10 Directors Who Need To Make A Horror Movie
There are far too many bizarre and humorous anecdotes attached to my horror film viewing experience. As a rather anxious and neurotic child I did not take to watching Scream at a friend's house in fourth grade very well, nor did I appreciate seeing Silent Hill as a first date when I was in high school. Until I began film studies in college, I'd sworn off the genre not out of elitist judgment but as a result of a panicky, overactive imagination that made surprise appearances at 3am. Then I realized how much I effing loved the genre for that exact reason: horror film is so entertaining and valuable because of its inherent ability to shake you out of complacency, and if you're anything like me, it'll drive you to install a nightlight in your off-campus apartment - when you're 21 years old - because you took a really awesome film seminar that quarter. There is something rather masochistically pleasing about watching a character face down ultimate, primal fears, whether or not they live to tell the tale. Now, I've seen my fair share of poorly made horror films. The genre wouldn't be what it is without them, and that's part of the fun. When it comes to filmmakers who wander into the cinematic dark side, there are plenty who I think should do some exploring. David Fincher, not typically known for crafting horror in the vein of Wes Craven and John Carpenter, did an excellent job in approaching terror with his 2007 film Zodiac. That scene with the couple at the lake? In broad daylight? With a wide, open landscape for the characters to escape but they can't, and on top of that there's, like, zero sound outside of their hyperventilated breaths? Christ. Fincher is an excellent, dramatic filmmaker - which is why Zodiac feels so utterly bleak and scary. (The fact that it's based on a true story helps, too...) I'm intrigued by directors who tap into their primal psyche to scare the pants off their viewers. Here's a list of those who have made dramas, mysteries and thrillers, and who, in my personal opinion, should just go balls to the wall and use their fine technical skills to blow us all away.