Thriller film directors

Alfred Hitchcock pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genre. He directed more than fifty feature films and remains one of the most recognised and popular filmmakers. Psycho; Rear Window; Strangers on a Train; Shadow of a Doubt; Suspicion and The 39 Steps are just some of his famous films which are still watched today. Psycho is probably the most well-known thriller. He often had quick cameos in his films, he started to make appearances at the beginnings of his films. Hitchcock also used bathrooms as plot devices and the actresses always had blonde hair. In a lot of his early black and white films, he cast shadows on the walls to create suspense and tension.



Martin Scorsese is a film director, screenwriter, producer, actor and film historian. His work addresses themes such as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and violence. He frequently collaborates with actors like Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Thelma Schoonmaker. The main characters in Scorsese's films are often sociopathic and lots of white lighting is used. Other techniques used are slow motion and diagetic music, for example a piano being played in the scene. Slow motion was used in his films Means Streets, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. He sometimes casts pop stars in small acting roles such as David Bowie in The Last Temptation of Christ, Iggy Pop in The Color of Money and Gwen Stefani in The Aviator.