Research- History Of Psychological Thriller's

After researching Psychological thrillers, I have found that it is a popular sub-genre of the thriller's, horror's and mysteries, however, it is more reliant on the characters mental state rather than their physical attributes. A crucial element of a psychological thriller is suspense. This can be created by the characters and their actions, which could either be done by playing deceptive mind games or them trying to mentally destroy each other. Sometimes the suspense comes from within one character who is resolving conflicts within their own mind, and is usually done so that the character can understand something that has happened to them.

There is a long history behind thrillers, nearly as long as cinema itself and the first thriller directors took a few techniques from a hugely popular serial literature of the time. 

One of the earliest thrillers was Harold Lloyd's comic 'Safety Last' (1923), which was about an all american boy performing a daredevil stunt on the side of a skyscraper. Another of the first thrillers was the haunting German film M (1931) directed by the great Fritz Lang, which was about a criminal deviant - a child killer. The film's story was based on the life of serial killer Peter Kurten (known as the 'Vampire of Dusseldorf'). 

No list of suspense or thriller films can be complete without mention of English film-maker/director Alfred Hitchcock. He helped to shape the modern-day thriller genre, beginning with his early silent film The Lodger (1926), a suspenseful Jack-the-Ripper story, followed by his next thriller Blackmail (1929), his first sound film (but also released in a silent version).

Three common techniques used in psychological thrillers are a stream of consciousness in which word usage, descriptions, or visuals are used to describe an individuals, first-person narrative which is in first person and is narrated by one or more of the characters, and finally back-story, which is the the history behind the character to help the audience understand their motivations and perceptions more.