Introduction to Thriller

The genre of Thriller is best known for the "intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension" (Source) that the films promote. "Part of the allure of thrillers comes from not only what their stories are about but how they are told. The plot of a thriller is usually driven by the villain, who presents obstacles that the hero must overcome." (Source)


From a quick look at IMDb, Thriller is an incredibly popular genre of film, with some of the highest grossing films of all time at the World Wide Box Office being thrillers including 'The Dark Knight' (Christopher Nolan, 2008) grossing $1,001,921,825, 'Inception' (Christopher Nolan, 2010) grossing $817,068,851 and 'The Sixth Sense' (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999) grossing $661,500,000(Source) .


Thrillers are also amongst the highest rated films on IMDb, with 'Pulp Fiction' (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) and 'Inception' tieing as the fourth highest rated films of all time on the website as well as 'Fight Club' (David Fincher, 1999), 'Goodfellas' (Martin Scorsese, 1990) and 'Psycho' (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) tieing for the fourteenth highest rated films of all time according to the users of IMDb. (Source).

From the success of Thriller, it appears that it will be a very good base for creating my coursework and as such I need to decide on the codes and conventions of Thriller openings to be able to create a successful piece of film.