u/DanBaccarini

Many go to Alfred Hitchcock (although not a pure horror film director) and it would be difficult to not agree. Psycho I think changed horror forever and you cannot overstate his influence on suspenseful filmmaking. But I think John Carpenter has the strongest case between Halloween, The Thing, The Fog, etc... He almost should be considered the greatest just for composing the Halloween theme music that I think is the most iconic horror theme music of all time...to me even over Jaws. Hitchcock may be the most influential even outside of horror with Carpenter the greatest horror filmmaker. Or does someone else have a solid argument such as Wes Craven?

Who are the best directors of all time and why? I’ll start with my thoughts: Coppola for probably the best four film run from godfather through apocalypse now, Hitchcock for being the father of the quality thriller with incredible storytelling…probably most influential horror/thriller director. Finally Scorsese for longevity and multiple peaks with taxi driver, raging bull and goodfellas plus many others. Honorable mention…different direction. Clint Eastwood…look at his directorial portfolio. Some incredible movies with deep characters and perfectly crafted stories. Think unforgiven, million dollar babies, mystic river, Gran Torino, American sniper, etc….

Who do you think the most influential traditional director is on the found footage genre? I had a tough time with one. To me it is probably Hitchcock because he first of all structured his films so well, second he did so much without revealing everything…the build up and finally he gave thrills without any crazy effects but they were incredibly effective. I have to say I’m probably biased as I’m a found footage horror kind of person.

I think about this a lot especially when I see posts about horror films that I personally view as thrillers. My gut tells me that horror aims to frighten while a thriller aims to create tension and suspense. I do believe the best films in both genres blur that line completely. Do you have any clear examples of each? I personally put Jaws as a primary thriller and Halloween as horror. It should be noted that these are two of the best movies in each category and they definitely blur that line when it comes to scares, tension and suspense. But I still place them firmly in their respective genres. Thoughts?