Most promising young directors
by cutmangary | created - 17 Mar 2015 | updated - 17 Mar 2015 | PublicHere's a list of some of the most promising young directors - mainly in horror. In no specific order.
1. Adam Wingard
Director | V/H/S
At 19 Adam got his start in feature film making early with his directorial debut Home Sick, a slasher horror film starring Bill Moseley and Tom Toweles. However it was his second effort at 24 years old with the film Pop Skull that garnered him a talent to watch. Made for a budget of around 2000 ...
2. Simon Barrett
Writer | You're Next
Simon Barrett A Horror Writer Day And Night And A Director As Well Is Most Notably Known For Working Alongside Friends And Fellow Film Aficionados Adam Wingard, LC Holt, Lane Hughes, Ti West & Joe Swanberg. His Most Popular Films (Horror) Are You're Next, V.H.S, V.H.S 2, Blair Witch (2016) And Dead...
3. Marcel Sarmiento
Director | The ABCs of Death
Marcel Sarmiento is known for The ABCs of Death (2012), Totem (2017) and Deadgirl (2008).
4. Kevin Kölsch
Director | Starry Eyes
Kevin Kölsch is known for Starry Eyes (2014), Pet Sematary (2019) and Holidays (2016).
5. Dennis Widmyer
Director | Pet Sematary
Dennis Widmyer graduated from Long Island University's film program in 1999 with four short films and five feature film scripts under his belt. Within a year he began production assistant work on small independent films. In 2000 he graduated to working on studio films and served as an art ...
6. Glenn McQuaid
Producer | V/H/S
Writer director Glenn McQuaid was born and raised in North County Dublin, Ireland. After working as both a visual effects artist and art director in the advertising world, McQuaid's first foray in cinema came about when he coordinated the visual effects on Ti West's The Roost as well as Larry ...
7. Kevin Kopacka
Director | Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes
Kevin Kopacka is an Austrian / Sri Lankan painter and director.
He grew up in Graz, Austria and moved to Berlin, Germany in 2006. In 2007 he started his studies of Fine Art at the University of Arts, Berlin in the class of the Japanese artist Leiko Ikemura. He graduated as Master Student in 2012.
His...
8. Leigh Janiak
Director | Fear Street: 1994
Leigh Janiak is a film director and screenwriter born on February 1, 1980 in Ohio, USA. She is the daughter of Karen L. Janiak and Nestor K. Janiak of Mentor, Ohio, USA. Her feature film directorial debut was horror/mystery Honeymoon (2014) starring Rose Leslie from Game of Thrones (2011), and ...
9. Lawrie Brewster
Producer | Automata
Lawrie Brewster is a Scottish Director and Producer with a penchant for the strange and the macabre. His debut release Lord of Tears was released to critical acclaim winning rave reviews from FEARnet, Bloody Disgusting and Ain't it Cool News. Lawrie s perhaps best known for his work creating the ...
10. Mike Flanagan
Writer | The Fall of the House of Usher
Mike Flanagan is a prolific writer, director, and editor. He entered into an exclusive overall deal with Amazon Studios in 2023 for television projects (after a similar exclusive deal with Netflix from 2018-2022), and has made feature films for Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Netflix and more. ...
11. Nicholas McCarthy
Writer | The Pact
Nicholas McCarthy is known for The Pact (2012), At the Devil's Door (2014) and The Prodigy (2019).
12. Jonas Govaerts
Director | Welp
Jonas Govaerts is known for Cub (2014), Hazard (2022) and Forever (2005).
13. Jeremy Saulnier
Cinematographer | Blue Ruin
Jeremy Saulnier has slyly defined a unique cinematic aesthetic that complements his idiosyncratic narrative premises. His sophomore feature, Blue Ruin (2013) a quirky, crime drama set in a pretty, but grimier part of suburban America was a festival darling and supplanted his name within the ...
14. Joe Stauffer
Cinematographer | Pieces of Talent
Joe Stauffer is known for Pieces of Talent (2014) and The Sasqualogist (2024).
15. Zack Parker
Producer | Scalene
A native of the Midwest, Zack Parker is originally from the small town of Richmond, Indiana where he began making films at age 11. Acquiring a deep passion and interest in film as he grew, Zack went on to study filmmaking at Ball State University in Muncie, IN and later at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA. ...
16. Hélène Cattet
Director | Amer
Hélène Cattet was born in 1976 in Paris, France. She is a director and writer, known for Amer (2009), The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (2013) and Let the Corpses Tan (2017).
17. Bruno Forzani
Director | Amer
Bruno Forzani is known for Amer (2009), The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (2013) and Let the Corpses Tan (2017).
18. Peter Strickland
Director | Katalin Varga
Peter Strickland was born in 1973 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Katalin Varga (2009), In Fabric (2018) and Berberian Sound Studio (2012).
19. Jorge Michel Grau
Director | Somos lo que hay
Jorge Michel Grau obtains a B.A. in Communication from the National Autonomous University of Mexico from 1994-1998 and then graduates with honors in Film Direction from the Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica (CCC); in his professional career he has started as a producer of documentaries and ...
20. Pascal Laugier
Director | Ghostland
Pascal Laugier was born on October 16, 1971 in France. He is a director and writer, known for Incident in a Ghostland (2018), Martyrs (2008) and The Tall Man (2012).
21. Sean Byrne
Director | The Loved Ones
Sean hails from Hobart, Tasmania. The Loved Ones (2009) is his first feature and has achieved official selection at over twenty international film festivals, winning the People's Choice Award, Midnight Madness Category, Toronto International Film Festival (2009) and The Siren Award for Best ...
22. Jennifer Kent
Director | The Nightingale
Jennifer Kent was born on March 5, 1969 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. She is an actress and director, known for The Nightingale (2018), The Babadook (2014) and Monster (2005).
23. Adrian Garcia Bogliano
Director | Late Phases
Adrian Garcia Bogliano was born on July 4, 1980 in Madrid, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for Night of the Wolf (2014), Here Comes the Devil (2012) and Come Play with Me (2021).
24. Gerard Johnstone
Writer | Housebound
Gerard Johnstone is known for Housebound (2014), The Jaquie Brown Diaries (2008) and M3GAN (2022).
25. Adam Robitel
Director | The Taking
Adam graduated from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.
Robitel's latest film, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, has recently been released to the delight of Escape Room fans. His three last films have been theatrical releases and have grossed 370 million dollars ...
26. E.L. Katz
Director | Cheap Thrills
E.L. Katz got his start in the industry working as a horror/music journalist for While You Were Sleeping, Fangoria, Creature-Corner, and Life Sucks Die.
After graduating Full Sail Film School in Orlando, he collaborated with acclaimed director Adam Wingard on several features as a screenwriter/...
27. John Erick Dowdle
Writer | No Escape
John grew up in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. After graduating St. Thomas Academy, an all-boys, military, Catholic highschool, John moved to Iowa City to attend the University of Iowa. There he would make the move from writing to film. Two years later, John moved to Manhattan to attend NYU's film ...
28. Andy Muschietti
Director | Mama
Andy Muschietti was born on August 26, 1973 in Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina. He is a producer and director, known for Mama (2013), It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019).
29. David Robert Mitchell
Writer | It Follows
David Robert Mitchell is an American director mainly known for the breakout horror film ''It Follows'' which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2014. in 2002, Mitchell wrote and directed ''Virgin'' a short film featuring Carolina Castro and Cameron Diskin about a local legend...
30. Scott Derrickson
Producer | The Black Phone
Scott Derrickson is an American filmmaker who is known for directing horror films such as Deliver Us from Evil, Hellraiser: Inferno, Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. He also directed the superhero film Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch. He decided not to direct Doctor Strange in ...
31. Fede Alvarez
Writer | Don't Breathe
Fede Alvarez was born on February 9, 1978 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He is a writer and producer, known for Don't Breathe (2016), Evil Dead (2013) and The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018).
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