Movie Story type: “Contained Thriller”

As I noted in this post, several ‘contained thrillers’ have sold lately:

Hyde Park Entertainment nabs thriller spec “Killer” written by Kenny Golde. This post from Peter Sciretta at slashfilm.com:

Hyde Park Entertainment and Parkes/MacDonald Productions have acquired Kenny Golde’s spec screenplay Killer. The contained thriller was originally written with the intent to produce the film on a low budget. I heard that the screenplay was originally making the rounds at Paramount’s new low-budget film division and Fox Searchlight, but quickly made its way up to the bigger studios.

The story is told through the point of view of a single video camera held by a police officer videotaping a murder investigation. While investigating the crime scene, the police discover a video left by the killer, made with hidden cameras planted throughout the house they are investigating.

Note that phrase: “contained thriller.” With the ginormous success of Paranormal Activity, the recent sale at Sundance of “Buried”, a man-stuck-in-a-buried-coffin thriller, and now “Killer,” perhaps we’re seeing the emergence of new trend.

Then in comments, James noted:

Chris Sparling — writer of “Buried” recently sold “ATM”, the story of three people trapped in an ATM vestibule by a faceless killer.

We covered that spec script sale here. So it got me thinking about ‘contained thrillers’ as a movie story type. These are some of the movies in that sub-genre that came to mind:

Rear Window (1954): A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

When a Stranger Calls (1979): A psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again.

Dead Calm (1989): A mass-murderer kidnaps and seduces a young woman after leaving her husband to die on the vessel whose crew he’s just slaughtered.

Panic Room (2002): A woman and her teenage daughter become imprisoned in the panic room of their own house by 3 criminals.

Phone Booth (2002): Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist’s sniper rifle.

What’s the appeal of a contained thriller? I pose that question for you as well as what other movie examples spring to your mind.

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