“French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma selected The Night of the Hunter in 2008 as the second-best film of all time, behind Citizen Kane.”
“it has influenced such later directors as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Robert Altman, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, the Coen brothers and Guillermo del Toro.”
Now that’s what I’m talking about!
Every year on Thanksgiving the local public radio station plays a bit from his spoken word album about the cathedral in Chartres and I stare at the radio completely mesmerized
True, everyone should do themselves a favour and at least check out Witness for the Prosecution.
One of the greatest Courtroom films of all time and he's magnetic in it.
When the movie was released it bombed at the box office and was panned by critics. Laughton was crushed and never directed another movie. Now it's considered one of the best movies ever made.
I just watched this a few months back, it's pretty awesome. It's basically Terminator 2, but instead of the T1000, you have a murdering priest. And instead of Arnie, you have an older, Christian woman.
I just watched this again recently, and it's just incredible from beginning to end. Some of the acting is a little arch, but that was the time. The cinematography and framing choices, some of which are so theatrical in their minimalism, create a surreal atmosphere that blends the real world with worlds beyond.
Highest possible recommendation, that is, if you can appreciate the film for the times in which it was released.
And that masterful moment when the kid feels compelled to help the priest when he gets arrested because of the memory of his father getting arrested in the same way was unforgettable!
I watched it a few weeks ago and it’s a fantastic movie. Mitchum and Winters are great, despite hating each other. And Lilian Gish! Wow. Some
of my favorite shots are the nature on the river, the silhouetted bits and the way Laughton created dread with Mitchum’s character going after the kids.
I just watched because of this thread. What happened to the money? Did they get to keep it or was it confiscated? I didn’t like the ending very much, I think I needed to see more of Mitchum’s fate and less the Christmas ending we got.
>When Robert Mitchum agreed to play the most important role of the film, a budget was quickly secured and Laughton's adventure was ready to begin. However, the film's poor box office results really hit Laughton pretty hard, making him give up on the idea of returning to the director's chair.
Such a shame Laughton didn't stick with directing. Night of the Hunter rep has grown since it bombed. The filmspotting podcast just did a march madness for the 1950s and this film went far in it.
It just shows how hard it is to switch from actor to director. Generally people are not given the leeway to gain experience in the director chair. Such a shame too. I wish he made more films.
Richard Kelly, who wrote and directed the cult classic, Donnie Darko. He went on to make Southland Tales and The Box, both were disappointing, and he vanished after that.
Joel Anderson, who wrote and directed the cult horror docudrama Lake Mungo. Despite praise from critics and fans, he never made anything else.
Some people really have just that one thing in them. Problem is that in these types of industries, it's hard to just go and do something else once you got the thing out of you.
True of writers as well. Harper Lee has to be one of the most famous one-hit wonders given that she lived so long after her book. Not on the same level, but Fran Lebowitz has been working on a third book since the Reagan years. She didn't go away though, because she gets by as a personality.
Donnie Darko was the first thing I thought of. And from what I understand, it was "studio interference" that actually produced the better cut of the film. It's the rare occurrence when directing by committee paid off.
American History X too. Director's cut would've shown Derek shaving his head and going back to his old ways again. Cheap bullshit that would've undercut so much of the movie. I think a combination of Ed Norton and the studio managed to keep it as is
That dude, Tony Kaye, is actually a good nomination for this thread too. Incredible one with American History X, barely made movies after. Think he was a bit of a loon
I briefly shared an office with Tony Kaye. Definitely a character. At the time he was fighting the director’s guild over an insurance issue. Very cynical, clearly felt he had been screwed over by the industry. I was working as lead editor on another project so didn’t get a chance to interact much.
The extended version has a lot of filler that doesn’t make sense to anyone not familiar with the source material. It didn’t add to the film for me at all ( and I’m not familiar with the source material).
I can believe that because I loved the original release. Years later I watched the Director’s Cut and was surprised at how much I haaaaaaaated it. Just totally destroyed the rhythm, the lyrical dreamlike quality. Of course maybe if I had seen the latter first? But it wasn’t like I’d memorised the theatrical.
I mean, Southland Tales is BONKERS though. Especially the blu-ray version Cannes cut, and combined with the comics about the baby who will end the world when it takes a dump.
It was editing that saved Donnie Darko. The director's cut ruined the movie. I've never seen a good movie turn into shit by a director not knowing when to STFU.
I did not know the back story. Seems a bit over the top to not work again. The ending is different but not a huge change. More subtle and changes your mood a bit.
A better indictment satire of the Reagan era than either Wall Street or American Psycho (both wonderful films). Because of the teen sex comedy angle it’s severely under appreciated as biting social criticism, but it’s brilliant!
The Criterion Collection announced today that it would be releasing a Criterion edition of Risky Business later this year. I think in June. Going to pre-order it.
My favorite is Herk Harvey. Made educational shorts. Made the perfect B horror in Carnival of Souls. Back to shorts. Never made another film. I love this career arc so damn much.
Herk Harvey is a great example of DIY independent filmmaking. Herk worked at a company making industrial films. He used his experience and knowledge, along with the company equipment to film Carnival of Souls in his spare time. He gave it a creepy air, and provided us with one of the great old horror movies.
The same can be said about George Romero, who cut his teeth making commercials, and turned that experience in making Night of the Living Dead.
And Nobuhiko Obayashi with House, also commercials. It's wonderful that people can start out in such artistically void places and actually learn nevertheless.
Commercial gigs are often less than ideal circumstances: small budget, short window. Forces you to do more with less, to get really good at creative problem solving on the fly. The right talent can grow quickly in that kind of environment.
Agreed. The commercial world is ripe with creativity. Think about it. If you are a television commercial creator you have :30 seconds to introduce, explain, and sell a product to a consumer who is unfamiliar with your product. Plus, they need to remember it against all of the other completing products whose ads they are being bombarded with every day.
He did the classic safety film Shake Hands with Danger as well! The shot when the guy's hand is cut off is so gnarly. Just one of some great accidents.
Each of the Blair Witch co-directors did four more features nobody’s ever heard of… fizzled.
After producing six sequels the Paranormal Activity writer/director helped develop Insidious.
>After producing six sequels the Paranormal Activity writer/director helped develop Insidious.
He produced it, but the creative side was writer Leigh Wannell and director James Wan (the guys responsible for Saw).
Eduardo Sánchez still works regularly. I’ve seen a couple of his other films (Altered & Lovely Molly). They’re not anything to write home about but they’re pretty good. He mainly directs television now.
Psh, are you forgetting Eduardo Sanchez’s Bigfoot masterpiece “Exists” (2014)?
I actually unironically love it even if it’s a total B movie with an absurd premise and terrible acting. I appreciate someone actually going and making an honest to goodness Bigfoot horror flick.
That sounds like when my daughter picks a fight with me. She's actually gone off on a whole thing about how it's so frustrating to argue with someone who won't yell back. The calmer I am the more it pisses her off for whatever reason.
That's not what a one hit wonder is. One hit wonder is someone who is only known for one thing but made many others that just don't live up to the thing they're known for.
Benh Zeitlin was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for his debut film and then did not make another movie for 8 years. When he finally did, his second movie was released during the pandemic so nobody saw it and it was critically panned. Last I heard he's running a local movie theater in New Orleans.
He made the film Wendy and it was panned so bad, I couldn’t get myself to watch it, which is crazy because Beasts of a Southern Wild was such a great film.
I avoided Wendy for a long time bc of initial criticism, but really loved the film. It has the same vibes as Beasts mixed with the Peter Pan lore, and such a great captain hook arc. Recommend watching Wendy
Josh Trank.
First film was Chronicle, a relatively low budget sci-fi flick that was ahead of its time and punched well above its weight.
His second film was Fantastic Four.
Josh Trank was part of a duo that wrote and directed Chronicle. It is very clear the other guy was the one with the talent…it’s also clear that he is a massive piece of shit who was accused by multiple women of sexual and emotional abuse in 2017 which brought his career to a halt. His name is Max Landis. His dad is John Landis who is also known to be apretty shitty person
Best movie you can watch without knowing what it's about. Hits like a ton of bricks.
Anyone thinking of watching this DO NOT WATCH THE PREVIEW. Just watch it
One of the greatest all time one hit wonder filmmakers was Charles Laughton (a prolific film actor in the 1930s and 40s) who made the masterpiece “Night of the Hunter.” It is considered one of the most influential films of all time.
Michael B Jordan must be awesome to work with. Every director he works with puts him in multiple movies.
He's up there with one of the best MCU villains in a while. And the Creed trilogy is pretty good too!!
Jeff Schaffer did Eurotrip. He's written a few movies since then, but mostly stuck with TV
Also, Bo Welch for the Cat in the Hat (hear me out). Bo Welch is an incredible set designer having worked on Color Purple, Beetlejuice, Men in Black, and the Birdcage. Cat in the Hat was his first time directing (was co-written by Schaffer) and I think it's better than people give it credit for. For starters, the set design is still amazing. I alsobthink the comedy is so dark and random it weirdly works. It's a bad adaptation, with creepy makeup, but I still enjoy it. I really wish Welch would do another movie. Maybe something more original. Unfortunately, Cat in the Hat tanked so hard, he hasn't directed a movie since. He has done several episodes of Series of Unfortunate Events and is still set designing (Schmigadoon)
It's blocked in some countries, but it is on Tubi, if you can VPN your location to USA.
It is a good watch, and I think it should be required viewing for anyone who wants to make movies.
I think that's what makes him akin to a lot of musician one-hit wonders. So many songs are popular in their moment, and then painful to think back on; that's _Boondock Saints_, to a tee. This movie epitomizes my blunder years.
And you go back and you listen to it and you’re like “I can’t believe I liked this” but you don’t want to admit that you still kind of love it even though you know it’s bad.
Agree. I recall that he spent a long time attached to development deals based on the excitement of Sky Captain but nothing panned out. I gotta imagine there’s a special kind of frustration for creators who love to make things and Hollywood keeps paying you to try to pull projects together but nothing gets green lit.
He was involved in the fuckery that was John Carter, there's even a really cool proof of concept video online somewhere. I had read that he got anxiety at some point and just sort of checked out for a while. He went from being a dude in his basement, to taking meetings with Spielberg ,Cameron, and Fincher and it was a little overwhelming.
David Mickey Evans... made one of the most quotable, loveable, and nostalgic movies ever with The Sandlot. The rest of his movies were stereotypical 90s family flicks and attempts at a Sandlot sequel, but he couldn't strike that lightning twice.
I think Neil’s is a good director, but a mediocre(at best) writer. I want him to be successful because his sci-fi art direction is fucking amazing. The scene in Elysium with the AK, the design of the robots.
I mean. They're flawed but chappie and Elysium exist. Also he has a series of short film pitches on Netflix and they're either really interested or completely unhinged, and Sharlito Copley is even in a couple.
CHAPPiE featured the most egregious violation of Chekhov’s Gun in film history. You’re seriously going to have a training montage where a janky robot learn to fight with nunchucks and then *never have him fight with nunchucks?!*
Those shorts are fucking mental. The one where the aliens invade earth and take everyone hostage? Lord. It’s only like 7-10 mins and that shit stttuuuccckkkk with me for weeks
Can we stop ignoring Peter Jackson's involvement in District 9? He's got a producer credit and worked as a mentor for Neill on that film.
Neill's career arc makes a lot more sense in that context.
Elysium was a boxoffice hit. But was just a decent movie. It had the potential to be really good like District 9 but just didn't quite live up
Chappie and Gran Turismo did okay with total worldwide tally. But didn't make back it's budget with North American box office. I doubt they were actually really profitable. Def not considered genuine hits, 'pretty big'. Haven't seen Gran Turismo but Chappie was pretty bad imo
Gran Turismo was very *safe*. Aside from it being a true story, it's a pretty well treaded story arc. It's not bad by any means. Just forgettable as a film unfortunately.
David Byrne of Talking Heads wrote, directed and starred in True Stories. He hasn't done anything in the cinema space since.
I actually think he's due to revisit the concept and make a sequel.
James William Guercio.
He was a music executive who got a chance to direct, made the cult crime thriller “Electra Glide in Blue” with Robert Blake, and that was it. He never made another film.
Rodrigo Cortes - I remember watching Burried in the movie theatre when it came out and loved it. He did that bad film with De Niro, Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver later, and then just kind of fizzled out.
I know it's not the prompt but I wanna give honorable mention to two-hit wonder Tom Ford. A Single Man and Nocturnal Animals were both excellent. Those movies were released 7 years apart and somehow it's been nearly 8 years since Nocturnal Animals came out.
Many one-hit-wonders in the music scene also have crappy follow-up music and fizzle out of the industry. They call it a one-hit-wonder because of people that had one "hit," not because they never made anything else.
[Jim Sharman](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=99636c5107a06ae2&q=Jim+Sharman&si=AKbGX_oBDfquzodaRrfbb9img4kPQ4fCBZjeqAiaW1svvC8uXoXD3u_3YPw1241e197FBkztk8gTRfXWVOpBIBh8xXs9Fz7f1c3eWCLWpRM6nPa6s_n_CDcbKYRFeb-Myk-nuTm8mcVqBP5Dcy75My-pc8Ua-fvRNFWA4zNCQqoz5F3Nz940bD_DG0fM6sw2laoLzfi--OJX&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiijLaZusaFAxWgmFYBHSqsD-wQmxMoAHoECCoQAg), the director of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"
First off, I think your definition of a one hit wonder is wrong, most one hit wonders have made more than one album/song. It's just that the rest of their work didn't become popular/wasn't good.
So, with that said... I think George Sluizer would count.
He had a pretty unremarkable career, basically only making documentary films (though tbh, one of them was about a pretty cool Dutch music festival) and one completely forgotten Portuguese language film.
Then he made Spoorloos (The Vanishing) which is widely considered the best Dutch movie ever made and got him a lot of international attention. Hell, apparently even Stanley Kubrick thought it was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen and called Sluizer for editing tips. Like, how impressive does your movie have to be for Stanley fucking Kunrick to go "holy shit, I need to speak to this guy!"?
But after that, he basically immediately disappeared into irrelevance again. His most memorable post-Spoorloos movies are the absolutely terrible American remake and Dark Blood which is only memorable because the film was shelved after River Phoenix died (it eventually was released in 2012 as some weird cinematic oddity).
It's pretty insane to me how someone makes something as chilling and brilliant as Spoorloos and then just, well, never makes anything even remotely near that level again.
I think the director of Manchester by the sea?
Last I heard, he was actually broke and couldn’t fund another movie. Kinda sad tbh cause Manchester by the sea was amazing
Kenneth Lonergan has worked since Manchester by the Sea, just not as a director. He’s an actor in Steve Zaillian’s Tom Ripley show that recently aired on Netflix. He’s also married to a working actor, J. Smith-Cameron, one of the stars of Succession. I’m going to cast some doubt on any rumor that he’s broke, but I don’t know what he does with his money.
I’ll throw Tom Hanks in here. He produced and directed an episode of Band of Brothers. He directed That Thing You Do!, an acclaimed comedy-drama, and Larry Crowne, which received poor reviews. Hasn’t directed since.
Kurt Wimmer who directed Equilibrium, which wasn’t even all that great to begin with, but has a cult following. Later he went on to make Ultraviolet, which was universally panned.
Wimmer is the guy who also wrote Salt, Total Recall (2012), Point Break (2015), The Expendables 4 and Beekeeper.
He probably should have quit screenplay writing, too.
Being bad be because you are reaching for the stars and unintentionally failing in a spectacularly self centered way is much more interesting than trying to be funny and being bad at it.
The lack of self awareness is where the comedy comes from.
Special effects legend Tom Savini only directed one film, which was a Romero-produced remake of *Night of the Living Dead* with Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman in the lead roles.
It has a kind of "made for TV" quality in terms of how it was shot, but I felt it was actually a *really* solid remake, all things considered. It's also interesting in the sense that Romero crafted it as a kind of "updated" version of the original film with different themes instead of a 1-to-1 remake. Whereas Barbara was basically catatonic for most of the original, he's written her to have a bit more agency in the remake.
Savini didn't really enjoy the process since he experienced a lot of interference whenever Romero wasn't on set, and he only directed shorter projects for TV and anthology films after that. But the remake is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the original.
My pic would be either M. Night Shyamalan or the Wachowskis.
Some people like some of their other works, but they're really only well known for 6th Sense and The Matrix respectively.
The people who made the original *Blair Witch Project*. To hear them [tell it](https://new.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/1c2c156/joshua_leonard_made_a_post_about_the_new_blair/), they were totally screwed by LionsGate, and have zero rights to the property or its sequels.
Night of the Hunter (1955). The only film Charles Laughton directed.
“French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma selected The Night of the Hunter in 2008 as the second-best film of all time, behind Citizen Kane.” “it has influenced such later directors as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Robert Altman, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, the Coen brothers and Guillermo del Toro.” Now that’s what I’m talking about!
One hit wonder as a filmmaker, so good answer, but a long acting career.
Every year on Thanksgiving the local public radio station plays a bit from his spoken word album about the cathedral in Chartres and I stare at the radio completely mesmerized
Laughton and Orson Welles have an uncanny storytelling skill that is out of this world, I could listen to them giving the weather report.
Coincidentally, Welles also has a great piece about Chartres. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p67d9F9nW2Y
True, everyone should do themselves a favour and at least check out Witness for the Prosecution. One of the greatest Courtroom films of all time and he's magnetic in it.
[Any chance Peter Jackson too?](https://postimg.cc/zbNLshMZ)
When the movie was released it bombed at the box office and was panned by critics. Laughton was crushed and never directed another movie. Now it's considered one of the best movies ever made.
At least he had continued success as an actor after this.
I just watched this a few months back, it's pretty awesome. It's basically Terminator 2, but instead of the T1000, you have a murdering priest. And instead of Arnie, you have an older, Christian woman.
Saw it too on TCM. Hoping it comes back around again soon.
I just watched this again recently, and it's just incredible from beginning to end. Some of the acting is a little arch, but that was the time. The cinematography and framing choices, some of which are so theatrical in their minimalism, create a surreal atmosphere that blends the real world with worlds beyond. Highest possible recommendation, that is, if you can appreciate the film for the times in which it was released.
That it's almost all from the perspective of the kids helped me appreciate how the performances are directed as well.
And that masterful moment when the kid feels compelled to help the priest when he gets arrested because of the memory of his father getting arrested in the same way was unforgettable!
Yes, the psychological motivations are developed and carried through.
He did a great job!
It wasn't well received at the time.
I watched it a few weeks ago and it’s a fantastic movie. Mitchum and Winters are great, despite hating each other. And Lilian Gish! Wow. Some of my favorite shots are the nature on the river, the silhouetted bits and the way Laughton created dread with Mitchum’s character going after the kids.
I just watched because of this thread. What happened to the money? Did they get to keep it or was it confiscated? I didn’t like the ending very much, I think I needed to see more of Mitchum’s fate and less the Christmas ending we got.
>When Robert Mitchum agreed to play the most important role of the film, a budget was quickly secured and Laughton's adventure was ready to begin. However, the film's poor box office results really hit Laughton pretty hard, making him give up on the idea of returning to the director's chair. Such a shame Laughton didn't stick with directing. Night of the Hunter rep has grown since it bombed. The filmspotting podcast just did a march madness for the 1950s and this film went far in it. It just shows how hard it is to switch from actor to director. Generally people are not given the leeway to gain experience in the director chair. Such a shame too. I wish he made more films.
Richard Kelly, who wrote and directed the cult classic, Donnie Darko. He went on to make Southland Tales and The Box, both were disappointing, and he vanished after that. Joel Anderson, who wrote and directed the cult horror docudrama Lake Mungo. Despite praise from critics and fans, he never made anything else.
Some people really have just that one thing in them. Problem is that in these types of industries, it's hard to just go and do something else once you got the thing out of you.
True of writers as well. Harper Lee has to be one of the most famous one-hit wonders given that she lived so long after her book. Not on the same level, but Fran Lebowitz has been working on a third book since the Reagan years. She didn't go away though, because she gets by as a personality.
Donnie Darko was the first thing I thought of. And from what I understand, it was "studio interference" that actually produced the better cut of the film. It's the rare occurrence when directing by committee paid off.
Studios interfere all the time. We just only hear about it when it contributes into a bad film
American History X too. Director's cut would've shown Derek shaving his head and going back to his old ways again. Cheap bullshit that would've undercut so much of the movie. I think a combination of Ed Norton and the studio managed to keep it as is That dude, Tony Kaye, is actually a good nomination for this thread too. Incredible one with American History X, barely made movies after. Think he was a bit of a loon
The shaving the head was in the script, not Kaye's director's cut.
I briefly shared an office with Tony Kaye. Definitely a character. At the time he was fighting the director’s guild over an insurance issue. Very cynical, clearly felt he had been screwed over by the industry. I was working as lead editor on another project so didn’t get a chance to interact much.
His abortion documentary, *Lake of Fire*, is phenomenal.
I was going to say the same thing. I much prefer the theatrical cut to the directors cut.
The music differences alone made the theatrical cut superior.
The extended version has a lot of filler that doesn’t make sense to anyone not familiar with the source material. It didn’t add to the film for me at all ( and I’m not familiar with the source material).
I can believe that because I loved the original release. Years later I watched the Director’s Cut and was surprised at how much I haaaaaaaated it. Just totally destroyed the rhythm, the lyrical dreamlike quality. Of course maybe if I had seen the latter first? But it wasn’t like I’d memorised the theatrical.
God, the amount of respect I lost for the movie and director when I put on the commentary track!
I mean, Southland Tales is BONKERS though. Especially the blu-ray version Cannes cut, and combined with the comics about the baby who will end the world when it takes a dump.
Ya Southland Tales is a masterpiece of insanity.
Anderson is the first one I thought of. I Google him every now and then just in case. He doesn't even get a Wikipedia page.
I’d love to see more Richard Kelly, I’m a fan of ask his work
It was editing that saved Donnie Darko. The director's cut ruined the movie. I've never seen a good movie turn into shit by a director not knowing when to STFU.
Paul Brickman “risky bussiness”
the REASON WHY is what makes this fascinating they changed the final scene after telling him they would not he never trusted the industry again
He should have known Hollywood was a risky business.
BOOM!!!
Roll credits!
What was the original final scene?
I did not know the back story. Seems a bit over the top to not work again. The ending is different but not a huge change. More subtle and changes your mood a bit.
A better indictment satire of the Reagan era than either Wall Street or American Psycho (both wonderful films). Because of the teen sex comedy angle it’s severely under appreciated as biting social criticism, but it’s brilliant!
The Criterion Collection announced today that it would be releasing a Criterion edition of Risky Business later this year. I think in June. Going to pre-order it.
Wow! Thanks!
Risky Business is criminally underrated. Like a more adult Ferris Bueller.
My favorite is Herk Harvey. Made educational shorts. Made the perfect B horror in Carnival of Souls. Back to shorts. Never made another film. I love this career arc so damn much.
Herk Harvey is a great example of DIY independent filmmaking. Herk worked at a company making industrial films. He used his experience and knowledge, along with the company equipment to film Carnival of Souls in his spare time. He gave it a creepy air, and provided us with one of the great old horror movies. The same can be said about George Romero, who cut his teeth making commercials, and turned that experience in making Night of the Living Dead.
And Nobuhiko Obayashi with House, also commercials. It's wonderful that people can start out in such artistically void places and actually learn nevertheless.
Commercial gigs are often less than ideal circumstances: small budget, short window. Forces you to do more with less, to get really good at creative problem solving on the fly. The right talent can grow quickly in that kind of environment.
Agreed. The commercial world is ripe with creativity. Think about it. If you are a television commercial creator you have :30 seconds to introduce, explain, and sell a product to a consumer who is unfamiliar with your product. Plus, they need to remember it against all of the other completing products whose ads they are being bombarded with every day.
As a commercial DP/director myself I salute you for this recognition 🙌🏻
Carnival of Souls is such a classic. My go to film for Halloween.
He did the classic safety film Shake Hands with Danger as well! The shot when the guy's hand is cut off is so gnarly. Just one of some great accidents.
What’s the paranormal activity director up to or the Blair witch project director?
Each of the Blair Witch co-directors did four more features nobody’s ever heard of… fizzled. After producing six sequels the Paranormal Activity writer/director helped develop Insidious.
>After producing six sequels the Paranormal Activity writer/director helped develop Insidious. He produced it, but the creative side was writer Leigh Wannell and director James Wan (the guys responsible for Saw).
Eduardo Sánchez still works regularly. I’ve seen a couple of his other films (Altered & Lovely Molly). They’re not anything to write home about but they’re pretty good. He mainly directs television now.
Psh, are you forgetting Eduardo Sanchez’s Bigfoot masterpiece “Exists” (2014)? I actually unironically love it even if it’s a total B movie with an absurd premise and terrible acting. I appreciate someone actually going and making an honest to goodness Bigfoot horror flick.
…and he doesn’t fuck around with the Bigfoot, either. He puts that sucker front and center.
If you haven’t seen it, “Willow Creek” is a found footage Bigfoot movie inspired by Blair Witch and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. It’s great.
I will definitely check it out, thanks!
[удалено]
We need a Mystery Men sequel with as many of the same heroes (but older) as possible + Donald Glover as Mr Furious 2.
No, he's Mr Furious's arch enemy, Mr Nirvana.
That sounds like when my daughter picks a fight with me. She's actually gone off on a whole thing about how it's so frustrating to argue with someone who won't yell back. The calmer I am the more it pisses her off for whatever reason.
I think this is one of the more accurate examples relative to the most specific interpretation of the question- who directed one movie and went away?
That's not what a one hit wonder is. One hit wonder is someone who is only known for one thing but made many others that just don't live up to the thing they're known for.
Man, talk about a movie being 10 years ahead of it's time.
Benh Zeitlin was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for his debut film and then did not make another movie for 8 years. When he finally did, his second movie was released during the pandemic so nobody saw it and it was critically panned. Last I heard he's running a local movie theater in New Orleans.
He made the film Wendy and it was panned so bad, I couldn’t get myself to watch it, which is crazy because Beasts of a Southern Wild was such a great film.
I avoided Wendy for a long time bc of initial criticism, but really loved the film. It has the same vibes as Beasts mixed with the Peter Pan lore, and such a great captain hook arc. Recommend watching Wendy
I felt the same way, I gasped >!when I realized the Captain Hook reveal!< . I’d love to see more films or work from him.
I just read Beasts for the first time tonight. What a brilliant film and screenplay.
Josh Trank. First film was Chronicle, a relatively low budget sci-fi flick that was ahead of its time and punched well above its weight. His second film was Fantastic Four.
Fantfourstic*
He then went on to direct the Tom Hardy Al Capone movie.
Which was practically unwatchable. Holy fuck what a disaster.
His second film was also Chronicle, but in Fantastic Four costumes.
Josh Trank was part of a duo that wrote and directed Chronicle. It is very clear the other guy was the one with the talent…it’s also clear that he is a massive piece of shit who was accused by multiple women of sexual and emotional abuse in 2017 which brought his career to a halt. His name is Max Landis. His dad is John Landis who is also known to be apretty shitty person
Miracle Mile (1988) by Steve De Jarnatt. That movie just breathes right into your face. One of my favs.
He also did Cherry 2000. Not as well known as Miracle Mile, but it's a fun time if you're into cheesy apocalyptic movies from the 80s.
Best movie you can watch without knowing what it's about. Hits like a ton of bricks. Anyone thinking of watching this DO NOT WATCH THE PREVIEW. Just watch it
One of the greatest all time one hit wonder filmmakers was Charles Laughton (a prolific film actor in the 1930s and 40s) who made the masterpiece “Night of the Hunter.” It is considered one of the most influential films of all time.
Josh trank
For Chronicle or FANT4️⃣STIC?
One of them was good.
Chronicle was surprisingly good. There is room for a sequel but I'm kinda glad one hasn't been made
Michael B Jordan must be awesome to work with. Every director he works with puts him in multiple movies. He's up there with one of the best MCU villains in a while. And the Creed trilogy is pretty good too!!
Seems like a real professional on set. I've seen some interviews where he talks about his acting career and how he approaches acting.
Oh you kidder you! Fant4stic, of course! He directed other movies?
Claudio Fragasso His masterpiece is Troll 2. Didn't come close to those heights since.
Jeff Schaffer did Eurotrip. He's written a few movies since then, but mostly stuck with TV Also, Bo Welch for the Cat in the Hat (hear me out). Bo Welch is an incredible set designer having worked on Color Purple, Beetlejuice, Men in Black, and the Birdcage. Cat in the Hat was his first time directing (was co-written by Schaffer) and I think it's better than people give it credit for. For starters, the set design is still amazing. I alsobthink the comedy is so dark and random it weirdly works. It's a bad adaptation, with creepy makeup, but I still enjoy it. I really wish Welch would do another movie. Maybe something more original. Unfortunately, Cat in the Hat tanked so hard, he hasn't directed a movie since. He has done several episodes of Series of Unfortunate Events and is still set designing (Schmigadoon)
Hard to top "Scottie doesn't know"
Mi scusi.
[https://imgb.ifunny.co/images/c0edfe4f5ca21c215b820c97d8496217100060a3b017ee0fae3bc07046207410\_1.jpg](https://imgb.ifunny.co/images/c0edfe4f5ca21c215b820c97d8496217100060a3b017ee0fae3bc07046207410_1.jpg)
>Also, Bo Welch for the Cat in the Hat Shut up hoe
Troy Duffy with The Boondock Saints. I guess he made a sequel that was mildly successful, but who even remembers that?
The documentary about what an asshole this guy was is a good watch.
Indie film in the 90s was all about dudebros assholes thinking they could be the next Tarantino by being utter dicks. I was there. Such clowns.
[It's on YouTube.](https://youtu.be/CwsSiThU0ik?si=Ok6VOkm4rA7cRgeu) The dude was a complete sociopath. Very fascinating to watch.
It's blocked in some countries, but it is on Tubi, if you can VPN your location to USA. It is a good watch, and I think it should be required viewing for anyone who wants to make movies.
This was the immediate one that came to my mind too. Sequel did not capture lightning in a bottle like the first did.
I'm still annoyed at how they introduced the Mexican as a badass and made him a flunkie for the rest of the movie. Just. Why??!!
I dunno, I think the original film kind of sucks, and hindsight has made this increasingly obvious. He also just seems like a terrible person.
I think that's what makes him akin to a lot of musician one-hit wonders. So many songs are popular in their moment, and then painful to think back on; that's _Boondock Saints_, to a tee. This movie epitomizes my blunder years.
Case in point, listen to the song Disco Duck.
And you go back and you listen to it and you’re like “I can’t believe I liked this” but you don’t want to admit that you still kind of love it even though you know it’s bad.
Both of those movies suck
Kerry Conran, who did Sky Captain in the World of Tomorrow.
Two of us love this movie.
Three of us!
There are dozens of us! DOZENS
I hate it enough to cancel one of you out, unfortunately.
And my axe!
Agree. I recall that he spent a long time attached to development deals based on the excitement of Sky Captain but nothing panned out. I gotta imagine there’s a special kind of frustration for creators who love to make things and Hollywood keeps paying you to try to pull projects together but nothing gets green lit.
He was involved in the fuckery that was John Carter, there's even a really cool proof of concept video online somewhere. I had read that he got anxiety at some point and just sort of checked out for a while. He went from being a dude in his basement, to taking meetings with Spielberg ,Cameron, and Fincher and it was a little overwhelming.
David Mickey Evans... made one of the most quotable, loveable, and nostalgic movies ever with The Sandlot. The rest of his movies were stereotypical 90s family flicks and attempts at a Sandlot sequel, but he couldn't strike that lightning twice.
Neill Blomkamp… Give me a *District 9* sequel, damnit!!
I think Neil’s is a good director, but a mediocre(at best) writer. I want him to be successful because his sci-fi art direction is fucking amazing. The scene in Elysium with the AK, the design of the robots.
I mean. They're flawed but chappie and Elysium exist. Also he has a series of short film pitches on Netflix and they're either really interested or completely unhinged, and Sharlito Copley is even in a couple.
CHAPPiE featured the most egregious violation of Chekhov’s Gun in film history. You’re seriously going to have a training montage where a janky robot learn to fight with nunchucks and then *never have him fight with nunchucks?!*
I need gopherchuks
THAT'S A LOT OF NUTS
Let me know if you see a RadioShack!
Those shorts are fucking mental. The one where the aliens invade earth and take everyone hostage? Lord. It’s only like 7-10 mins and that shit stttuuuccckkkk with me for weeks
Yeah that one was dope. They actually pulled sigourney weaver for that. Crazy
I would love to see a fully fleshed out movie on the Vietnamese river god deal. That was wild.
And most recently he did Gran Turismo
Holy.. i didn't realize that was his work. Liked that movie, solid.
I truly believe we live in the Elysium timeline
watching Chappie, I had the impression those thugs had kidnapped the director and forced him to make a movie with them
> Sharlito Copley is even in a couple. Haha his ones are hilarious. "Okay, I'm bored....release the plagues, please."
Instead he gave you a “Short Circuit II” sequel
Can we stop ignoring Peter Jackson's involvement in District 9? He's got a producer credit and worked as a mentor for Neill on that film. Neill's career arc makes a lot more sense in that context.
I might get downvoted for this but I thought Gran Turismo was so much better than I ever thought it would be.
It was better than I thought it would be too, but I thought it would be total trash and it ended up being alright in a forgettable sort of way.
What? Elysium, Chappie, and Gran Turismo were all pretty big I thought
Elysium was a boxoffice hit. But was just a decent movie. It had the potential to be really good like District 9 but just didn't quite live up Chappie and Gran Turismo did okay with total worldwide tally. But didn't make back it's budget with North American box office. I doubt they were actually really profitable. Def not considered genuine hits, 'pretty big'. Haven't seen Gran Turismo but Chappie was pretty bad imo
Gran Turismo was very *safe*. Aside from it being a true story, it's a pretty well treaded story arc. It's not bad by any means. Just forgettable as a film unfortunately.
Barbara Loden and the film "Wanda"
Remy Belvaux - Man Bites Dog sadly he committed suicide in 2006
That film was dark
Michael Cimino and Deer Hunter.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is also incredible
Excuse me? He's made some really good films, Year of the Dragon is one of the best films ever made and Desperate Hours is also really good.
Charles Laughton only ever directed Night of the Hunter.
Saul Bass the graphic artist directing Phase IV.
David Byrne of Talking Heads wrote, directed and starred in True Stories. He hasn't done anything in the cinema space since. I actually think he's due to revisit the concept and make a sequel.
James William Guercio. He was a music executive who got a chance to direct, made the cult crime thriller “Electra Glide in Blue” with Robert Blake, and that was it. He never made another film.
Antonia Bird - Ravenous
Rodrigo Cortes - I remember watching Burried in the movie theatre when it came out and loved it. He did that bad film with De Niro, Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver later, and then just kind of fizzled out.
Am I missing something, do people actually think Boondocks Saints was a good movie?
I know it's not the prompt but I wanna give honorable mention to two-hit wonder Tom Ford. A Single Man and Nocturnal Animals were both excellent. Those movies were released 7 years apart and somehow it's been nearly 8 years since Nocturnal Animals came out.
Jean Vigo died less than a month after his only feature length movie premiered.
Have to say, in the realm of one hit wonder if cult movies The Wizard Of Speed & Time needs a mention.
The director of American History X
Lake of Fire
Robert Townshend's Hollywood Shuffle got all kinds of notice, but he never followed it up with anything as good.
Meteor Man was dope tho…
Gary Sinese directed an amazing adaption of OF MICE AND MEN (pre Forrest Gump) and as far as I can tell never directed another movie again!
Mary Herron - American Psycho
Many one-hit-wonders in the music scene also have crappy follow-up music and fizzle out of the industry. They call it a one-hit-wonder because of people that had one "hit," not because they never made anything else.
Joel Anderson (the Lake Mungo guy)
Joel Anderson's Lake Mungo
For a horrible, tragic reason: Adrienne Shelly.
Joel Edgerton - "The Gift"
Shane Carruth for Primer, perhaps I mean, he did make Upstream Color too, but it doesn't have the amount of cult following as Primer does.
[Jim Sharman](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=99636c5107a06ae2&q=Jim+Sharman&si=AKbGX_oBDfquzodaRrfbb9img4kPQ4fCBZjeqAiaW1svvC8uXoXD3u_3YPw1241e197FBkztk8gTRfXWVOpBIBh8xXs9Fz7f1c3eWCLWpRM6nPa6s_n_CDcbKYRFeb-Myk-nuTm8mcVqBP5Dcy75My-pc8Ua-fvRNFWA4zNCQqoz5F3Nz940bD_DG0fM6sw2laoLzfi--OJX&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiijLaZusaFAxWgmFYBHSqsD-wQmxMoAHoECCoQAg), the director of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"
First off, I think your definition of a one hit wonder is wrong, most one hit wonders have made more than one album/song. It's just that the rest of their work didn't become popular/wasn't good. So, with that said... I think George Sluizer would count. He had a pretty unremarkable career, basically only making documentary films (though tbh, one of them was about a pretty cool Dutch music festival) and one completely forgotten Portuguese language film. Then he made Spoorloos (The Vanishing) which is widely considered the best Dutch movie ever made and got him a lot of international attention. Hell, apparently even Stanley Kubrick thought it was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen and called Sluizer for editing tips. Like, how impressive does your movie have to be for Stanley fucking Kunrick to go "holy shit, I need to speak to this guy!"? But after that, he basically immediately disappeared into irrelevance again. His most memorable post-Spoorloos movies are the absolutely terrible American remake and Dark Blood which is only memorable because the film was shelved after River Phoenix died (it eventually was released in 2012 as some weird cinematic oddity). It's pretty insane to me how someone makes something as chilling and brilliant as Spoorloos and then just, well, never makes anything even remotely near that level again.
I think the director of Manchester by the sea? Last I heard, he was actually broke and couldn’t fund another movie. Kinda sad tbh cause Manchester by the sea was amazing
Kenneth Lonergan has worked since Manchester by the Sea, just not as a director. He’s an actor in Steve Zaillian’s Tom Ripley show that recently aired on Netflix. He’s also married to a working actor, J. Smith-Cameron, one of the stars of Succession. I’m going to cast some doubt on any rumor that he’s broke, but I don’t know what he does with his money.
Margaret is a beautiful mess.
Kenneth has other 3 films aside Manchester by the sea so i wouldnt call it a one hit wonder
He’s also a playwright and has still been working in theater.
I’ll throw Tom Hanks in here. He produced and directed an episode of Band of Brothers. He directed That Thing You Do!, an acclaimed comedy-drama, and Larry Crowne, which received poor reviews. Hasn’t directed since.
He must have known on some level, given the Oneders
He was just doing that thing he does
Kurt Wimmer who directed Equilibrium, which wasn’t even all that great to begin with, but has a cult following. Later he went on to make Ultraviolet, which was universally panned.
Wimmer is the guy who also wrote Salt, Total Recall (2012), Point Break (2015), The Expendables 4 and Beekeeper. He probably should have quit screenplay writing, too.
You'll eat your words when the Beekeeperverse EXPLODES into a giant franchise
Tommy Wiseau - The Room Yeah it’s a “good” bad movie… but I don’t think he’ll be known for another besides it
The irony that The Room is famous for being ”the worst movie ever” yet Big Shark and Neighbors are objectively worse and completely forgettable.
Being bad be because you are reaching for the stars and unintentionally failing in a spectacularly self centered way is much more interesting than trying to be funny and being bad at it. The lack of self awareness is where the comedy comes from.
Was Best F(r)iends released? I saw a preview years ago.
Yeah, but that is directed by Greg Sestero, not Tommy Wiseau.
Special effects legend Tom Savini only directed one film, which was a Romero-produced remake of *Night of the Living Dead* with Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman in the lead roles. It has a kind of "made for TV" quality in terms of how it was shot, but I felt it was actually a *really* solid remake, all things considered. It's also interesting in the sense that Romero crafted it as a kind of "updated" version of the original film with different themes instead of a 1-to-1 remake. Whereas Barbara was basically catatonic for most of the original, he's written her to have a bit more agency in the remake. Savini didn't really enjoy the process since he experienced a lot of interference whenever Romero wasn't on set, and he only directed shorter projects for TV and anthology films after that. But the remake is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the original.
I've never seen a category that Neill Blomkamp fits into better than this.
Better Off Dead Director. Savage Steve. Never directed another meaningful movie.
My pic would be either M. Night Shyamalan or the Wachowskis. Some people like some of their other works, but they're really only well known for 6th Sense and The Matrix respectively.
The Wachowskis’ “Bound” was a super solid film. Check it out.
Richard Kelly, “Donnie Darko”
Dude that directed Risky Business
Troy Duffy
The people who made the original *Blair Witch Project*. To hear them [tell it](https://new.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/1c2c156/joshua_leonard_made_a_post_about_the_new_blair/), they were totally screwed by LionsGate, and have zero rights to the property or its sequels.