In this blog post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the thriller movie genre, and we’ll also take a look at Alfred Hitchcock, who is considered to be the greatest master of the genre.

What is a thriller movie?

Thrillers refer to narratives in general that are centered around emotions and suspense (a sense of urgency). It is often a variation of the classic detective story, which reduces the story of the crime (the past) and brings to life the story of the investigation (the present). The detective, either the protagonist or the sub-protagonist, is drawn into the center of the case and placed in imminent danger. The question of who the culprit is or what will happen next drives the story with a sense of urgency. Also, movies and dramas that are intended to stimulate the audience’s fear. Mystery or crime movies, and in some cases, spy or adventure movies, are also thrillers. The story usually moves beyond the resolution of the problem and builds up suspense to keep the audience interested. Thrillers originated in movies and are also used in theater, broadcasting, and novels. In the broadest sense, it’s a type of suspense drama, often called a yokai, ghost story, crime story, or detective story.
This title originated from movies and is also used in theater, broadcasting, and novels. It is a type of suspense drama in a broad sense, and is often used in yokai, grotesque, crime, and detective dramas, but it doesn’t have to be categorized as such as long as it depicts fear. The main point is to show the process of how the person who feels fear falls into it rather than the person who gives fear.

What is the difference between a mystery and a thriller?

The difference between a mystery and a thriller is that the latter lacks the certainty and enjoyment of the mystery genre, and is characterized by brutal violence, crime, and immorality. The detective is deeply and existentially involved in the events or situations they find themselves in. The process of unraveling secrets and solving problems tends to represent their own existential determination or inner struggle. The maniacal arrival and pathological world of the movie is foregrounded more than the search for the identity and reality of the killer.
Thrillers often overlap with mystery novels, but they are distinguished by the structure of their plots. Rather than uncovering the hidden facts of a crime that has already been committed, as in the mystery genre, the protagonist of a thriller must thwart the yet-to-be-realized criminal designs of a villain. The events unfold on a larger scale, and the crimes are either serialized or involve genocide, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of a government. Confrontation with danger and violence are standard elements. The latter climaxes when the mystery is solved, while the former is only resolved when the protagonist defeats the evil and escapes with his or her life or the lives of others. Influenced by film noir or tragedy, the protagonist who is corrupted by making compromises is often killed along the way.

Thriller movie trends

As more works are influenced by pop culture horror or psychological horror, sinister and monstrous elements are often employed to increase tension. Monsters can be anything from intelligent but physically weak beings, possessors of supernatural powers, aliens, serial killers, or even microbes. It can be distinguished from other genres such as adventure, spy, war, and maritime fiction in the same way. Thrillers aren’t defined by their subject matter, but by how they approach it. Many thrillers deal with spies or intelligence, but not all spy novels are thrillers. John le Carré’s spy novels, for example, explicitly reject the thriller tradition. On the contrary, many thrillers cross over into genres with which they had little or no previous association. Alistair MacLean, Hammond Innes, Brian Callison, and others are notable examples of this.

Thriller movie characteristics

Often feature a race against time, lots of violence, and lots of villains. Guns, explosives (bombs), and action are staples. It”s also important to have a plausible setting where these things happen. Sometimes there are elements of a mystery or crime movie, but they play a secondary role. Famous examples include The Transporter from the James Bond series and the Jason Bourne series of novels (or movies).
They take place in foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or on the high seas. The protagonists are usually rugged men who are accustomed to danger, often police or law enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, sailors, or airplane pilots. But they are also ordinary citizens who are drawn into the case in a way that makes them unavoidable. Although the protagonists are usually men, there are more and more examples of female protagonists.

The social meaning of thrillers

The social meaning of thrillers is the representation of the otherness that threatens the order of the community and the ritualized resolution of anxiety and fear. At the end of the story, audiences receive a sense of relief that comes from having the horrors inherent in real life removed from the screen. It has a conservative ideology of conformity to the ruling order. The themes of violence, evil, desire, and justice are vividly thematized, opening up insight and criticism of ourselves and society.

Thriller movie subgenres

Action thriller, Conspiracy thriller, Crime thriller, Disaster thriller, Drama thriller, Environmental thriller, Erotic thriller, Horror thriller, Legal thriller, Medical thriller, Political thriller, Psychological thriller, Spy thriller, Supernatural thriller, Techno thriller, Science fiction thriller
Thrillers have quite a few subgenres, but many movies are made with their own mix of elements from these genres.

About Alfred Hitchcock, the master of thrillers

Alfred Hitchcock was born in London, England. He studied art at the University of London and joined the film industry in 1920, working as a screenwriter and art director before becoming a director in 1925. He made “Blackmail” (1929) at the time of the introduction of motion pictures to the cinema, and established a unique method of directing that cleverly induces psychological anxiety, creating the “Hitchcock touch” with “House of Assassins” (1934) and “The 39 Steps” (1935). In 1939, he was invited to go to the United States and continued his energetic activities with ‘Rebecca’ (1940), ‘Foreign Correspondent’ (1940), ‘Dissociation’ (1941), and ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ (1943), establishing the genre of thriller films and becoming a leading figure in the field.
Hitchcock is often referred to as the most famous American director of thrillers because of his ability to capture the psychology of fear in seemingly ordinary and mundane events. It’s often used interchangeably with the word shocker, but it’s also used to refer to horror movies that are based on external shocks that aren’t deeply rooted in psychology.
Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, the master of the thriller, was a man of indefatigable passion. He’s also one of the few people to pull off the double whammy that modern cinema demands: his unique style seems to effortlessly combine entertainment and artistic demands.
Jean-Luc Godard, another iconic figure of modern cinema, describes Hitchcock as follows.

“Like a famous painter, he has a single picture. This picture is followed by another and another and another. When he captures a flower on film, it becomes a story.”

Is there anyone else in the history of cinema who could combine image and story so effortlessly?
Hitchcock relied on the high level of organization of the studio, but resented the interference of the producers. This period, when he had the freedom to make his own films, was the height of his mastery. His films include Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963).
The main characteristic of these films is that the male protagonists are misunderstood, schizophrenic, or obsessed with their neighbors or women, and their madness is often maternally repressed. Norman Bates in Psycho is a prime example. Finally, there are the late works, made after Marnie (1964). Most of the films from this period are not widely appreciated, but Marnie has been reinterpreted by later critics.
Truffaut, who wrote a remarkable collection of interviews called Conversations with Hitchcock, elevated Hitchcock to the status of a modern artist in his book.

“If we accept the premise that cinema, in Ingmar Berryman’s time, is an art form like literature, I would say that Alfred Hitchcock belongs to the artists of anxiety, along with Kafka, Dostoevsky, and Poe.”

Anxiety is a world that fascinated Hitchcock. In 1974, at a party for Hitchcock hosted by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Hitchcock, who was unable to attend due to illness, sent a pre-recorded response on film. It would soon become his last greeting in public.

“Good evening. They say that when people are drowning, their whole life flashes before their eyes. I consider myself fortunate to have had a similar experience without getting my feet wet. As you know, murder is a subject I have dealt with well. But in my films, the murders have taken place mainly in the home: at the kitchen table or in the bathtub, where the atmosphere is simple and homely. Above all, I am sure you will find murder fascinating and enjoyable. Even to the victim.”

Although Hitchcock emphasizes the word “murder,” his subconscious point is that it takes place in a space that exudes a “homely atmosphere. The murdered characters are all humiliated in the comfort of their own homes, by people they know. Critic Robin Wood, a leading proponent of the Hitchcock aesthetic, called Hitchcock a modern-day Shakespeare. But Hitchcock’s stage is not a tomb for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, but a dinner table of calm and comfort. It is the expression of unease in that comfort that makes Hitchcock’s films still modern.