Homers' Odyssey is one of the oldest stories in the Western world and is regarded as an early prototype of the thriller genre and Harold Lloyd's comic Safety Last was the first thriller film, which released in 1923.
Three years later (1926) Alfred Hitchcock, who is now a famous British director known for directing many thriller films, released his first thriller named The Lodger which followed a Jack The Ripper plot. It is in this era that the thriller genre was created and morphed to become what it is today - the codes and conventions used are still in use in current thriller films and so we can say that Hitchcock was a key director in the evolution of the genre.
In the 1940s, Hitchcock directed and released four more thrillers, these were Foreign Correspondant, Rebecca, Saboteur and Shadow of a Doubt.
In the 50s, Hitchcock directed technicolor films, this new technology revolutionised TV and film making. He also used Blonde girls to play the role of the lead lady in his films, this is now a well recognised ideology in film making. In this decade he released another five thrillers, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief and Vertigo.
In 1955, Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter was released, this used the codes and conventions of a thriller and this was recognised by the audiences. Similarly, in '58 Ores Welles released Touch of Evil and in '62 Lee Thompson released Cape Fear. As more people followed suit, the idea of a thriller became evermore recognised.
In the 70's and 80's, Thriller films began to be more violent, and turn into Horror films. Films were released by Hitchcock, Stephen Spielberg and Clint Eastwood. However, the modernisation of the genre came in the millennium, where special effects and more availability of props and make up meant that thriller films contained a lot more blood and gore, currently the thriller genre is tied closely with the horror genre.
Alfred Hitchcock (13 August 1899 - 29 April 1980)
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