Planning - Research into Thriller Films

Actions thrillers is a film genre in which one or more heroes are thrust into a series of challenges that typically include a race against the clock, containing lots of violence, guns, and explosions and almost always includes an obvious antagonist. Advancements in CGI have made it cheaper and easier to create action scenes and other visual effects that required the efforts of professional stunt crews in the past. Action films also commonly have elements of mystery films and crime films but these elements take a backseat to action.

James Bond is one of the most well-known action films. The long-running success of the James Bond films or series (which dominated the action films of the 1960s) introduced a staple of the modern-day action film: the resourceful hero. The larger-than-life characters were a “one-man army” able to dispatch villainous masterminds after cutting through their disposable henchmen in increasingly creative ways. The Bond films used fast cutting car chases, fist fights, a variety of weapons and gadgets, and elaborate action sequences.

Crime thrillers are films that focus on the lives of criminals. They are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or gangsters, particularly bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and violently murdering their way through life. The genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thriller films.

The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and as one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. This mob drama, based on Mario Puzo's novel of the same name, focuses on the powerful Italian-American crime family of Don Vito Corleone. When the don's youngest son reluctantly joins the Mafia, he becomes involved in the inevitable cycle of violence and betrayal. Although he tries to maintain a normal relationship with his wife, he is drawn deeper into the family business.

Horror thrillers have been created for the purpose to seek a negative reaction from the audience. The producers of horror films do this by playing intentional on the viewer’s fears.  Georges Méliès in the late 1890s, the best known being Le Manoir du Diable, which is sometimes credited as being the first horror film.

Horror thrillers are usually based on the main character and some sort of monster for example Frankenstein. The monster will mess with the characters emotions. Trying to murder them, not only in a physical way but mentally. The main character is not only up against a superior force, but they are or will soon become the victims themselves.

The five stereotypical teenagers are mostly based in horror films because horror films are watched the most by teenagers. The innocent girl is also known as the final girl because producers believe the person who defeats the monster should be the person the viewers least expect to as she is seen as weak. Eventually the final girl ends up conquering her fears and surviving the battle between herself and the monster.

The final girl has been chosen by the producers because producers have an idea on how teenagers should be. Their idea of a typical teenager is a person who is smart and focused on school like the innocent girl who is seen as the girl who does not have any friends and finds herself battling against the monster with four other teenagers. n the 1950-1960s with advances in technology, the tone of horror films shifted from the Gothic towards contemporary concerns.

A techno thriller is a film that focusses its plot heavily on the subject matter of action, war and technological advances. These aspects are described and discussed heavily throughout the plots of these type of films. The aspects in these types of films are also made essential to the reader/viewers understanding of the plot within the film. 

The infamous Transformers franchise directed by Michael Bay  is an example of this. The plot revolves around an alien species of robots accidentally landing on Earth, and the male protagonist of the film being involved with them, having in his possession an artefact. In the case of the first film in the franchise released in 2007 simply named Transformers, the main character Sam Witwicky played by Shia LaBeouf who has an artifact in his possession that could potentially give Optimus Prime and his fellow Autobots salvation.  

A psychological thriller is a film is a film that focuses on the mental state of its characters, and tries to portray this by using various effects and actors showing a range of emotions whilst acting in these films. The emotional states of these characters could also be explored whilst in these films. A conflict between mental thoughts in thriller films is shown throughout. Psychological thrillers are not based heavily on combat, such as an action thriller, but more on the minds and thoughts of the characters themselves.

An example of a psychological thriller is the 2010 film Inception, directed by renowned director Christopher Nolan. The films delves into the lives of characters Dominic and Arthur who are corporate espionage workers who are “extractors”. They are able to manipulate the dreams of people through various methods, in order to gain information of the people who they share the dream with. With quite a complex plot and ideas, it did not phase the views of critics as many viewed it as one of the best films of the decade. 

The main element to a gore thriller is the violence and the extravagance of the violence/murder. There is also an element of the protagonist enjoying his/her victim’s pain, this is known as ‘torture porn’. Essentially getting sexual gratification from the slow death of their victim.

A film that shows this is SAW, this is a seven-part franchise of gore films in which the characters are forced to commit gory and violent acts to themselves or others in order to escape their capturer, a puppet named Jigsaw.

 Erotic thrillers consist of erotica (sexual acts) and thriller, it became a very popular genre in the 1980’s because film-making was very cheap thanks to the introduction of VCR’s and home cinema.

An example of a classic erotic thriller is Fatal Attraction, in this film the main character (Dan Gallagher) is a successful New York attorney, while his wife and daughter are away for the weekend Dan has an affair with Alexandra who he works with. Dan thinks it is just a fling but Alexandra starts to become clingy and attached to Dan.

When Dan tries to leave her she cuts her wrists in a suicide attempt, Dan bandages her and the tries to leave and thinks the affair is over. This stalking from Alexandra continues to the point where she watches Dan and his family from their front garden. This escalates further and further until Alexandra threatens Beth with a knife in their house however in the violence that follows Dan shoots Alexandra and the police show up outside the house.