10 Directors Who Peaked With Their Debut Movie
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Top 10 Latin American Film DirectorsDirecting a movie is not an easy job and takes years to master. Sometimes things go wrong or studios interfere, despite having big and bright ideas. Not every film is going to be a success. Today I am going to look at directors who gave us their best film with their debut movie and not managed to hit the heights since. This doesn’t mean they have made bad movies, sometimes it is difficult to capture magic in a bottle twice. Some of the movies are just not masterpieces like their first movie. Other factors might have caused problems too, today we explore it.
This is not a ranking, just a list and is not an attack on the directors as most of the movies they have made, I enjoyed.
Here are 10 Directors Who Peaked With Their Debut Movie
1 – Neill Blomkamp – District 9
Neill Blomkamp gave us the masterpiece that is District 9, a movie following the events of trying to relocate a group of aliens. One man put in charge of making it happen finds himself getting infected and slowly transforming into an alien. This movie got to send out a message political message about refugees left to live in slums, while the city around them wants them out. It shows the weakness of humanity. This movie went on to get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and is considered one of the greatest modern-day sci-fi movies.
Sadly, Blomkamp was always going to struggle to have the same impact after District 9. Elysium and Chappie failed to capture the audience on the same way. The struggle of these two movies ended up pulling the plug on his Alien sequel and lower budget horror Demonic didn’t bring enough in return. Gran Turismo is about to be released which could put him back on the map, but it is unlikely to ever see him on the same level as District 9.
2 – Richard Kelly – Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko became a massive cult hit once people got their heads around the surreal experience. It is wildly considered one of the best debut movies of recent years. The movie follows a young man that starts seeing a giant bunny rabbit that takes him through wormholes. It has a strange feeling and a big story going on.
Donnie Darko was made off a small budget of $6Million and the success rate led to Richard Kelly getting a new movie with a bigger budget. Southland Tales was slammed by critics despite bringing a new ambition concept to the table. The Box followed and despite it breaking even worldwide, it was the last time we saw Richard Kelly make a movie.
3 – Tarsem Singh – The Cell
Tarsem Singh brought us a crime horror sci-fi movie called The Cell. It follows a social worker teaming up with the FBI to get into the mind of a serial killer. The plan is to discover the location of his latest victim after he ends up in a coma. In what is one of the most visually ambitious amazing movies, we get a truly dark movie. It plays into the nightmares of the world through the mind of a serial killer.
Tarsem has gone on to make bigger movies like Immortals, Mirror Mirror and Self/less. Nothing has quite matched the unique look and ambitious nature of The Cell.
4 – George A Romero – Night of the Living Dead
George A Romero will go down as one of the greatest directors of all time, the Godfather of zombie movies. Night of the Living Dead has down in legend, made on a tiny budget, it is still considered one of the best zombie movies of all time.
While Dawn and Day of the Dead are both fantastic, they have since started to lose the iconic status Night maintains. Night was a bold idea, with one of the most quotable opening sequences and an ending that left the audience shocked. It was nearly impossible to outdo the original and the impact it made on cinema for decades to come.
5 – Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez – The Blair Witch Project
Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick created the biggest buzz in cinema with their unique approach to marketing. The Blair Witch Project was shot and promoted like a real-found footage movie with the three stars going into hiding. They created websites searching for the stars and the movement created the new trend of found footage.
Both directors have gone their own separate ways since the legacy The Blair Witch Project leaves behind is legendary. They have remained in the horror genre and brought out popular movies, including Lovely Molly, Altered, Exists and Solstice. None of these have managed to leave the same mark as their debut.
6 – Kimberly Peirce – Boys Don’t Cry
Kimberly Peirce gave us the excellent Oscar Winning Boys Don’t Cry. The movie follows a young woman that wants to become a man and the relationship they start with a young woman. It is a movie well before its time and shows horrific behavior toward the trans community.
For some reason despite directing an Oscar Winning movie, it took 9 more years before we got her next movie, Stop-Loss which is a brilliant movie too. What followed was the less popular remake of Carrie. It feels more like she is a victim of Hollywood not giving a talented director another movie that they deserved to be given.
7 – Adam Robitel – The Taking of Deborah Logan
The Taking of Deborah Logan follows a film crew documenting what looks like early onset Alzheimer’s. What follows takes us down a nightmare journey that could be the disease of possession. This leads to one of the most shocking recent horror moments. While the movie wasn’t the greatest commercial success, it has gone on to be considered one of the best-possession movies of the last decade.
The buzz around The Taking of Deborah Logan grabs the attention of the Insidious crew, giving Adam the chance to bring us the 4th movie. Insidious The Last Key, which was a solid addition to the franchise. Adam has gone on to start his own potential franchise with the Escape Room movies. They have a big interest around them, but nothing in those movies can hold a key to the horrors of the closing sequence of Deborah Logan.
8 – Jordan Peele – Get Out
Jordan Peele was known for his comedy work for years and when people heard he was bringing out a horror movie, not many people were convinced by the idea. However, once Get Out was released and went on to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. People stopped and praised the movie, being one of the only few movies to even get the Academy’s attention.
Now, I am not saying Us or Nope are in any way bad movies. They are in fact both excellent too. With the potential of Peele giving us the perfect three movies to start his horror career. The fact that Get Out broke down the Academy walls. While the other two have since gone on to be ignored somehow. Proves that Get Out is currently the peak for his directing outlook, even though he hasn’t put a foot wrong yet.
9 – Clive Barker – Hellraiser
Clive Barker is easily one of the more disturbing horror authors and that led to his work getting turned into movies. Hellraiser was his first step behind the camera, and it managed to create one of the biggest franchises in horror.
His follow-up directing movies Nightbreed and Lord of Illusions failed to grab the same attention. However, his writing has continued to make a major impact in the horror industry. Candyman also went on to become one of the biggest franchises in horror. Sadly, his directing never managed to make it bigger, but his ideas continue to strike fear in the audience.
10 – Henry Selick – The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas is widely mistakenly believed to have been directed by Tim Burton. However, it was Henry Selick’s first movie and has gone on to become one of the most iconic movies of all time. Millions watch the movie over the festival period, and it has one of the biggest followings of any movie.
Henry followed up with James and the Giant Peach, Monkeybone Coraline and Wendell & Wild. All of which are great or better movies. However, no other movie in his career has the following, love and passionate fans than Nightmare Before Christmas.
Which other directors do you think peaked with their debut movie?
