10 Greatest Directorial Debut Sci-Fi Movies

19 years after it's initial release, Donnie Darko is still heralded as one of the great cult-classics, and rightly so. With it's moody atmosphere, off-kilter characters and surreal narrative, Richard Kelly's blend of coming of age drama with cerebral sci-fi was an excellent first outing for the director.

After surviving a freak aeroplane accident, protagonist Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) begins to have bizarre visions of a man in a creepy rabbit suit named Frank who's heralding an oncoming apocalypse. On paper it shouldn't work as a film, but thanks to Kelly's direction and a superb performance from a young Jake Gyllenhaal it somehow manages to pull it off.

The film was very nearly a box-office bomb, as due to the 9/11 attacks just a month prior it was scarcely advertised, especially due to the plane crash being an integral part of the story. Luckily its release on home video helped it develop a huge cult following, and in turn allowed Kelly to creator a Director's Cut for the film, a feat that's very rare for films with an unsuccessful box office performance.