Research Into the Thriller Genre

If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that edgily pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax.
The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a threatening situation where escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually as the main character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous situation.
It is easy to see that most audiences enjoy a thriller with films such as Se7ven making a gross profit of $316,400,000 (Worldwide)

Thrillers are often mixture - there are suspense-thrillers, action- or adventure- thrillers, sci-fi thrillers (such as Alien 1979), crime-caper thrillers (such as The French Connection 1971), western-thrillers (such as High Noon 1952), film-noir thrillers (such as Double Indemnity 1944), even romantic comedy-thrillers (such as Safety Last 1923).
One of the first thrillers made was the unsettling ‘M’ (1931) directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre as a child killer. The film's story was based on the life of serial killer Peter Kurten (known as the 'Vampire of Dusseldorf').

Many argue that Alfred Hitchcock was the greatest writer/director of thrillers. He helped to shape the modern-day thriller genre, beginning with his early silent film The Lodger (1926). Alfred Hitchcock is considered the master of the thriller genre, manipulating his audience's fears and desires. Hitchcock often relates to a taboo or sexually-related theme in his films and has often placed an innocent victim into a terrorizing situation.

The top 10 thrillers are;
Psycho (1960) (# 1)
Jaws (1975) (# 2)
The Exorcist (1973) (# 3)
North By Northwest (1959) (# 4)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) (# 5)
Alien (1979) (# 6)
The Birds (1963) (# 7)
The French Connection (1971) (# 8)
Rosemary's Baby (1968) (# 9)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (# 10)