Thriller Timeline

The thriller genre has changed a lot over the years and this is a timeline showing a few Thriller Films that inspired us to make 'Cold Game'. It will also show have thrillers have changed in a few ways.

1960s - Physcho (Alfred Hitchcox)

Physco is a 1960 thriller film created by Alfred Hitchcox. It was the thriller of that paticular decade and had a very dark edge to it. The plot was basically  the story of a young woman who steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother. This is one of the many films that have supposedly defined the thriller genre and used several simple camera angles. It didnt contain many effects due to the time of when the film was made. however it attracted large audiences and was seen as a hugely successful film.

1970s - Dirty Harry (Don Siegel)

Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan. This differs greatly to physco ten years earlier as it uses several effects for explosions, gun shots and lots more. A sadistic serial killer calling himself "Scorpio" (Andy Robinson) murders a young woman in a San Francisco swimming pool, using a high-powered rifle from a nearby roof.

1980s - Cruising (William Friedkin)

Cruising is a 1980 psychological thriller film directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name, by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, about a serial killer targeting gay men, in particular those associated with the S&M scene. This really does have great differences in the thrillr genre changing it from a scary, tense genre to a more fast paced, exciting genre.

1990s - Die Hard 2 (Renny Harlin)

Die Hard 2  is a 1990 American action film and the second in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by Renny Harlin, and stars Bruce Willis as John McClane. This franchise really changed the face of thrillers and almost leaned the thriller film to a sort of action genre, and contains several similar conventions from the action genre.

2000s - Sin City (Frank Miller)

Sin City is a noir thiller produced and directed by Frank Miller. This was a very different thriller to those of the years before it as it was a modern take on the film noir classic thrillers in the 50s and 60s. Starring the likes of Bruce Willis and Quentin Tarantino it had some great actors who have worked on thrillers in the past too. It has several thriller conventions throughout and the film and was very popular with critics and audiences alike.

2010s - Safe House (Daniel Espinoza)

This 2012 action thriller starring Denzil Washington and Ryan Reynolds is a great example of the coming together of the action and thriller genre. The conventions of both are easily visible making this excting, fast paced, suspense filled thriller one of the highest grossing of the year in the cinema. This was one of the groups favourite thrillers along with Resevoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction so we used parts of this film as an inspiration also.

Sean, Katie, Liam