THE cult film maker, the one, the only Mr John Howard Carpenter!
Born January 16th, 1948.
Credits are as follows;
The Thing (Kurt Russell, a remake-better than the original)
Escape from New York (Kurt Russell)
Escape from LA (sequel to above-Kurt again)
They Live (Rowdy Roddy Piper-WWF/WWE legend)
Assault on Precinct 13 (remade with Ethan Hawke)
Dark Star
The Fog (Jamie Lee Curtis)
Halloween (Jamie Lee Curtis)
Christine
Prince of Darkness
Elvis (Kurt Russell)
Starman
Big Trouble in Little China (Kurt Russell)
Vampires (James Woods!!!!)
Ghosts of Mars
Memoires of an Invisible Man
The Ward
(this list does not include producer/writing/composing credits-of which there are many iconic tunes)
If you ever sit down to watch a Carpenter film, doesn't matter which one, you won't regret it. Like most directors, there's the occasional dodgy one, but I'd say you've got a 75/25 chance to find a keeper.
Fun Tip: Watch Cigarette Burns! It's superb.
George A.Romero
The man that made zombies cool...and lived off it here after.
Born February 4th 1940.
Credits are as follows;
Night of the Dead (THE zombie film!)
There's Always Vanilla
The Crazies (sheer brilliance)
Season of the Witch
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Land of the Dead
Creepshow
Monkey Shines (watch this!)
The Dark Half
Two Evil Eyes
(director credits only...and not even all of them)
Fun Fact: George was an FBI agent...in Silence of the Lambs.
Wesley Wales Anderson
One of the most unique and distinguishible directors in the business today.
Born on 1st May, 1969.
Bottle Rocket
Rushmore (Bill Murray in all his glory!)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Bill again)
The Royal Tenenbaums (Bill's in this one too)
The Darleeling Limited
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Moonrise Kingdon (in production)
(director credits only)
Born 2nd January, 1953.
Jim Jarmusch is the indie legend of film making, whose features have a style that lends to an almost surreal aspect. Dark, humerous and thoughtful, Jarmusch is the lauded poet of the industry.
Permanent Vacation
Stranger Than Paradise
Down by Law (Tom Waits and Roberto Benigni)
Mystery Train (Joe Strummer and Steve Buscemi)
Night on Earth (Beatrice Dalle, Winona Ryder and Roberto Benigni-again, Tom Waits soundtrack too)
Dead Man (Johnny Depp)
Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai (Forest Whitiker)
Coffee and Cigarettes (The White Stripes, Roberto Benigni, Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Alfred Molina and tons more!)
Broken Flowers (Bill Murray)
Limits of Control (Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Gael Garcia Bernal)
(director credits only)
Guillermo del Toro
Born 9th October 1964.
A writer/director of such invention and originality comes along once in a decade. You can do little but marvel at del Toro's back and future catalogue...
Cronos
Mimic
The Devil's Backbone
Blade 2 (Wesley Snipes-pre legal strife and subsequent straight-to-dvd career)
Hellboy (Ron Perlman)
Hellboy II (Ron Perlman)
Pan's Labyrinth (probably his masterpiece)
(director credits only)
Fun Fact: del Toro is a huge H.P Lovecraft fan and as such has been working on an adaptation of'craft's best work, The Mountains of Madness.
that's Guillermo on the left.
