There’s only four days left in our 30-Day Horror Challenge! “Favorite horror movie director” is the question of today.
My favorite thriller director who has made a few horror movies is Alfred Hitchcock. Like episodes of Twilight Zone and early Clint Eastwood cowboy movies, I could easily devote an entire weekend to watching one Hitchcock film after another. However, I don’t consider him a horror director.
Years ago I would have said “Dario Argento” was my favorite but, on further reflection, I have to say Takashi Miike is my current favorite director of horror.
Takashi Miike is a director, screenwriter and producer of more than 100 movies in a variety of genres, but predominantly known for his Yakuza films and his horror films. He’s a bit of a controversial filmmaker, due to the extreme content in many of his movies. His contribution to Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” series, titled “Imprint” was shelved by Showtime, due to its content, and was the only such episode to gain this distinction. It’s on DVD, you should watch it, unless you’re chicken. You’re not chicken, are you?
His best-known horrors include “Audition,” “Visitor Q,” “Ichi the Killer,” “One Missed Call,” “Izo” and “Three…Extremes.”
He has a reputation of pushing the limits of censorship with scenes of extreme violence, perversion and bloodshed. His work is bizarre, it’s disturbing, and, fun fact, he’s also done children’s movies.
Not a joke. He also makes light-hearted children’s movies. Imagine the kid who adored “Ninja Kids!!!” and wanted to explore more of Mike’s work, so he randomly picked “Ichi the Killer” off the shelf.
There’s a lot of fantastic horror filmmakers that I find inspiration in. Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper, George Romero, Robert Eggers, each of these guys bring their own flavor to the table, Miike brings those crazy bottles of the hottest sauce to this table.