Key horror directors

There are many famous and iconic directors in the horror industry who each are known as auteurs as they impact the film so much. Here are a few examples over the most well know directors.

Tobe Hopper

Tobe Hopper is arguably the most successful horror director and writer of all time. His career started with the great success of Texas Chainsaw Massarce, a film which changed the horror genre in the 1970's. This was because it originated many commonly used elements in horror/slasher such as using power tools as weapons and the characterization of a killer being large, bulky and faceless. It was also a such a hit as it was one of the first films of its time to have real life events influence the story such as the protagonist, Leatherface, being based on a known killer Ed Gein.  He then went on to create other horror films which weren't as successful until he produced Poltergeist which too was very successful and is now known as a horror classic and too received many rewards.

Alfred Hitchcock

Not exactly known as a pure horror director but he directed many of the first horror films such as Psycho, The Birds and Frenzy which for their time (1960-72) were great successes. Hitchcock was an auteur of horror. He came known as the 'Master of suspense' through his use of editing and framework to maximise anxiety and fear within the audience. He also had a trademark style of his own in which the movement of the camera mimics the gaze of a character which made the audience engage in a form of voyeurism. He also set the stereotype of having a ditzy blonde female character as victim and a thrilling plot twist at the end which now are very well known and recognised in the horror industry.

George Romero

George Romero is most famous for defining the modern day zombie image worldwide. Previously zombies had no consistent image of how they were portrayed and were hardly seen in the film industry until George came up with the cannibalistic corpse like image we all now know. He tried branching out and directed a tonnes of films over career but zombie/apocalyptic films were his greatest success with films such as the Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. For his work in the Zombie subgenre George is known as the 'Godfather of the Dead'.

Wes Craven

Wes Craven has been given the title 'Master of Horror' for his work on the incredibly successful horror series of The Nightmare On Elms Street and Scream. His work was a great influence in the horror genre especially for his characterisation of Freddy Kruger and the scream faces which are both commonly known worldwide for being the signifiers of horror. Wes was a great auteur within his films with his particular film styles which came across in most of his work. These were things such as the Nightmare series exploring the nature of reality like dreams. Scream too has its influences as it is a comedy mixed with a horror which is the first of its time and references other pieces of horror text within it which too was never done before.