12. Fritz Lang
One of the founding fathers of German cinema, Fritz Lang helped usher in German Expressionist cinema, resulting in one of the richest periods in film history. After the Nazi's came to power in the 30's, Lang fled to Hollywood where he became one of its leading directors of film noirs. During the 1920's, Lang created some of the most unique works of the time, including a series on the fictional Dr. Mabuse, the five hour epic Die Nibelungen, the first great sci-fi film and also most expensive film ever made at that time in Metropolis, and the first serial killer movie in 1931's M. After running into trouble with the rigid censorship of Nazi Germany, even though he impressed Goebbels enough to be offered the leadership of the Nazi film industry, Lang fled to France where he made one film before moving to Hollywood. While he never quite achieved the same level of quality in Hollywood's constricting studio system, he still made minor classics such as Fury, Ministry of Fear, and most notable 1953's The Big Heat. In addition to pioneering German expressionism, Lang had incalculable influence on two of today's most popular film genres: Science fiction and horror. With Metropolis, Lang set the standard for how sci-fi should look, impacting films like Blade Runner, Tim Burton's Batman, Dark City and many others. In addition, Metropolis popularized the idea of the "crazy scientist" that has pervaded so many subsequent films. With M, Lang influenced almost every horror movie since, both for his use of musical motifs for individual characters to its use of a somewhat sympathetic villain. Few directors in history have ever influenced more movies and at his best, there have only been a few with more talent.