3 Famous Horror Directors

As part of our preliminary tasks one activity was to research 3 famous directors within our chosen genre. I decided to research William Friedkin, John Carpenter and Wes Craven. Choosing directors was not particularly easy. However I based my decision on horror movies i enjoy and believe were effective in playing with my fears.

William Friedkin

^·          Was born in the ‘Slums’ of Chicago on the 29^th August 1935 

^·          William came from a poor background but got his inspiration from sneaking into cinemas to watch films.

^·          After he completed high school William he acquired his first position in the entertainment industry in Chicago WGN. This position was directing television as well as making documentaries.  

^·          The French Connection was his first hit, which was a success on the basis of his innovative thinking.

^·          He directed the film The Exorcist which is known to be one of the greatest horror films according to ‘thetimeout.com’ which received 10 Oscar nominations.

^·          William also directed many other films such as Deal of the Century, however he soon realised horror was were his success lied. And then returned with the film ‘The Guardian’.

John Carpenter

·         In the film industry John has several roles, for example a director, actor, producer and screenwriter.

·         He was born on 16^th January 1948 in New York City.

·         Whilst growing up John was fascinated by horror films which inspired him to study filmmaking.

·         John studied at Western Kentucky University and USC Film School in LA.

·          He directed films of many genres such as Sci-fi and Romance but horror was his best.

·         In 1978 John directed ‘Halloween’ which was a massive success which was having said to come from using “cheap scares” effectively.

·         Fans described many of his films to be “entertaining as ever”.

·         He early 2000 John began to remake many films including ‘Halloween’.

·         A few years ago he has returned, directing the film –The Ward

Wes Craven

·         Was born in 2^nd August 1939 born in Ohio, USA.

·         Is a very iconic director who is clever at genre bending and innovative horror.

·         Wes first feature film was of The Last House Left which was directed in 1972.

·         A few years later he wrote and directed the film ‘Nightmare on Elf Street which reunited youths with the fear of the genre.

·         In 1996 Wes won the Best Movie award for his film – Scream which grossed over 100 million, releasing him to a new level of success.

·         In 2009, Wes remade a film of The Last House Left

·         His most recent film was a sequel of the ‘Scream’ movies directing a fourth one in  2011.