Greatest Horror Directors
by TheRedDeath30 | created - 08 Aug 2014 | updated - 17 Oct 2014 | PublicA list of my favorite horror directors, based on quality and quantity of output.
1. Wes Craven
Writer | A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold vision.
Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Caroline (Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He had a midwestern suburban upbringing. His first feature film was The Last House on ...
In the 70s and 80s everything this man touched was gold: LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST. He kept putting out great work like SERPENT & THE RAINBOW and PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS until he re-kindled horror in the 90s with SCREAM. Craven truly is the Master of Horror.
2. John Carpenter
Writer | The Fog
John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky ...
Two of the absolute greatest horror films of all-time, HALLOWEEN and THE THING. Add in THE FOG, THEY LIVE, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS and a handful of other horror classics, along with non-horror work like ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA.
3. George A. Romero
Writer | Land of the Dead
George A. Romero never set out to become a Hollywood figure; by all indications, though, he was very successful. The director of the groundbreaking "Living Dead" films was born February 4, 1940 ,in New York City to Ann (Dvorsky) and Jorge Romero. His father was born in Spain and raised in Cuba, and...
Best known as the man who invented the zombie film in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. That feat alone would put him high on my list. To be able to create excellent sequels in DAWN, DAY and even LAND OTD decades apart is impressive. The man, also, brought us CREEPSHOW, along with underrated gems like MARTIN and THE CRAZIES.
4. Tobe Hooper
Director | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Honored with many awards for his films and achievement in the horror genre, Tobe Hooper is truly one of the Masters of Horror (2005).
Tobe Hooper was born in Austin, Texas, to Lois Belle (Crosby) and Norman William Ray Hooper, who owned a theater in San Angelo. He spent the 1960s as a college ...
Hooper rose quickly and flamed out just as quickly in the 80s, having not made a significant film for quite awhile. That being said, he created the greatest horror film of all-time (IMO), THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, along with other classics like POLTERGEIST and EATEN ALIVE.
5. James Whale
Director | Bride of Frankenstein
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his four classic horror films: Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). He also directed films in other genres, including what is ...
Whale created the blueprint for what horror films should look like. Although his output was not all that large, his contributions in FRANKENSTEIN (and BRIDE), THE INVISIBLE MAN and THE OLD DARK HOUSE would be imitated time and time again.
6. Dario Argento
Writer | Profondo rosso
Dario Argento was born on September 7, 1940, in Rome, Italy, the first-born son of famed Italian producer Salvatore Argento and Brazilian fashion model Elda Luxardo. Argento recalls getting his ideas for filmmaking from his close-knit family from Italian folk tales told by his parents and other ...
I have a difficult relationship with Argento as I find that a lot of his films are far more style than substance and don't rate as my top horror films. However, the volume of work he has left behind, including such great films as SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, TENEBRE and OPERA truly make him one of the most accomplished directors in the genre.
7. Terence Fisher
Director | Dracula
Terence Fisher was born in Maida Vale, England, in 1904. Raised by his grandmother in a strict Christian Scientist environment, Fisher left school while still in his teens to join the Merchant Marine. By his own account he soon discovered that a life at sea was not for him, so he left the service ...
One of the most criminally underrated directors ever. Hammer Studios brought horror back to life in the late 50s and it was Fisher who directed every classic film for them. His filmography is vast and impressive.
8. Tod Browning
Director | Dracula
Belonging to a well-situated family, Charles Browning fell in love at the age of 16 with a dancer of a circus. Following her began his itinerary of being clown, jockey and director of a variety theater which ended when he met D.W. Griffith and became an actor. He made his debut in Intolerance (1916)...
Browning almost single-handedly brought horror into the talking era with DRACULA. Already well-known for LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT (remade as the underrated MARK OF THE VAMPIRE), he pretty much destroyed his career with FREAKS, now considered a landmark in horror.
9. Roger Corman
Actor | The Silence of the Lambs
Roger William Corman was born April 5, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. Initially following in his father's footsteps, Corman studied engineering at Stanford University but while in school, he began to lose interest in the profession and developed a growing passion for film. Upon graduation, he worked a...
The king of b-horror. His Poe adaptations in the 60s were Vincent Price were legendary, particularly MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and PIT & THE PENDULUM. He also made several excellent low budget movies before that including BUCKET OF BLOOD and the original LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.
10. Alfred Hitchcock
Director | Psycho
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...
His total catalog would put him as one of the best ever, but his horror output was slim. Even so, PSYCHO and THE BIRDS alone put him at this spot on the list.
11. Joe Dante
Director | Innerspace
Joe Dante is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art. After a stint as a film reviewer, he began his filmmaking apprenticeship in 1974 as trailer editor for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He made his directorial debut in 1976 with Hollywood Boulevard (1976) (co-directed with Allan Arkush)...
Created two of the best horror movies of the 80s in GREMLINS and THE HOWLING, along with the best segment in the TWILIGHT ZONE movie. Throw in PIRANHA and THE 'BURBS and you've got quite the resume.
12. Rob Zombie
Writer | Grindhouse
Robert Bartleh Cummings, more famously known as Rob Zombie, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts on January 12, 1965. He is the oldest son of Louise and Robert Cummings, and has a younger brother, Michael David (aka Spider One; b. 1968), who is the lead singer of Powerman 5000. Growing up, Zombie ...
How to rate this guy's movies? HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS are two of the best horror films of the last 25 years. His HALLOWEEN remake and the sequel almost ruined that, but a semi-return to form in LORDS OF SALEM leaves him just outside the top 10.
13. Lucio Fulci
Writer | Lo squartatore di New York
Lucio Fulci, born in Rome in 1927, remains as controversial in death as he was in life. A gifted craftsman with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of dark humor, Fulci achieved some measure of notoriety for his gore epics of the late 1970s and early 1980s, but respect was long in coming.
Abandoning ...
A little more work on plot and dialog would rank him higher, but his style alone is worth the price of admission. ZOMBIE is a classic of the genre, to go along with other great films like CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE BEYOND.
14. Robert Rodriguez
Producer | El mariachi
Robert Anthony Rodriguez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, USA, to Rebecca (Villegas), a nurse, and Cecilio G. Rodríguez, a salesman. His family is of Mexican descent.
Of all the people to be amazed by the images of John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi parable, Escape from New York (1981), none ...
I'm including him this high solely for two great horror movies, FROM DUSK TIL DAWN and PLANET TERROR. Of course, his work in other genre greats like DESPERADO and SIN CITY make him one of the best directors working today.
15. David Cronenberg
Actor | The Fly
David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of Blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father, Milton Cronenberg, was a journalist and editor, and his mother, Esther (Sumberg), was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early...
Many people would rank this master of horror higher than I have him on this list, but I've not usually found his brand of "body horror" to be my favorite. Still, THE FLY alone would rank him high and add in an excellent vampire twist in RABID, along with his other catalog is worthy of an entry.
16. William Castle
Director | Homicidal
William Castle was born on April 24, 1914 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Homicidal (1961), House on Haunted Hill (1959) and The Lady from Shanghai (1947). He was married to Ellen. He died on May 31, 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
The master of marketing. William Castle knew how to work a gimmick to put butts in seats. That should not overshadow his work on classics like HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and 13 GHOSTS.
17. Mario Bava
Cinematographer | Ecologia del delitto
Italian director Mario Bava was born on July 31, 1914 in the coastal northern Italian town of Sanremo. His father, Eugenio Bava (1886-1966), was a cinematographer in the early days of the Italian film industry. Bava was trained as a painter, and when he eventually followed his father into film ...
The godfather of Italian horror. His style defined the look that would be emulated by Argento, Fulci, and more. Not all of his catalog holds up as well today, but movies like BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, BLACK SUNDAY and PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES are horror classics.
18. Erle C. Kenton
Director | The Ghost of Frankenstein
Erle C. Kenton entered films as an actor with the Mack Sennett troupe (he was one of the original Keystone Kops). In addition to acting, he performed pretty much any kind of behind-the-scenes job he could get, and by 1919 Sennett gave him a job directing two-reel comedies. The next year he ...
Not a very well-known name, but Kenton directed the excellent ISLAND OF LOST SOULS and along with a number of the Universal monster sequels.
19. Don Coscarelli
Writer | Bubba Ho-Tep
In much the same way that director George A. Romero creative output has been primarily centered around the highly successful "Dead" series of zombie films, then fellow fantasy director Don Coscarelli has for over two decades seen his universe swirling around the lesser successful, but equally cult,...
Pulled off hard feat of creating quality movies 20 years apart, PHANTASM and BUBBA HO-TEP, along with JOHN DIES AT THE END. Bonus pts for THE BEASTMASTER.
20. Neil Marshall
Director | Dog Soldiers
Neil Marshall was born on May 25, 1970 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. He is a producer and director, known for Dog Soldiers (2002), The Descent (2005) and Doomsday (2008). He was previously married to Axelle Carolyn.
Created a modern classic in THE DESCENT as well as the excellent DOG SOLDIERS. Bonus points for work on GAME OF THRONES.
21. Karl Freund
Cinematographer | Metropolis
Karl Freund, an innovative director of photography responsible for development of the three-camera system used to shoot television situation comedies, was born on January 16, 1890, in the Bohemian city of Koeniginhof, then part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire (now known as Dvur Kralove in the Czech...
A legendary cinematographer from the German school of Expressionism. Freund directed two of the classics of 30s horror, THE MUMMY and MAD LOVE.
22. Tom Holland
Writer | Fright Night
Tom Holland is an American director and screenwriter of horror and thriller films. His early writing projects include Class of 1984 (1982) and the Robert Bloch- inspired Psycho II (1983), the latter starring Anthony Perkins as the menacing psychopath, Norman Bates.
Tom gained more notoriety, however...
Worked in Hollywood as a writer, as well, but responsible for directing both the original FRIGHT NIGHT and CHILD'S PLAY, as well as a few King works such as THE LANGOLIERS and THINNER.
23. Jacques Tourneur
Director | Cat People
Born in Paris in 1904, Tourneur went to Hollywood with his father, director Maurice Tourneur around 1913. He started out as a script clerk and editor for his father, then graduated to such jobs as directing shorts (often with the pseudonym Jack Turner), both in France and America. He was hired to ...
A king of the shadowy classic horror film who directed films like CAT PEOPLE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and NIGHT OF THE DEMON.
24. Peter Jackson
Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...
Most people will know from his work on LORD OF THE RINGS and KING KONG. Putting him on this list for two excellent films, THE FRIGHTENERS and DEAD ALIVE.
25. Alexandre Aja
Director | Haute tension
Alexandre Aja was born on August 7, 1978 in Paris, France. He is a producer and director, known for High Tension (2003), The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and Piranha 3D (2010). He is married to Laïla Marrakchi.
I'm putting him on this list for two modern classics, HIGH TENSION and the remake of THE HILLS HAVE EYES.
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