10 Horror Movie Directors That Quit The Genre

10. Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning)

Of all the varied filmmakers listed here, it doesn't feel too mean-spirited to call Jonathan Liebesman something of a journeyman.

Sure, the man may feel passionately about his films, but when a filmmaker starts out with a flick which casts the tooth fairy as its terrifying villain, it's easy to think they might be in it for the pay cheque. To be fair to Liebesman, 2001's Darkness Falls may be his best flick, a corny but inarguably fun and propulsive slice of cheesy horror which soars where the outwardly comparable Boogeyman and The Fog remake flopped hard.

However, as if to reaffirm suspicions about his journeyman status, Liebesman soon followed this sleeper hit (and critical flop) with the woeful Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, a glossy prequel which managed to fumble the goodwill his pretty solid first film had earned.

With a pointlessly polished style and a convoluted plot, two things no Texas Chainsaw Massacre instalment should ever have, this 2006 dud was the coffin nail for this horror helmer's career as he went on to bigger and, well, bigger things such as 2011's Battle: Los Angeles, 2015's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and uncredited reshoot work on Doolittle.

So still making horrifying films, just not horrors.