Bunting, and a romance develops between the girl and Angeloff. The terroristic murders continue and circumstances gradually point the finger of suspicion at Angeloff, as the only clue the police have is that the killer is a foreign musician.
Summary: During the 1930's, the Thriller genre tends to stick to Thriller alone, without venturing into other genres. As they're in Black and White, it creates a certain depth to the films, as colour filming wasn't invented yet.
(1940's)
Thriller Directed and written by Arch Obler.
Starring: Phyllis Thaxter, Edmund Gwenn and Henry H. Daniels jr.
A young woman has two distinct personalities, one of whom is evil and constantly gets her in trouble.
Crime Thriller Directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Earl Felton and George Zucerman.
Starring: Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton and John Hoyt.
U.S. Treasury Department agents go after a ring of counterfeiters.
Summary: As the 1940's starts, the films start to progress with better acting, and more in-depth concepts being taken to screen. Still not venturing into multiple genres much, and colour filming still not optional.
(1950's)
Horror thriller, directed by Irvon S. Yeaworth Jr, and written by Theodore Simonson and Kay Linaker.
Starring: Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut and Earl Rowe.
An alien lifeform consumes everything in its path as it grows and grows.
Drama Thriller, directed by Earl McEvoy, written by Milton Lehman and Harry Essex.
Starring: Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin and william Bishop.
Police seek a smuggler while doctors, unaware she's the same person, desperately comb unprotected New York for a smallpox carrier.
Summary: Film-Noir is a main genre which has continued throughout the years, and continues through the ages. The acting is still improving, with the film-noir concept.
(1940's)
Children Of The Damned (1964)
Horror/Sci-fi Thriller, directed by Anton Leader, written by John Briley and John Wyndham.
Starring: Ian Hendry, Alan Badel and Barbara Ferris.
Scientists discovers that there are six children who each have an enormous intelligence. The children are flown to London to be studied, but they each escape their embassy and gather in a church.
Horror/Sci-fi Thriller, directed by Anton Leader, written by John Briley and John Wyndham.
Starring: Ian Hendry, Alan Badel and Barbara Ferris.
Scientists discovers that there are six children who each have an enormous intelligence. The children are flown to London to be studied, but they each escape their embassy and gather in a church.
Psycho (1960)
Horror Thriller, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Joseph Stefano and Robert Bloch.
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles.
A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.
Summary: The films using black and white, which started developing films with mixed genres, Psycho is thriller/horror, creating a much more gripping film rather than just thriller on it's own.
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles.
A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.
Summary: The films using black and white, which started developing films with mixed genres, Psycho is thriller/horror, creating a much more gripping film rather than just thriller on it's own.
(1970's)
Fear In The Night (1972)Crime Drama Thriller, directed byJimmy Sangster, and written by Jimmy Sangster and Michael Syson.
Starring: Judy Geeson, Joan Collins and Ralph Bates.
A young woman recovering from a nervous breakdown moves with her husband to a boys' school, but finds herself being terrorized by a mysterious one-armed man - and nobody believes her.
Action Crime Thriller, directed by Robert Clouse, written by Michael Allin.
Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Kien Shih.
A martial artist agrees to spy on a reclusive crime lord using his invitation to a tournament there as cover.
Summary: The 1970's created some of the well known films which still is popular today, with Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon, they venture into mixed genres. Adventuring with colour, it became vastly more popular.
(1980's)
Alone In The Dark (1982)Horror Thriller, directed by Jack Sholder, written by Jack Sholder and Robert Shaye.
Starring: Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence and Martin Landau.
A quartet of murderous psychopaths break out of a mental hospital during a power blackout and lay siege to their doctor's house.
Lethal Weapon II (1989)
Action Comedy Thriller, directed by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black.
Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and Joe Pesci.
Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats who are using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.
Summary: Many films started using multiple genres or sub-genres, which proved very popular with the audience, having action/thrillers, comedy/thrillers, etc. The visual effects started to get more realistic and gripping.
(1990's)
Deep Blue Sea (1999)Action Sci-Fi Thriller, directed by Renny Harlin, written by Duncan Kennedy and Donna Powers.
Starring: Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows and Samuel L. Jackson.
Searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the bait as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Action Horror Thriller, directed by Robert Rodriguez, written byRobert Kurtzman and Queutin Tarantino.
Starring: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney and Juliette Lewis.
| Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in an establishment populated by vampires, with chaotic results. |
Summary: This is the decade where filming takes a giant leap in visual enchancments, towards the end of the 1990's. Starting big effects with Deep Blue Sea, and bizzare story lines which soon became a hit for most films across the globe. |
(2000's)
Basic Instinct 2 (2006)Crime Mystery Thriller, directed byMichael Caton-Jones, written by Leora Barish and Henry Bean.
Starring: Sharon Stone, David Morrissey and David Thewlis.
Novelist Catherine Tramell is once again in trouble with the law, and Scotland Yard appoints psychiatrist Dr. Michael Glass to evaluate her. Though, like Detective Nick Curran before him, Glass is entranced by Tramell and lured into a seductive game.
District 9 (2009)
Action Sci-Fi Thriller, directed by Neill Blomkamp, written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell.
Starring: Sharlto Copley, David James and Jason Cope.
An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology.
Summary: Thrillers are getting more focused on Thrillers, and adventuring deeper into other genres, without straying too far from the Thriller genre. The Visual effects start to become realistic during the start of 2000's, and steadily progress throughout the years.
(2010's)
Green Zone (2010)Action Drama Thriller, directed by Paul Greengrass, written by Brian Helgeland and Rajiv Chandrasekaran.
Starring:Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs and Greg Kinnear.
Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region.
Salt (2010)
Action Crime Thriller, directed by Phillip Noyce, written Kurt Wimmer.
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
A CIA agent goes on the run after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy.
Summary: Visual effects are the best so far with the advances of technology, for visual and audio improvements. Thrillers are taken into a whole new depth of feel and excitement as their packed with visual effects, colourful and sharp films.
