Great Modern Horror Directors

By RodneyHatfieldJr for Movies

When compiling lists, most are pretty straight forward. There is always a cream that stays at the top in any category. But directors are a whole different story. First, you rarely see them as the subject of lists. I think the reason is the sheer volume of iconic great movies is staggering. Literally the category is teeming with talent, unlike any other genre. Trying to list great directors is equal to listing great movies. You will always find that you forget someone who deserves a spot.

So to help cut the playing field down to a more manageable size(it really doesn’t), we will go with modern horror directors. Even so, the list is still gargantuan. Before I start, yes I forgot and missed some. It is inevitable. And for the record. THESE ARE NOT Ranked. Not even in the least. I hate rankings. Especially when they are deemed the best or greatest. In whoever wrote it’s mind they are. Naturally, we will keep the number 10. It is a sweet traditional number. So I post whatever comes to mind, and hope I can introduce you to a hidden gem of theirs.  Most likely I will post a Pt. 2. 


Toby Hooper


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Toby Hooper is the genius who gave us a chainsaw swinging psycho family who likes cheese in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If that wasn’t enough, he turned around and gave us angry Native American ghosts in Poltergeist. Of course, I would be angry with myself if I did not mention Eaten Alive. If you have never seen it, let me give you a short introduction. A psycho, old motel, and a pet alligator. Enough said. Also a very young Robert Englund.


Neil Marshall 


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Other than giving us hands down one of the best werewolf films in history with Dog Soldiers. He also gave us The Descent, Doomsday, and Hellboy(which I really enjoyed).


George A Romero


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The father of the zombie movie,(even though he calls them Ghouls) he has the biggest glasses in the universe. He has given us a long anthology of ghouls films coming back and taking over the world. That is enough to warrant his name in the history of great directors. But while giving us an undead invasion he also gave us Creepshow, and the meanest monkey to ever live in Monkey Shines.


John Carpenter


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This one is a director that someone could write books about. His list of movies is truly impressive. Just close your eyes and pick. Halloween, The Fog, Escape from “”, The Thing, They Live, Vampires. Naturally, I am going to include Body Bags and his wonderful depiction of The Coroner.


Clive Barker


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Yea so he gave us only 2 truly iconic movies with Hellraiser and Nightbreed. But he has created so, so, so much I included him. We just had an article about him. Go read it.


Wes Craven


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The Father of Freddy. Wes is another with a long list of achievements. The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The People Under the Stairs and Scream. For me, a real gem that gets a large amount of hate is Vampire in Brooklyn. It is a horror-comedy. And it blends well.


Joe Dante


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Here is a director that has bridges classic cinema with the modern. He started his career trailer editor for Roger Corman before carving his own name in movie history. He gave us The Howling, Piranha, and a personal Christmas favorite Gremlins. Just for kicks, he also gave us Eerie, Indiana. A TV show that deserved more but the world just wasn’t ready for R.L. Stein style stories.  


Hideo Nakata


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I will be the first to admit, my knowledge of Asian cinema is bare-bones basic. But even I know this man. A master in his own right. Hideo gave us Dark Water, Ringu 1&2, and Chaos. 


James Wan


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A success story from the indie movie side of movies. Starting out small and on a shoestring budget with Saw, James graduated to bigger things.  Dead Silence, Insidious 1&2, The Conjuring 1&2.


David Cronenberg


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When a director comes along and creates a movie where they have to create a new subcategory, we list him. Let's see; Rabid, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, Dead Ringers.  If you want weird mutated bodies, you want Cronenberg.

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