Favorite non-U.S. Horror / Suspense Director?

[The Burgomaster]

My favorite is Dario Argento.  How about you?

[Trevor]

For my money, Burgomaster, I think the French directors Alexandre Aja (I think he made Haute Tension) and Mathieu Kassovitz of The Crimson Rivers fame are the ones that I would nominate.

For South Africa, I would nominate the chilling Jannie Totsiens (Johnny Farewell) directed by Jans Rautenbach which you can find on the IMDB. This film (set in a lunatic asylum) was Mr Rautenbach's only venture into the suspense / horror genre and is frightening stuff indeed. Oddly enough, Jannie Totsiens is very funny as well. 

[Potato king]

I voted for Dario Argento, because I sincerely loved his twisted version of "the Phantom of the Opera."
It's a great film, people, watch it or perish!

[JaseSF]

Out of those listed I have to vote for Bava. I'm also a fan of  Hideo Nakata, Takashi Shimizu and especially Guillermo Del Toro.

[Scott]

I put Umberto Lenzi as my favorite. Something wonderful about his films. 

Burgomaster, don't forget Jean Rollins

[RCMerchant]

What? no Jess Franco?! DENIED?!?!?(Just kidding) :twirl:I voted Bava as well...though I like Fulci too as a second pick...
I also enjoy some of Fritz Langs work,...and  Sergei (BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN) Eisenstien(even though that 's the only movie I know by him).I enjoy Sergio Leone too.And Terreance Fischer made some great Hammer films  Bava's work is imagintive,scary,colorful,bizzare,and very original...and,believe it or not BLACK SUNDAY is not my favorite. KILL,BABY,KILL (1966) would take that honor. THIs movie looks like Black Sabbaths ist album cover come to life. A classic ghost story,beautiful photography,moody music,and a very creeping sense of helpless DOOM prevades the whole movie.A slow motion living nightmare in an unknown time and place.Very surreal,almost.I highly recommend it to any one here!

                                                               

                                                                 

[soylentgreen]

I'm going to have to give my vote to Louis Fuller....I mean Lucio Fulci.

What would the world of horror cinema be without him lurking one step behind and five minutes too late from any significant western trend.  I take that back.  My fondness for his work is quite strong.

For every instance I can vomit up in one of his films where something completely daft happens, he trumps it with two of sheer artistry.  While ludicrously gory and vulgar almost to the point of misogyny, the crazy little sonofagun made some fantasticly effective flicks in spite of himself.

About a year ago, I got a hold of a book "Eaten Alive!: Italian Cannibal and Zombie Movies" by Jay Slater, a pretty damned thorough look at the genre.  While my appreciation for Fulci, primarily due to ZOMBIE and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD(GATES OF HELL, to me as a teen in the 80s) was pretty well in place, that book gave me whole new insight into these productions and just what kind of creative force Fulci was.  The details from actors and peers was just riotous.

[ via that book, I was also able to confirm that a film I've been seeking for the better part of 15 years is Alberto Cavallone's sleazy caveman epic MASTER OF THE WORLD(I Padroni del mondo)...anyone know where I could score that baby? ]

The biggest surprise to me was how ignorant I was of his particularly astute use of the gothic in his films.  Plus, he was a consumate showman.  If he sensed the audience needed a woman's eye slowly penetrated with a huge splinter of wood, then Dammit he was going to give 'em a woman's eye slowly penetrated by a huge splinter of wood!

Here's to you Signore Fulci...you crazy little lunatic. May you rest in peace...permanently!

[BeyondTheGrave]

I went with Lucio Fulci.

[The Burgomaster]

I'm glad everyone is tossing in some other great names.  Alexandre Aja and Jean Rollin are great additions that should be on my list (I actually rememberd Jean Rollin on my way home from work tonight . . . I have a bunch of his vampire DVDs that were released by REDEMPTION).  And, of course, Jess Franco . . . the master of dubbed cheese!

[JaseSF]

How about F.W. Murnau? Jean-Pierre Jeunet? Jean-Luc Godard? Akira Kurosawa? (So O.K. those last two might not quite fit the genre but well maybe in thier cases, they deserve mention regardless.)

[Menard]

I put Umberto Lenzi as my favorite. Something wonderful about his films. 

A fan of Gigli and Lenzi?

Members of the board, won't you please contribute to Scott's therapy fund so we can get him the treatment he so desperately needs?






Myself, I voted for Fulci, though I was momentarily wrestling with voting for Avati. The main reasons I voted for Fulci include that I have seen more of his films than Avati's, Fulci was the first director which came to mind for me when I read the title of this thread, and I really like Fulci's deliberate and atmospheric style (when he wants to do that).

[Torgo]

I would say Bava out of that list with pre-1987 Argento coming in 2nd.

[peter johnson]

Hello?
Alejandro Amenovar?
"The Others" is a very very good ghost story/suspense movie, and he's done "others" . . .
Also, technically he did live out his latter years in American, but Germany's Fritz Lang is absent from this list -- ever see "M"?  "Dr. Mabuse"?  "The Spiders"?
If the only qualification is "non-US", then Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini, and many many other foreign directors are absent from this list. 
While the "art-house" directors are not primarily known for horror/suspense, as they made "serious" films as well, you really have to put something like Ingmar Bergman's "The Magician" in the top-20, as it's about trying to scare a man to death via tickery and illusion.  Never mind "Wild Strawberries", "The Magician" falls into a grey area of films never seen because the art-house crowd won't watch it, as it's not a human-interest drama like most of his films, and the grind-house/B-movie lovers (Us!!) won't watch it because Bergman has this "art-film" reputation.
Trust me. 
When have I lied to you?
This is one creepy film.
peter arthouse/denny grind

[The Burgomaster]

Well - the list could go on and on . . . but if you water it down too much with about 40 directors, then everyone votes for 1 of them and the poll shows: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1.  So, I tried to keep it to a reasonably short list (mostly directors from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s).  Maybe we should have separate polls for each decade.  I have seen movies from many of the directors that have been mentioned in this thread and I agree that most of them deserve to be mentioned.  So many names, so little time.

Stuff like "M", "Les Diaboliques", "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", "Nosferatu", and "Spirits of the Dead" are certyainly worthy of high praise in this genre. 

[Scott]

Jess Franco is one of the great ones.

Funny thing with Mario Bava films is that two of his films that I have purchased from Diamond Entertainment were both digitally messed up, so I could only watch parts. Those films were KILL BABY KILL and THE DAY THE SKY EXPLODED.