10 Greatest Horror Movie Directors Of All Time
1. Wes Craven
Notable films: The Last House On The Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream franchise
While Lucio Fulci was known as the Godfather of Gore and Dario Argento the Master of the Thrill, there can only be one true Master of Horror, and few would dispute Wes Craven's claim to the title. A prolific filmmaker, Craven's career spans the beginnings of the cult horror era of the early 1970s right up to the wave of ironic meta-horror films which dominated the 1990s.
Responsible for not one but three successful franchises (beginning with The Hills Have Eyes closely followed by A Nightmare On Elm Street and later the Scream series), his filmography is made up of several other stand alone horror films which are widely recognised as classics of the genre, including The Last House On The Left and The People Under The Stairs.
Most horror filmmakers consider themselves to be very lucky to have created one iconic movie villain which enters the public zeitgeist - Craven gave audiences two reasons to be afraid of the dark with Elm Street's Freddy Krueger and the amorphous Ghostface.
No other horror filmmaker has succeeded in both creating and subverting the genre as effectively - and with such a permanent influence - as Wes Craven.