10 Directors We Can’t Believe Only Made One Horror Movie

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• Directors like Steven Soderbergh and Tomas Alfredson have proven they can make great horror movies, but they haven’t returned to the genre.
• Despite their success in horror, some directors, like Jonathan Demme and Kathryn Bigelow, have never made another horror movie.
• James Gunn’s directorial debut, “Slither,” was a hit in the horror genre, but he has since focused on other genres like action and superhero films.

While there are many directors known for making horror movies, there are others who have only visited this genre once, even though they proved they can make great horror movies. The horror genre is a tricky one as making a movie that perfectly balances good stories, well-written characters, and scares is not easy. Many directors dedicate their entire careers to the horror genre, bringing both great and not-so-good movies, while others go back and forth between horror and other genres, giving some balance to their filmographies.

There are also many directors who have never ventured into the horror genre, while some others have only visited it once. Although many of those directors succeeded with their horror movies, they never returned to the genre, and the reasons for that are unclear. While there’s hope for some of them to give the horror genre another chance at some point, their horror debuts were so great that they already earned a spot in horror history, even if they decide to never return to the genre again.

10 Steven Soderbergh – Unsane

Unsane Was Entirely Shot On iPhone

Steven Soderbergh has explored a variety of genres throughout his career as a filmmaker – from drama with Sex, Lies, and Videotape to crime with Traffic and even comedy with Magic Mike – but it wasn’t until 2018 that he explored the horror genre with Unsane. This psychological horror movie was shot entirely on iPhone 7 Plus and follows Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy), who involuntarily enters a mental care institution. Once there, she discovers that one of the staff members is the stalker she had been running away from, and she tries to prove her sanity before it’s too late. Although Unsane was a critical and commercial success, Soderbergh hasn’t made a horror movie again.

9 Tomas Alfredson – Let The Right One In

Let The Right One In Is Among The Best Vampire Movies In Recent Years

In 2008, Tomas Alfredson brought Let The Right One In, a Swedish romantic horror movie based on the 2004 novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindquist. Let The Right One In tells the story of Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), a bullied 12-year-old who dreams of revenge against his aggressors, and one day, he meets a strange girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson). Oskar and Eli soon develop a special friendship, but he also learns that she’s actually a vampire. Let The Right One In was praised by critics and got an American remake in 2010, but despite its success, Alfredson hasn’t gone back to the horror genre (yet).

8 Kathryn Bigelow – Near Dark

Near Dark Brought Together Western & Vampires

Kathryn Bigelow wasted no time and visited the horror genre in her second movie, Near Dark. Released in 1987, Near Dark is a neo-Western horror movie that follows Caleb Cotton (Adrian Pasdar), a young man in a small town who finds himself involved with a family of nomadic American vampires after an attractive woman bites his neck. Although Near Dark was a box office flop, it mostly got positive reviews, and with time, it has gathered a cult following. After Near Dark, Bigelow moved on to the genres of action, thriller, and war films, with her most notable works being Point Break, The Hurt Locker, and Zero Dark Thirty.

7 Jonathan Demme – The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs Made Way For A Movie Series Centered On Hannibal Lecter

In 1991, Jonathan Demme brought the psychological horror thriller The Silence of the Lambs, based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. The Silence of the Lambs follows Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), an FBI trainee hunting a serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill”, but in order to catch him, she seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist but also a cannibalistic serial killer. The Silence of the Lambs is widely considered one of the greatest movies ever made and made way for a movie series with a sequel and two prequels, but Demme never made a horror movie again.

6 James Gunn – Slither

Gunn Has Written Horror Movies, But Only Directed One

Before joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, James Gunn made his directorial debut with the horror movie Slither. When a meteorite brings a malevolent, sentient parasite to Earth, it infects Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), taking over his body and absorbing his mind, turning him into a grotesque monster. After infecting a local woman to use her as a breeder for his alien larvae, the town becomes infested with these creatures. Slither got positive reviews from critics and has become a cult movie, and while Gunn hasn’t made a horror movie again, he wrote the Dawn of the Dead remake as well as The Belko Experiment.

5 Stanley Kubrick – The Shining

The Shining Isn’t A Loyal Adaptation of Stephen King’s Novel

Stanley Kubrick explored different genres in his career as a filmmaker, and in 1980, he visited the horror genre with The Shining. Based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel of the same name, The Shining follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a recovering alcoholic and writer who takes a job as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Once he, his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their son Danny arrive, they are haunted by the sinister presences in the hotel, pushing Jack’s sanity over the edge. Kubrick made so many changes to King’s novel that his version of The Shining isn’t exactly considered an adaptation of it, but despite that, it’s regarded as one of the greatest horror movies ever made, and it was Kubrick’s only horror movie.

4 Tony Scott – The Hunger

The Hunger Starred Music Icon David Bowie

Tony Scott kicked off his career as a filmmaker with the erotic horror movie The Hunger, a loose adaptation of the 1981 novel of the same name by Whitley Striber. The Hunger follows Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), a doctor who specializes in sleep and aging research, and Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) and John Blaylock (David Bowie), a vampire couple who go to Miriam for help when John begins to age rapidly. The Hunger has built a cult following over the years, but Tony Scott never returned to the horror genre.

3 Quentin Tarantino – Death Proof

Death Proof Is Considered Quentin Tarantino’s Worst Movie

In 2007, the Grindhouse double feature project brought Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino together: the former brought the zombie movie Planet Terror and the latter the slasher film Death Proof. Death Proof follows Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) a psychopathic stuntman and killer who uses his modified “death-proof” car to murder young women, as the car is only death-proof for the driver. Although Quentin Tarantino’s narrative and visual style fit with the horror genre, Death Proof wasn’t his most successful movie, and he hasn’t ventured back into the horror genre since then.

Related: 10 Reasons Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof Is His Biggest Failure

2 Martin Scorsese – Cape Fear

Cape Fear Is A Remake Of A 1962 Movie

Martin Scorsese is best known for his gangster and drama movies, and in 1991, he brought something different with Cape Fear, a remake of the 1962 movie of the same name which is based on the 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. Cape Fear follows Max Cady (Robert De Niro), a convicted and very dangerous rapist who is released from prison after serving a 14-year-sentence. Cady learns that the public defender who sent him to prison used faulty defense tactics, and so he goes after him and his family. Given its story, main character, and graphic violence, Cape Fear is considered Scorsese’s only horror movie, and it’s unlikely he will do another one.

1 Danny Boyle – 28 Days Later

Danny Boyle Didn’t Return To Direct The Sequel, 28 Weeks Later

Danny Boyle surprised the audience in 2002 with 28 Days Later, a post-apocalyptic horror movie written by Alex Garland. 28 Days Later follows Jim (Cillian Murphy), a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma and finds himself in a world where the accidental release of a highly contagious virus has caused the breakdown of society. Even worse, the virus is known as the “rage virus” due to it being aggression-inducing, turning those infected into a dangerous threat. Although 28 Days Later got a sequel in 2007, Danny Boyle didn’t return to direct it, and instead, he has focused on other projects far from the horror genre.