15 Greatest Horror Directors Of All Time

15. Hideo Nakata

Notable Films: Ring, Dark Water, Chaos

Hideo Nakata was instrumental in reigniting interest in Japanese horror movies in the West, following on from the release of his hugely successful 1998 film Ring.

Horror fans might have been less pleased with the steady stream of inferior copycats, but there's no denying that Ring got the Japanese supernatural ball rolling in chilling style. It remains one of the best horror movies of all time - that Nakata was able to follow this up with the excellent ghost story Dark Water and the chilling thriller Chaos shows a director who understands the genre completely.

Nakata was less successful in his attempt to make the transition to America, serving only as the writer on the Walter Salles-directed remake of Dark Water. Having later directed the highest grossing Japanese movie of 2008, the Death Note spin-off L: Change The World, it's highly unlikely he cares about Hollywood any more.