# The 28 Greatest Horror Directors of All Time

> Universal's black-and-white monster makers share the field with giallo stylists, J-horror minimalists and the A24 generation. Some built whole subgenres; a few just made three films nobody can sleep after.

*By YPB Team · Published November 10, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-28-greatest-horror-directors-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **John Carpenter** — score 1000/1000
   American director of Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980) and The Thing (1982).
2. **Guillermo del Toro** — score 752/1000
   Mexican director of Cronos (1993), The Devil's Backbone (2001) and Crimson Peak (2015).
3. **Kiyoshi Kurosawa** — score 692/1000
   Japanese director of Cure (1997), Pulse (2001) and Retribution (2006).
4. **Wes Craven** — score 663/1000
   American director of The Last House on the Left (1972), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Scream (1996).
5. **Brian De Palma** — score 609/1000
   American director of Sisters (1972), Carrie (1976) and Dressed to Kill (1980).
6. **Roman Polanski** — score 609/1000
   Director of Repulsion (1965), Rosemary's Baby (1968) and The Tenant (1976).
7. **Karyn Kusama** — score 609/1000
   American director of Jennifer's Body (2009), The Invitation (2015) and the XX segment Her Only Living Son (2017).
8. **Roger Corman** — score 546/1000
   American director of the Edgar Allan Poe cycle, including House of Usher (1960) and The Masque of the Red Death (1964).
9. **Dario Argento** — score 546/1000
   Italian giallo director of Deep Red (1975), Suspiria (1977) and Tenebrae (1982).
10. **Sam Raimi** — score 473/1000
   American director of The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987) and Drag Me to Hell (2009).
11. **David Lynch** — score 473/1000
   American director of Eraserhead (1977), Lost Highway (1997) and Inland Empire (2006).
12. **George A. Romero** — score 473/1000
   American director of Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985).
13. **Ari Aster** — score 473/1000
   American director of Hereditary (2018), Midsommar (2019) and Beau Is Afraid (2023).
14. **Mario Bava** — score 387/1000
   Italian director of Black Sunday (1960), Black Sabbath (1963) and Blood and Black Lace (1964).
15. **Robert Eggers** — score 387/1000
   American director of The Witch (2015), The Lighthouse (2019) and Nosferatu (2024).
16. **Ti West** — score 387/1000
   American director of The House of the Devil (2009), X (2022) and Pearl (2022).
17. **Clive Barker** — score 387/1000
   English writer-director of Hellraiser (1987), Nightbreed (1990) and Lord of Illusions (1995).
18. **Mike Flanagan** — score 387/1000
   American director of Oculus (2013), Hush (2016) and Doctor Sleep (2019), and creator of The Haunting of Hill House.
19. **James Whale** — score 284/1000
   English director of Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) for Universal.
20. **Alfred Hitchcock** — score 284/1000
   English director of Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963), known as the Master of Suspense.
21. **Lucio Fulci** — score 284/1000
   Italian director of Zombi 2 (1979), City of the Living Dead (1980) and The Beyond (1981).
22. **Tobe Hooper** — score 284/1000
   Texan director of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Salem's Lot (1979) and Poltergeist (1982).
23. **James Wan** — score 284/1000
   Malaysian-Australian director of Saw (2004), Insidious (2010) and The Conjuring (2013).
24. **David Cronenberg** — score 284/1000
   Canadian body-horror director of Shivers (1975), Videodrome (1983) and The Fly (1986).
25. **Takashi Miike** — score 0/1000
   Japanese director of Audition (1999), Gozu (2003) and One Missed Call (2003).
26. **Tod Browning** — score 0/1000
   American director of Dracula (1931), Freaks (1932) and The Devil-Doll (1936).
27. **Hideo Nakata** — score 0/1000
   Japanese director of Ring (1998) and Dark Water (2002).
28. **Jordan Peele** — score 0/1000
   American director of Get Out (2017), Us (2019) and Nope (2022).

Tags: movies, directors, horror