Horror directors

[Mr.Teehehe]

Who's your favorite?

Seeing as how i'm only 24 years old i don't know many back in the day horror directors and i'm sure some of you know lots (the Rick Tibbler man,JimBoy etc)

But for me mine is Clive Barker not only has he produced some of the most mind blowing films for the genre of horror and scary movies he is as twisted as they come in the genre. I read that his Grandma used to tell him sick and shocking tales and storys and bed time storys as a little kid of dead bodies and other gruesome matters. He's a brilliant mind i think for the genre of horror and also for the world of horror books great great stuff.

"To call Clive Barker a 'horror novelist' would be like calling the Beatles a 'garage band'... He is the great imaginer of our time. He knows not only our greatest fears, but also what delights us, what turns us on, and what is truly holy in the world. Haunting, bizarre, beautiful. These are words we can use to describe Clive Barker only until we invent new, more fitting adjectives." -Quentin Tarantino

"I think Clive Barker is so good that I am literally tongue-tied. He makes the rest of us look like we’ve been asleep for the past ten years." -Stephen King

"Barker is one of the few writers who has altered an entire field: more than anyone since Lovecraft, he has changed the shape, the corporeality of horror." -China Miéville





I really do hope to own every Clive Barker film. Including his new one which is in only select theaters a limited release ''The Midnight Meat Train''

I'm starting from complete scratch on my collection,so i'm starting with his Candyman series.

 

[poppameth1]

Clive has done some good work. He's done some crappy work as well. Who hasn't? I've still got a special place for Romero's work.

 

[alf1]

i like some John Carpenter's ones & Dario Argento, the last being more of ... well it's horror cos there's blood ^^ some of his movies are crap though, like "the Stendhal syndrom" which i watched until the end trying desperatly to understand the whole thing

but on the other side there are three classics "the bird with the crystal plumage" "suspiria" or "Inferno" it's not the classic horror movies, but there's a particular ambience in those. and murders are pretty scary, in comparison the infamous Jason hockey-mask can go back to school 🙂

 

[myfeet4youAZ]

Oh man...I don't know if I could pick a favorite, but my top 3 (today anyway) would be John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, and Peter Jackson. Although it is depressing to me that Carpenter is pretty much done, and Raimi and Jackson have moved on to much higher-paying genres of film. Good for them, bad for us horror fans.

The only reason I don't have Clive Barker up there is that he really doesn't direct as much as write and produce - although Hallraiser, Nightbreed, and Lord of Illusions are three of my favorite films.

 

[AdamN]

John Carpenter for the first two Halloweens alone. Admittedly, I'm not as familiar with his other work.

 

[Senshi1]

John Carpenter and Clive Barker are both geniuses, definately. Hellraiser was a work of art. Although I just love Wes Craven. Freddy Krueger will always be my favourite horror movie killer. He was such a badass - he was good at killing, and he loved it. He toyed with his victims and dispatched them with style. Major attitude problem, but one of the best movie villains of all time. Wes Craven gets my vote for dreaming up the "bastard son of a thousand maniacs". 😀

Oh, but as somebody already said, Sam Raimi totally gets an honourable mention. Evil Dead 2 was such a cool film. I can't help it - I'm a hardcore Bruce Campbell fanatic.

 

[BigNorm]

hell, even his video games seriously rock. as far as i know, there have only been 2, but talk about scary as hell! i love 'em, and the only problems with them, the few that are, are a resort of the game designers, Clive did an awesome job creeping me the f*** out. i gotta read some of his books, been reading Stephen King and Dean Koontz as of late.

any Clive Barker books i should start with?

 

[Mr.Teehehe]

hell, even his video games seriously rock. as far as i know, there have only been 2, but talk about scary as hell! i love 'em, and the only problems with them, the few that are, are a resort of the game designers, Clive did an awesome job creeping me the f*** out. i gotta read some of his books, been reading Stephen King and Dean Koontz as of late.

any Clive Barker books i should start with?

I would start off with

Clive Barker's Books of Blood 1-3 you can get the book in either hardcover or paperback

They are 16 short stories that kicked off Clive Barker's career in horror genre writing

 

[poppameth1]

I can't get enough Bruce Campbell myself.

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

I really have to concur with John Carpenter, I am a fan of his work in general. George Romero did a great job with his zombie movies. William Friedkin did a good job with the Excorcist. David Cronenberg had some good hits with Scanners and Videodrome. And finally I can't leave out Alfred Hitchcock he was behind so many great movies.

 

[Senshi1]

I didn't much like The Exorcist myself. I found there were too many long, unecessary scenes, and I found it just too slow. There's tension and there's overkill. Just my opinion though.

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

I didn't much like The Exorcist myself. I found there were too many long, unecessary scenes, and I found it just too slow. There's tension and there's overkill. Just my opinion though.

I respect your opinion but, well I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the Excorcist. That is pretty much why I generally enjoy the old 70's horror movies. They did have those scenes setting up the aura of the film. I liked the build up of not only the suspense but the backstory as well. Too many movies ignore that facet of the film for the cheap thrills.

 

[Senshi1]

I respect your opinion but, well I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the Excorcist. That is pretty much why I generally enjoy the old 70's horror movies. They did have those scenes setting up the aura of the film. I liked the build up of not only the suspense but the backstory as well. Too many movies ignore that facet of the film for the cheap thrills.

I think, in fairness, it was The Exorcist's reputation that ruined it for me. I was expecting something truly phenomenal, judging by how everyone had reacted to it, but when I actually saw it, it didn't live up to the hype (like that was possible for any movie, with the hype this one got). If I'd seen it before it got its' reputation, I may be telling a different story right now. 😛

 

[Wade1]

Cronenberg is one of my favorite directors, period. I don't think I've ever seen a film of his that wasn't worth seeing. He's moved away from the horror genre, but everything he does is tinged with an anything-can-happen urgency that I associate with his pulpier blood-and-guts work.

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

Wade beat me to the post above with Cronenberg. He took horror into whole new dimensions in the 80's.

Others worth watching(in no particular order) include: James Whale(Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein); Stuart Gordon(Reanimator, From Beyond); Brian Yuzna(Society, Necromicon); Todd Browning(Dracula, Freaks); Tobe Hooper(Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Funhouse); Takashi Miike(Audition, Visitor Q); Mario Bava(Black Sunday, Planet of the Vampires); and the list goes on and on with greats like Roman Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock and at least a good 25 or more others I'm fond of.

 

[Mr.Teehehe]

I'm with FeatherDaemon on this one The Exorcist is one 1970's film that brings in the suspense elements and with the whole movie but also with the back story as well. It's no wonder that movie has grossed over $441,071,011 worldwide since it's 1973 release into Theaters and today even still it's one movie that will stand the test of time. So much buzz and urban legends and on-set incidents during the filming of that movie which in no less created even more buzz. Earned 10 Academy Award nominations. I'm not to fond of the Sequels and Related films after the first exorcist though.

You mean David Cronenberg? He did Friday the 13th:The series?

I had no idea that he also did The Fly and Scanners

Thank you good ol internet info :redface:

 

[kopfhorer1]

Alfred Hitchcock will always be in my top 5 (the original Psycho still gives me chills when I see it)! Also George Romero, Tod Browning (Bela Lugosi as Dracula), David Cronenberg (Crash was superb!) and for comic relief, Ed Wood Jr.!

 

[alf1]

i like the "exorcist" style movies , i have seen the three of the series , and honestly seeing the exorcist ( aka 1 ) was frightening even in clear day . now the favorite of the serie is the "exorcist III" i don't know if many have seen that one, but it's pretty unusual killing method. also a good serie is the "Omen" one, you have to love that 70's style mentioned above 🙂

 

[firewindwater1]

The Terminator is sort of horror film...so I say James Cameron :super_hap

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

I think, in fairness, it was The Exorcist's reputation that ruined it for me. I was expecting something truly phenomenal, judging by how everyone had reacted to it, but when I actually saw it, it didn't live up to the hype (like that was possible for any movie, with the hype this one got). If I'd seen it before it got its' reputation, I may be telling a different story right now. 😛

On that point of hype I am in total agreement. If a movie has a load of hype pushing its success then I am somewhat wary of it. Take Titanic for example, and please ladies don't kill me it's just an example 😉, I think that movie was hyped to success. It was an OK movie, they did a great job recreating the vessel, but for a period of time every spoke as if that movie was hand delivered to Hollywood direct from the ArchAngel Gabriel. It was a decent movie. So yes I agree on movies not meeting overarching expectations.

 

[poppameth1]

I just watched They Live this weekend. Ah the goodness!