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I feel it's past time we had this discussion in it's own thread. I understand it has come up from time to time in the daily chats etc.
But anyways, Here is my list of best (and worst) Horror film directors. I'm sure I am missing several names who deserve to be on the list.

The GOATS:

John Carpenter
Alfred Hitchcock
David Cronenberg
Joe Dante (very underrated imo)
Dario Argento
Stanley Kubrick

Mid Tier:

Wes Craven
Sam Rami
Tobe Hooper
Lucio Fulci
Peter Jackson
Mike Flanagan
James Wan
George Romero
Zach Snyder
Mario Bava
David Lynch

The Worst:

Uwe Boll
Rob Zombie
Eli Roth
M Night Shyamalan

In my ranking Craven,Hooper and Romero would be top tier

Tiggnutz wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 9:45 am In my ranking Craven, Hooper and Romero would be top tier

I like them but they had too many duds for me to place them with Carpenter, Cronenberg and the others.
Romero specifically had several films that didn't live up to the hype.

wes craven is my favorite. i don't know how to rank the others.

ANOES, The People Under the Stairs, Deadly Blessing, and The Last House on the Left are my favorite Craven films.

that is at least as many horror films as some of your top tier did altogether.

Yeah, some selections have me questioning criteria. Kubrick is a great director, only did 1 horror movie. Snyder's only done 1.5 (Army of the Dead was more action/comedy). Jackson's best work is not in the horror genre.

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:08 am that is at least as many horror films as some of your top tier did altogether.

Carpenter has several hits. The Fog, Prince of Darkness, The Thing, Vampires, In the Mouth of Madness, Halloween, They Live, Christine.
Cronenberg same thing. Shivers, The Fly, Videodrome, Scanners, Dead Ringers, The Dead Zone.

Perhaps Dante shouldn't be on my top tier list. But I give him huge props for The Howling and Gremlins alone.

I like Craven but he has a lot of hits and misses imo.

carpenter and cronenberg deserve the respect, without doubt.

Reign in Blood wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:21 am Yeah, some selections have me questioning criteria. Kubrick is a great director, only did 1 horror movie. Snyder's only done 1.5 (Army of the Dead was more action/comedy). Jackson's best work is not in the horror genre.

There is no criteria, my list is made up of my own opinion as should yours and everyone else. Is purely subjective anyways.

Jackson is listed due to Dead Alive alone.
Kubrick same thing, Because of his work with The Shining.
Snyder did the Dawn of the Dead remake.

where would you rank stuart gordon, takashi miike, frank henenlotter?

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:31 am where would you rank stuart gordon, takashi miike, frank henenlotter?

Frank, outside of Basket Case (which I did enjoy) I can't think of anything else he did that stood out to me.

Gordon, I love Dolls. Re-Animator, and From Beyond. So Yeah, I would place him in the Second Tier.

As for Takashi I am not familiar with his work.

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:35 am

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:31 am where would you rank stuart gordon, takashi miike, frank henenlotter?

Frank, outside of Basket Case (which I did enjoy) I can't think of anything else he did that stood out to me.

Gordon, I love Dolls. Re-Animator, and From Beyond. So Yeah, I would place him in the Second Tier.

As for Takashi I am not familiar with his work.

if you haven't seen them, check out brain damage and frankenhooker? if you have, give a rewatch!

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:25 am

Reign in Blood wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:21 am Yeah, some selections have me questioning criteria. Kubrick is a great director, only did 1 horror movie. Snyder's only done 1.5 (Army of the Dead was more action/comedy). Jackson's best work is not in the horror genre.

There is no criteria, my list is made up of my own opinion as should yours and everyone else. Is purely subjective anyways.

Jackson is listed due to Dead Alive alone.
Kubrick same thing, Because of his work with The Shining.
Snyder did the Dawn of the Dead remake.

A Nightmare on Elm Street made your top 25 of all time, none of those films did.

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:37 am

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:35 am

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:31 am where would you rank stuart gordon, takashi miike, frank henenlotter?

Frank, outside of Basket Case (which I did enjoy) I can't think of anything else he did that stood out to me.

Gordon, I love Dolls. Re-Animator, and From Beyond. So Yeah, I would place him in the Second Tier.

As for Takashi I am not familiar with his work.

if you haven't seen them, check out brain damage and frankenhooker? if you have, give a rewatch!

I've heard of Brain Damage, I'll have to check it out. The other one sounds like a comedy.

Reign in Blood wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:41 am

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:25 am

Reign in Blood wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:21 am Yeah, some selections have me questioning criteria. Kubrick is a great director, only did 1 horror movie. Snyder's only done 1.5 (Army of the Dead was more action/comedy). Jackson's best work is not in the horror genre.

There is no criteria, my list is made up of my own opinion as should yours and everyone else. Is purely subjective anyways.

Jackson is listed due to Dead Alive alone.
Kubrick same thing, Because of his work with The Shining.
Snyder did the Dawn of the Dead remake.

A Nightmare on Elm Street made your top 25 of all time, none of those films did.

Are you saying those directors shouldn't be listed because those films weren't on that 25 list?

The Shining has stood the test of time well, same with Dead Alive imo. An argument could be made for and/or against the Dawn remake.
But all three films are good regardless of them being on my personal list or not. I gave those directors props for their work.

What about your directors list? Who do you feel is the best / worst?

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:44 am

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:37 am

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:35 am

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:31 am where would you rank stuart gordon, takashi miike, frank henenlotter?

Frank, outside of Basket Case (which I did enjoy) I can't think of anything else he did that stood out to me.

Gordon, I love Dolls. Re-Animator, and From Beyond. So Yeah, I would place him in the Second Tier.

As for Takashi I am not familiar with his work.

if you haven't seen them, check out brain damage and frankenhooker? if you have, give a rewatch!

I've heard of Brain Damage, I'll have to check it out. The other one sounds like a comedy.

gremlins sounds like a comedy too.

it is probably more comedy than horror. but i think it counts narrowly.

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:48 am

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:44 am

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:37 am

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:35 am

zombie wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:31 am where would you rank stuart gordon, takashi miike, frank henenlotter?

Frank, outside of Basket Case (which I did enjoy) I can't think of anything else he did that stood out to me.

Gordon, I love Dolls. Re-Animator, and From Beyond. So Yeah, I would place him in the Second Tier.

As for Takashi I am not familiar with his work.

if you haven't seen them, check out brain damage and frankenhooker? if you have, give a rewatch!

I've heard of Brain Damage, I'll have to check it out. The other one sounds like a comedy.

gremlins sounds like a comedy too.

it is probably more comedy than horror. but i think it counts narrowly.

The first Gremlins was a blend of both IMO. The sequel... ugh

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:48 am

Reign in Blood wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:41 am

Lazerus wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:25 am

Reign in Blood wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:21 am Yeah, some selections have me questioning criteria. Kubrick is a great director, only did 1 horror movie. Snyder's only done 1.5 (Army of the Dead was more action/comedy). Jackson's best work is not in the horror genre.

There is no criteria, my list is made up of my own opinion as should yours and everyone else. Is purely subjective anyways.

Jackson is listed due to Dead Alive alone.
Kubrick same thing, Because of his work with The Shining.
Snyder did the Dawn of the Dead remake.

A Nightmare on Elm Street made your top 25 of all time, none of those films did.

Are you saying those directors shouldn't be listed because those films weren't on that 25 list?

The Shining has stood the test of time well, same with Dead Alive imo. An argument could be made for and/or against the Dawn remake.
But all three films are good regardless of them being on my personal list or not. I gave those directors props for their work.

What about your directors list? Who do you feel is the best / worst?

I'm just trying to see the reasoning, Craven should be on your GOAT list seeing how the 1 Kubrick horror movie didn't rank, but I guess you value Kubrick overall as a director much more.

Criteria does form the list, like with Jackson, I don't like Dead Alive but LotR is brilliant, so should he make GOAT?

My list for now would have the triple C's Carpenter, Craven and Cronenberg as GOATs. Fulci on the worst for sure, throw the rest in between.

I'm sensing some issues with my placement Kubrick and Jackson on this list. I could care less that they had 1 horror film or 100. The Shining is a classic and Dead Alive (aka Braindead) is just a fucking crazy ass movie. I know Jackson's best were outside of horror but still, that film is nuts!