AP A History Of Thriller

The genre of thriller bases itself upon the use of suspense, tension and excitement to grip it's audiences.

"Why is it that we both fear and enjoy being frightened? Alfred Hitchcock always thought it started in a mother's arms, when she says 'Boo!' to her child, who is first startled and then delighted. In the cinema, this sensation might have originated in the first public screenings of films by the Lumière brothers in 1895. "A train appears on the screen," wrote Maxim Gorky in a memorable newspaper review. "It speeds straight at you - watch out! It seems as though it will plunge into the darkness in which you sit..." Some audiences did indeed flee the theatres in terror, but they must have returned, because the cinema had soon established itself as the most popular mass medium of the early twentieth century."

BFI Screenonline - Neil Synyard

So, from the latter of the 19th century thriller made it's debut and has increasingly ingrained itself as a popular genre in our society.

Top 10 Thriller Films
(according to data collected by IMDb)

1. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
2. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
3. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
4. Goodfellas (Martin Scorcese, 1990)
5. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
6. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
7. Pshyco (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
8. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
9. The Silence Of The Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
10. Se7en (David Fncher, 1995)

As you can see, some of the favourite thrillers of all time have been directed by the same people.

• Christopher Nolan is an acclaimed British director of thrillers, including 'Inception' and 'The Dark Knight' his other most famous and popular films are 'Memento' and 'Insomnia' - also excellent thrillers.
• Alfred Hitchcock a.k.a 'The Master of Suspense' was also a British director and ultimately the best thriller director of his time with classics such as 'Pshyco' , 'Vertigo' and 'The Birds'.