Horror movie directors are a special breed. Like most directors, they mostly want to entertain (and make some money), but hell, you can do that with romantic comedies, or dramas, or superhero films (god help us). The directors who make horror movies, who return to that dark well again and again, are after more than that. They want to scare us, to find those trigger points in our psyche and probe them with a grimy, blood-streaked hand. They’re a strange breed, and we love them for it. Sure, there are a lot of directors who have dabbled in the horror genre, but to be considered for this list, they had to have dedicated themselves to the art of the scare. (For the most part, anyway.) So take a moment to celebrate these maestros of the macabre.
These are the 50 Greatest Horror Directors of All Time.
30. Don Coscarelli (1954–)
Known for the Phantasm films, Bubba Ho-Tep, and John Dies at the End
One of the Masters of Horror, Don Coscarelli burst onto the horror scene with 1979’s Phantasm, an uneven but effective surreal masterpiece, dealing with grief, family, a Tall Man, and killer flying metal balls. Coscarelli managed to keep hold of his creation even as it spawned a franchise, and he’s been involved in all seven films in the series. Outside of the Phantasm films, Coscarelli wrote and directed both Bubba Ho-Tep in 2002 and John Dies at the End in 2013 – with both films being off-the-wall adaptations of books. With an outsider’s sensibility, Coscarelli always delivers on weirdness and oddball characters, even if his budgets don’t always live up to his imagination.
–Bob Cram
29. Larry Cohen (1936–2019)
Known for It’s Alive, God Told Me To, It Lives Again, Full Moon High, Q: The Winged Serpent, Special Effects, The Stuff, and A Return to Salem’s Lot
Once, when speaking on his willingness to film at the top of the Chrysler Building for his creature feature Q: The Winged Serpent, Cohen said, “I’m only interested in making movies my way. Total freedom.” Another devotee of the Roger Corman school of schlocky horror, Cohen first got his start in the early 70s not through horror, but with a comedy thriller that was touted as quite the breakthrough. This would pave the way for his wacky and often silly horror movies, though still ones that were worth the attention. The success of his killer-baby movie, It’s Alive, spawned two sequels and allowed him to use his creative freedom in more liberal circumstances. This led to him filming many sequences in the upper levels of the New York skyline (including the very top of the Chrysler Building) for Q and then being able to pull off the effects-driven spectacle of movies like The Stuff. A figure of B-level horror, but also of having a great time at the movies.
–Tyler Harner
28. James Wan (1977–)
Known for Saw, Dead Silence, Insidious, The Conjuring, Insidious: Chapter 2, The Conjuring 2, and Malignant
James Wan has quite the mixed resume. On one hand, he is directly responsible for some of the most creative and iconic horror franchises of all time. However, he is likely the reason we have so many horror franchises, with many of the series follow-ups missing Wan’s creative presence or stylistic shots. Still, it cannot be overstated the level of influence his films (particularly Saw) had on 2000s-era horror. In many ways, he transitioned well into the darker, more introspective horror of the 2010s with both The Conjuring and Insidious. All spawned franchises that have their issues, but they wouldn’t exist without his writing and creative input. Even his bad films are still a great time, brimming with big scary sequences or action set pieces. I still throw on Malignant for my friends during spooky season, and it always guarantees a good time.
–Valerie Morreale
27. Herschell Gordon Lewis (1926–2016)
Known for Blood Feast, The Thousand Maniacs!, Monsters a Go-Go!, Color Me Blood Red, Something Weird, A Taste of Blood, The Gruesome Twosome, The Wizard of Gore, The Gore Gore Girls, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, and The Uh-Oh! Show
Herschell Gordon Lewis is the undisputed pioneer of the splatter film and one of the most important figures in the history of exploitation horror. With Blood Feast (1963), he delivered what is widely regarded as the first true gore movie. It’s an unapologetically crude, full-color display of graphic violence that deliberately pushed past the limits of what mainstream cinema was willing to show. Made on a shoestring budget and marketed with pure carnival-barker flair, the film proved that extreme onscreen bloodshed could be a selling point rather than a liability.
Lewis followed it with equally lurid entries like Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) and Color Me Blood Red (1965), cementing a style built on vivid practical effects, outrageous scenarios, and a complete lack of restraint. While his films were never polished, their raw inventiveness and willingness to shock opened the door for the more elaborate gore traditions that followed, from Italian excess to American grindhouse and modern extreme horror. In an era of carefully controlled studio scares, Lewis treated the audience to something messier, cheaper, and far more confrontational. For better or worse, he changed what horror was allowed to look like.
–Vincent Kane
26. Ari Aster (1986–)
Known for Hereditary and Midsommar
I won’t lie that I have complex feelings about Ari Aster. I see him as the George Lucas of horror: an undeniable visionary who desperately needs a good editor. Even still, Aster has released two of the most well-beloved horror films of the past decade in Hereditary and Midsommar, and he has clear intentions behind every story he tells. Lately, he’s been going very experimental with Beau is Afraid and Eddington, to admittedly mixed results from audiences and critics. Still, there’s always something to love here, and I’m still pretty hopeful for his upcoming project Scapegoat with Scarlett Johansson and Jacob Elordi. Leaked details show he may be getting back to his horror/drama roots, and that’s something I think lots of folks would love to see.
–Valerie Morreale
25. Hideo Nakata (1961–)
Known for Ring, Ring 2, Dark Water, and The Ring Two
Since Hideo Nakata’s start, he’s always been a director with a focus on subtlety and tone management. Through this narrowed lens, he’s been able to bring us some terrifying films without the need for buckets of blood and inhuman monstrosities. Instead, Nakata emphasizes the creepiness in our everyday world to create ghostly experiences that always have one foot on the ground. With movies like Ring or Dark Water, Nakata manages to use lighting, shadows, score, and patient camerawork all as ways to let the dread slowly seep in to bring a drama into something much darker. Subtlety really does seem to be the key to Nakata’s magic along with his reverence for Japanese folklore that creates an atmosphere that can both feel strangely cozy and weirdly unsafe all at once.
–Tyler Harner
24. Roger Corman (1926–2004)
Known for A Bucket of Blood, The Little Shop of Horrors, House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, Tales of Terror, The Raven, X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, and Frankenstein Unbound
The godfather of indie films, Roger Corman was a director and producer who was primarily known for making a slew of low-budget exploitation films. (He directed or produced over 500 films.) He was adamant about turning out films quickly and cheaply, with an eye towards making at least enough money to finance his next picture. As a producer, he also worked with many people who would end up becoming well-known filmmakers in their own right, giving them early starts in the industry. People like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, Gale Anne Hurd, Joe Dante, James Cameron, John Sayles, and more. Cameron used to say, “I trained at the Roger Corman Film School.”
While Corman would make any kind of film, it is his horror films that are remembered most fondly. The “Poe Cycle” of movies are particularly good, starting with The Fall of the House of Usher in 1960 and ending with The Tomb of Ligeia in 1964 (almost all of them featuring Vincent Price). I’m also a fan of The Man With the X-Ray Eyes, a rare sci-fi horror film. The last horror film he personally directed was Frankenstein Unbound in 1990, starring Raul Julia, John Hurt, and Bridgett Fonda.
The Poe films alone are enough to cement his legacy, but if we look at the films he produced and the people whose careers he launched, then it becomes impossible to say just how much of an effect he had on horror films and cinema in general.
–Bob Cram
23. Robert Eggers (1983–)
Known for The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu
When it comes to historical horror, Robert Eggers’ attention to detail is unmatched. From costumes down to accents and sets, everything feels fully settled in the time period of its setting. Though he started off making short films, his debut feature-length film The Witch is the one most people (including myself) think of, and it’s no wonder. The movie rules! It’s aged like fine wine, showing that other directors really can’t come close to his level of world-building in this sub-genre. Due to this and his incredible writing and storytelling, there are so many projects of his to look forward to in the future, particularly Werwulf and his upcoming remake of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
–Valerie Morreale
22. Guillermo del Toro (1964–)
Known for Cronos, Mimic, The Devil’s Backbone, Blade II, Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, and Frankenstein
Truly the king of gothic and fantastic horror, Guillermo del Toro is one of the greats. Sure, he’s made some less-than-great films (looking at you, Nightmare Alley), but his style is absolutely unmatched. He is especially in his element when he’s providing his own unique take on folklore or fairy tale stories. Pan’s Labyrinth still stands out for many as his best, combining his own Mexican roots with tremendous character and sets to tell an original dark fairy tale. Even when his writing gets a little in the weeds, the design choices are always excellent. Frankenstein’s naysayers still can’t help but admit the Monster looks amazing, and his use of practical set pieces makes his fantasy worlds feel real and lived in despite their alien nature. Still, he remains to me one of the more imaginative directors in the current landscape of horror film.
–Valerie Morreale
21. William Castle (1914–77)
Known for Macabre, House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Homicidal, Mr. Sardonicus, The Old Dark House, Strait-Jacket, The Night Walker, I Saw What You Did, Let’s Kill Uncle, The Spirit Is Willing, and Shanks
The king of the gimmick films, William Castle is probably most well known for his string of B-movies in the 1950s that featured various advertising tricks. For the classic House on Haunted Hill (1959), he used “Emergo,” in which a skeleton with red glowing eyes would float over the theater seats during some scenes. The Tingler was filmed in “Percepto,” which really meant that several seats in the theater were fitted with buzzers that would go off when the creature supposedly got loose in the theater itself. My favorite was Mr. Sardonicus, where the audience got to vote on one of two endings – whether the title character would be cured or die – with a “punishment poll.” There was only ever one ending filmed, so the “poll” never really mattered, but I love the idea of the glow-in-the-dark “thumbs up/thumbs down” cards they printed.
In addition to the films he directed, Castle is also responsible for producing one of the watershed horror films of the 1960s – Rosemary’s Baby. He’d purchased the rights to the film hoping to direct it himself (and you can only wonder at what kind of gimmick he’d have come up with for it), but his partner, Paramount, insisted on Roman Polanski.
The character of Lawrence Woolsey, played by John Goodman, in the 1993 Joe Dante film Matinee is inspired by William Castle.
Robert Zemeckis co-founded Dark Castle Entertainment in 1998 to remake some of Castle’s films, including House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts. Gimmicks, sadly, were not included.
–Bob Cram
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Who are some of your favorite horror directors? Maybe they will show up later in this list!
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