Horror Roundtable - Week Sixty-Three
Name a horror director or actor who has left the genre who you would like to see return.
Not exactly a horror director per se, but I for one would like to see what horror looks like to Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige). I think he would have an interesting take on any horror subject and would certainly bring new focus and life to the genre.
Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat
Peter Jackson. His most full-fledged horror efforts were firmly in a splatstick/horror-comedy vein, and it’s only in films like Heavenly Creatures, The Lord of the Rings, and King Kong that we’ve seen his real ability to frighten and horrify, as well as one of the boldest horror imaginations in the cinema. I’d love to see him go all out.
I’d love to see Mark Rosman, who directed the superior 1983 slasher House on Sorority Row, return to horror. He’s been working on stuff aimed at tweens, like Lizzie McGuire ever for years now. House, in fact, seems to be his only foray into the scary stuff.
Same goes for George Mihalka, who helmed My Bloody Valentine in ‘81. It’s one of my favorite slasher films, and I’d love to get something new from the director.
I’m waiting anxiously for the day the awesome Amy Steel returns to horror. I’m on pins and needles, I tells ya!
Jeff O’Brien
David Cronenberg.
The directors whom I’d most like to see return to horror have all had a very good excuse for ending their careers, but any method that could allow Alfred Hitchcock, Don Dohler or even Ed Wood to resume making movies would probably have some very problematic unintended consequences.
So now that we’ve discounted the dead, allow me to ask this: Whither Peter Jackson? With the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and to a lesser extent with King Kong, he’s proven himself a master of big-budget, epic fantasy action and adventure, and this is a niche we need someone to fill now that George Lucas has proven himself senile and Steven Spielberg just doesn’t seem to give a crap anymore. I certainly don’t begrudge Mr. Jackson his recent success. But at the same time, I miss the Peter Jackson of the ’80s and ’90s, the young Peter Jackson, the utterly and gleefully mad Peter Jackson, the Peter Jackson who could fill a screen with a comic gorefest like Braindead or a gross-out extravaganza like Meet the Feebles. If I could, I’d give Jackson a hundred thousand dollars, a digital camera and a swimming pool full of fake blood, and tell him to go have fun. I think he’s still got it in him.
Unfortunately because of the horror celebrity culture that has bloomed over the last 10 years, there’s almost no one who’s a big name in the genre who hasn’t become reconnected with it in some way. Sometimes it works out great, but some times it turns out that they should have stayed where they were. For me though, I would love to see John Carpenter, specifically circa 1983, resurface again. I know he’s got some stuff in the pipeline, and he’s done some Masters of Horror stuff, but to see him continue along the lines of “Halloween,” “The Fog,” and “The Thing” would be pretty amazing. He could show the “shock and awe” filmmakers of today a thing or two about good old fashioned suspense.
Is Larry Cohen a good enough answer? He’s been writing some awesome high-concept screenplays for films like CELLULAR and, um, PHONE BOOTH, but I would love to see him return to directing gritty, low-budget classics that have ingenious ideas and twists. He did it with films like IT’S ALIVE, THE STUFF and GOD TOLD ME TO, I’m sure that if he got a little funding he oculd get back in the game. His creativity is sorely missed.
Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir
Jeez, it’s tough to think of anyone aside from Raimi or Cronenberg, really, which says a lot about the ability of filmmakers either not being able to escape the genre or not wanting to. I’d love to see another genre pic from John D. Hancock, who made one of the coolest and most atmospheric flicks out there, 1971’s Let’s Scare Jessica to Death.
There are also a whack of Canadian guys who made cool horror pics back in the day that kinda disappeared down the made-for-TV rabbit hole. Namely William Fruet (Death Weekend), George Mihalka (My Bloody Valentine) and Sandor Stern (Pin).
Or what about the Fulci guy? He really hasn’t been up to much lately. Hmmm….
Can I get a new Sam Raimi horror movie? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease? Now that he’s made his billions off of Spiderman Underoos, I think it’s high time he set about causing children to crap in them. From being scared, that is.
I have to mention Philip Ridley even though he’s not a typical horror director. He’s only made two feature films in the past 18 years (The Reflecting Skin and The Passion of Darkly Noon), but I think he’s an amazing talent and I really wish he would make more movies. I honestly think his film The Reflecting Skin is one of the greatest horror films made in the past 20 years, but it’s an unconventional movie that seems to confuse critics and divide audiences.
David Z. - Tomb It May Concern
The last few years have already seen the return of Lamberto Bava (with Ghost Son and The Torturer), so I’m going to go with Michele Soavi. He has been plenty active in the last few years, but has not had any films that feature people being smashed by trains until their face resembles the consistency of oatmeal while trying to escape a demon possessed church in a while.
Of course, I live in hope that Al Festa (Fatal Frames) will make a triumphant comeback as well.
What does it say that know one chose the ‘actor’ option? Won’t somebody show some love to the actors in the comments below? Thanks, as always, to the stalwart members of the roundtable. If you’ve never visited their respective sites you’re really missing out. Why are you still reading this? Go.
September 7th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Hey, I said Amy Steel!
There were rumors she’d make an appearance in Halloween 9 when there was talk of a forthcoming Halloween 9, and I was all excited. There’s no reason for Halloween 9 to exist, but if she were in it I’d be the first in line.
Halloween 9.
September 7th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Oh, sure. As an afterthought! Some friend of Amy Steel you turned out to be.
September 8th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Soavi! Great one! Love to see him back in the horror game.
And after seeing the new Argento flick the other night, I’m tempted to pick him…
What the hell happened Dario?
September 9th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
With so many current directors trying to adopt the attitude of the grindhouse favorites of the ’70s and ’80s, it’d be great to see what the real deal like William Lustig could bring to movies today. Sure, his last outing with Uncle Sam (1997) wasn’t all that great but Maniac (1980) and the first two Maniac Cop movies (1988, 1990) are still terrific and I also have fond memories of Lustig’s Relentless (1989) with cops Leo Rossi and Robert Loggia chasing down serial killer Judd Nelson.
Mother’s Day (1980) is one of the wildest and most subversive slasher films of its day. I wish director Charles Kaufman had stuck with the genre a little bit more. I’d definitely like to see him come back one day for an encore.
Street Trash (1987) remains one of the best horror debuts ever and one of the last classic splatter films of the ’80s and even though Jim Muro has gone on to a brilliant career elsewhere in the industry, I wish Street Trash wasn’t destined to remain his one and only directing credit.
Frank LaLoggia’s absence is genuinely heartbreaking. His Fear No Evil (1981) and Lady in White (1988) are both examples of confident, heartfelt filmmaking and yet it’s been almost twenty years now since LaLoggia’s last feature. I have no idea what’s kept him away all this time - whether it’s disillusionment, a lack of support, or health issues - but I’d love to see him make something new.
Two bigger names I’d like to see return to the genre are Kathryn Bigelow and Oliver Stone. Bigelow’s Near Dark (1987) looks more stunning to me every time I go back to it and I think Stone’s early work in horror - Seizure (1974) and The Hand (1981) - are two of his most interesting and overlooked films. Especially Seizure, which seriously needs to be released on DVD.
Oh yeah, and I second the return of Amy Steel - best Friday the 13th girl ever!