10 Horror Movie Directors That Quit The Genre
9. Craig Gillespie (Fright Night 2011)
Whilst some of the filmmakers listed here jumped ship on the horror genre when they saw bigger budgets available elsewhere, credit is due to the helmer of 2011's underrated Fright Night remake. Mr Woodcock director Craig Gillespie had recently directed the strange, offbeat indie Lars and the Real Girl with Ryan Gosling when he signed on to shoot this remake of 1985's fun teen horror comedy Fright Night.
And he did a superb job, managing to make one of the few horror remakes which, alongside Alexandre Aja's 2010 Pirahna 3D, deserves to share the title of its original.
The Fright Night re-do made the genius move of casting heartthrob Colin Farrell as the vampiric neighbourhood charmer who, along with the late great Anton Yelchin, invigorated the flick with verve and edgy intensity. Add in a supporting cast including Imogen Poots and McLovin himself Christopher Mintz Plasse and the film couldn't fail to provide a bright, effective blast of horror comedy fun.
So whatever became of post-horror Gillespie?
Nothing much, just helming Wolf of Wall Street star Margot Robbie's best performance of her career in the blackly comic, brutally beautiful unconventional biopic I, Tonya.