Directors

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was born 13th august 1899. he was a British film maker and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After silent movies and talkies he moved to Hollywood in 1956. The suspense and gallows humour that had become Hitchcock’s trademark in film continued to appear in his productions.
Near the end of his life he worked on the script for a projected spy thriller, The Short Night collaborating with screen writers James costigan and Ernest Lehman. The story was never filmed due to his failing health and concerns for his wife. This meant it was published posthumously in a book of Hitchcock’s later years. He died 29th April 1980 and was cremated. His ashes were scattered at sea.

Films

Rear window(1954)

Psycho (1960)

Vertigo (1958)

Shadow of a doubt (1943)


Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino was born on March 27, 1963 and is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He rose to fame in the early 1990s as an independent filmmaker.

There are a variety of camera angles and types of shots that are considered typical of a Tarantino movie. He often frames characters with doorways and shows them opening and closing doors, and he often films characters from the back. He uses widely-imitated quick cuts of character's hands performing actions in extreme close-up.

Pulp Fiction

Jackie Brown

Kill Bill Volume 1

Kill Bill Volume 2

Death Proof





M. Night Shyamalan

M. Night Shyamalan, is an Academy-award nominated Indian writer-director, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that usually climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies (and staging his plots) in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A common criticism of Shyamalan is that he is a better director than he is a screenwriter. Some critics have suggested that he would be more successful by hiring a screenwriter to help translate his stories to the big screen. He has been labeled a "one-trick pony" for his continuous use of what some people call the "twist" element in his screenplays. After the release of The Village, Slate’s Michael Agger noted that Shyamalan was following "an uncomfortable pattern" of "making fragile, sealed-off movies that fell apart when exposed to outside logic."

Praying with Anger

Wide Awake

The Sixth Sense

Unbreakable

Signs

The Village

Sub Genres

The thriller genre can include the following sub-genres, which may include elements of other genres:
Action thriller - In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place. These films often have elements of mystery films and crime films but these elements take a backseat to action. Notable examples are the James Bond films, The Transporter, and the Jason Bourne novels and films.

Conspiracy thriller - In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes. Three Days of the Condor and JFK.

Crime thriller - This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and double-crosses are central ingredients. Some examples include The Killing, Seven The Godfather, Reservoir Dogs, Inside Man, and The Asphalt Jungle

Disaster thriller - In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc., or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster. Examples the 1974 film Earthquake.

Drama thriller - In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and involves a great deal of character development along with plot twists. Examples include The Illusionist, The Interpreter and The Prestige.

Eco-thriller - In which the protagonist must avert or rectify an environmental or biological calamity - often in addition to dealing with the usual types of enemies or obstacles present in other thriller genres. This environmental component often forms a central message or theme of the story. Futuristic Eco-thrillers are of the Science Fiction genre that propose ideas that will or may occur.

Erotic thriller - In which it consists of erotica and thriller. It has become popular since the 1980s and the rise of VCR market penetration. The genre includes such films as Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and In the Cut
.
Horror thriller - In which conflict between the main characters are mental, emotional, and physical. Two recent examples of this include the Saw series of films and the Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. What sets the horror thriller apart is the main element of fear throughout the story. The main character(s) is not only up against a superior force, but they are or will soon become the victims themselves and directly feel the fear that comes by attracting the monster's attention. Other well-known examples are Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs.

Legal thriller - In which the lawyer-heroes/heroines confront enemies outside, as well as inside, the courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives.

Medical thriller - In which the hero/heroine are doctors or medical personnels working to solve an expanding medical problem. Films such as Awake are examples of medical thrillers.

Political thriller - In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him. A recent example is the 1980 film "Agency".

Psychological thriller - In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. The Alfred Hitchcock films Suspicion, Shadow of a Doubt, and Strangers on a Train and David Lynch's bizarre and influential Blue Velvet are notable examples of the type, as is The Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan and The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (who also wrote Strangers).

Spy thriller - In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists.

Supernatural thriller - In which the conflict is between main characters, usually one of which has supernatural powers. Carrie by Stephen King and Unbreakable by M. Night Shyamalan and Torchwood are notable examples of this genre. This type of thriller combines tension of the regular thriller with such basic horror oriented ingredients as ghosts, the occult, and psychic phenomenon; the supernatural thriller combines these with a frightening but often restrained film. They also generally eschew the more graphic elements of the horror film in favor of sustaining a mood of menace and unpredictability; supernatural thrillers often find the protagonists either battling a malevolent paranormal force or trapped in a situation seemingly influenced or controlled by an other-worldly entity beyond their comprehension.

Techno-thriller - A work that usually focuses upon military action, in which technology (usually military technology) is described in detail and made essential to the reader's/viewer's understanding of the plot.

Taken from wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)]