10 Unsung Film Directors Who Never Get Their Due

5. Mary Lambert

For one to appreciate Ms. Lambert, it helps to be a Stephen King fan of a certain age. Back in the 80s, every book or story he cranked out was adapted into a movie before the ink on the original manuscript was dry. More often than not, those adaptations were largely disappointing, or strayed so far from the source material that they were Stephen King films in-name-only (including The Shining). Pet Sematary gained some advance publicity for being the one novel King claimed he was reluctant to publish because he personally found it so disturbing. At first, his good friend George A. Romero was slated to direct the inevitable movie, but the task was eventually handed to the relatively unknown Mary Lambert (whose only real credits were the murky thriller, Siesta, and a few music videos). To further appreciate Ms. Lambert, think about what she was facing back them - an unknown director, taking-on what is arguably one of King€™s most brutal stories, not-to-mention being a woman working in a genre that had always been (and still is, to some extent) a boys-only club. While Pet Sematary is not a great horror film, it was easily the most-faithful adaptation of King€™s work at the time, pulling absolutely no punches in its depiction of tragedy, violence and the loss of a child. Unlike The Shining, Christine, Cujo or Firestarter, Pet Sematary was truly disturbing. The film was a worldwide hit, and Lambert parlayed that success by frequently revisiting the horror genre throughout her career, one of the few female directors to do so (even though her work has sucked, including the god-awful sequel, Pet Sematary Two).