The Master of Horror
by The-Social-Introvert | created - 13 May 2015 | updated - 30 Dec 2016 | PublicOver the years movie-goers have been gifted with a number of talented directors who specialize in terrifying their audiences, whether it be with ghosts, monsters or, in some cases, shower curtains.
Which director out of the following options (nominated by IMDB's poll board members) do you think most deserves to be called The Master of Horror?
Note: Each director must have at least 3 titles that are judged to be 'Horror' by IMDB. Only movies are counted - no TV shows or Shorts
Discuss the list here
1. John Carpenter
Writer | The Fog
John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky ...
Notable Horror Films:
Halloween, Someone's Watching Me, The Fog, The Thing, Christine, Prince of Darkness, In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Vampires, The Ward
(Chosen by The-Social-Introvert)
2. Mario Bava
Cinematographer | Ecologia del delitto
Italian director Mario Bava was born on July 31, 1914 in the coastal northern Italian town of Sanremo. His father, Eugenio Bava (1886-1966), was a cinematographer in the early days of the Italian film industry. Bava was trained as a painter, and when he eventually followed his father into film ...
Notable Horror Films:
The Evil Eye, Black Sabbath, Kill Baby, Kill, A Bay of Blood, Baron Blood, Black Sunday, Blood Brides, Planet of the Vampires, Blood and Black Lace
(Chosen by albstein)
3. James Whale
Director | Bride of Frankenstein
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his four classic horror films: Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). He also directed films in other genres, including what is ...
Notable Horror Films:
Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein
(Chosen by DoctorBuster)
4. Terence Fisher
Director | Dracula
Terence Fisher was born in Maida Vale, England, in 1904. Raised by his grandmother in a strict Christian Scientist environment, Fisher left school while still in his teens to join the Merchant Marine. By his own account he soon discovered that a life at sea was not for him, so he left the service ...
Notable Horror Films:
The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Mummy, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, The Brides of Dracula, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Island of Terror, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
(Chosen by misspaddylee)
5. Jaume Balagueró
Director | [Rec]
Jaume Balagueró was born on November 2, 1968 in Lleida, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for REC (2007), Sleep Tight (2011) and The Nameless (1999).
Notable Horror Films:
The Nameless, Darkness, Fragile, [Rec], [Rec] 2, Sleep Tight, [REC] 4: Apocalypse
(Chosen by Drevnibor)
6. Guillermo del Toro
Writer | El laberinto del fauno
Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his ...
Notable Horror Films:
Cronos, Mimic, The Devil's Backbone, Blade II, Crimson Peak
(Chosen by Kareem_reds)
7. David Cronenberg
Actor | The Fly
David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of Blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father, Milton Cronenberg, was a journalist and editor, and his mother, Esther (Sumberg), was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early...
Notable Horror Films:
Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, The Dead Zone, The Fly, Dead Ringers, eXistenZ
(Chosen by kobe_q)
8. James Wan
Writer | Saw
James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010)...
Notable Horror Films:
Saw, Dead Silence, Insidious, The Conjuring, Insidious: Chapter 2
(Chosen by Dibyayan_Chakravorty)
9. Wes Craven
Writer | A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold vision.
Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Caroline (Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He had a midwestern suburban upbringing. His first feature film was The Last House on ...
Notable Horror Films:
The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, New Nightmare, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Scream, Swamp Thing, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4
(Chosen by Nightcrawler_505)
10. George A. Romero
Writer | Land of the Dead
George A. Romero never set out to become a Hollywood figure; by all indications, though, he was very successful. The director of the groundbreaking "Living Dead" films was born February 4, 1940 ,in New York City to Ann (Dvorsky) and Jorge Romero. His father was born in Spain and raised in Cuba, and...
Notable Horror Films: The Crazies, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, Survival of the Dead, Martin, Bruiser
11. Dario Argento
Writer | Profondo rosso
Dario Argento was born on September 7, 1940, in Rome, Italy, the first-born son of famed Italian producer Salvatore Argento and Brazilian fashion model Elda Luxardo. Argento recalls getting his ideas for filmmaking from his close-knit family from Italian folk tales told by his parents and other ...
Notable Horror Films: Deep Red, Suspiria, Inferno, Tenebre, Phenomena, Opera, Trauma, The Stendhal Syndrome, Sleepless, The Card Player
12. Sam Raimi
Director | Spider-Man
Highly inventive U.S. film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film, The Evil Dead (1981). From his childhood, Raimi was a fan of the cinema and, before he was ten-years-old, he was out making ...
Notable Horror Films: The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, Drag Me to Hell
13. Tod Browning
Director | Dracula
Belonging to a well-situated family, Charles Browning fell in love at the age of 16 with a dancer of a circus. Following her began his itinerary of being clown, jockey and director of a variety theater which ended when he met D.W. Griffith and became an actor. He made his debut in Intolerance (1916)...
Notable Horror Films: The Unknown, Dracula, Freaks Mark of the Vampire
14. Lucio Fulci
Writer | Lo squartatore di New York
Lucio Fulci, born in Rome in 1927, remains as controversial in death as he was in life. A gifted craftsman with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of dark humor, Fulci achieved some measure of notoriety for his gore epics of the late 1970s and early 1980s, but respect was long in coming.
Abandoning ...
Notable Horror Films: Don't Torture a Duckling, Zombie, City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, The House by the Cemetery, The New York Ripper, The Black Cat
15. Roman Polanski
Director | Chinatown
Roman Polanski is a Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few truly international filmmakers. Roman Polanski was born in Paris in 1933.
His parents returned to Poland from France in 1936, three years ...
Notable Horror Films: Repulsion, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Rosemary's Baby
16. Tobe Hooper
Director | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Honored with many awards for his films and achievement in the horror genre, Tobe Hooper is truly one of the Masters of Horror (2005).
Tobe Hooper was born in Austin, Texas, to Lois Belle (Crosby) and Norman William Ray Hooper, who owned a theater in San Angelo. He spent the 1960s as a college ...
Notable Horror Films: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Eaten Alive, Salem's Lot, The Funhouse, Poltergeist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Djinn
17. William Castle
Director | Homicidal
William Castle was born on April 24, 1914 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Homicidal (1961), House on Haunted Hill (1959) and The Lady from Shanghai (1947). He was married to Ellen. He died on May 31, 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Notable Horror Films: The Night Walker, 13 Ghosts, House on Haunted Hill, Mr. Sardonicus
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