10 Great Directors Who Keep Making Terrible Movies
2. Eli Roth
It may be hard for readers to believe, but
there was a time when Quentin Tarantino protégé Eli Roth was being hailed as
the daring enfant terrible of horror.
Yes, the guy who has spent the last few years railing against “political correctness” and “social justice warriors” was once a thorn in the side of the critical establishment. His subversive torture horror Hostel saw Americans treated to the same torture they inflicted on prisoners of war at the height of the Iraq invasion and it was a gripping, intensely gruesome hit which shocked audiences and reviewers alike.
Nowadays, though, the director is no longer taking aim at corrupt governments and American ignorance in favour of bigger, bad-der enemies like… Cartoony eighties street gangs and college protestors.
The once-daring horror director has been relegated to predictable flops like Death Wish and The Green Inferno, his sharp edge dulled by years of over-indulgence. Although credit where it’s due, The House With the Clock in its Walls did seem to hint at some untapped potential as a kid’s filmmaker. Maybe Goosebumps Three is the career revival Roth needs.