There is so much wondeful influence out there, so many movies.
I’d almost have to break down by era and genre.
Thinking back to Westerns, Leone is a sinch with the Eastwood films.
Same with Peckinpah, specifically with the Wild Bunch, and Pat Garret and Billy the Kid.
From Italy, I’d say the Franco Nero movies, specifically Django.
We did a good job with our Sphagetti Westerns, but we took them from Italy, and
they really had a style and passion we were entirely able to completely replicate.
There are so many Italian Westerns filled with amazing imagery, but the Django
Westerns are up there for me.
With fantasty films, I remember growing up and seeing Boorman’s Excalibur, I have to see it nowadays to see if it still inspires me like it did back than.
And when i was a kid, oh man, Krull was it, that spinning blade was the coolest.
There were so many Sword and Sorcery movies back in the 80’s that I just absolutely loved.
Ridley Scott really took charge of the whole sci fi fantasy genre in the 80’s.
Even with Tom Cruise, Legend is still one of my faves. And Blade Runner too.
I also find Terry Gilliam to be an amazing director. Thinking back to the late 70’s early 80’s I distinctly remember Alien, Time Bandits, and Brazil. And in the 90’s 12 Monkeys, and in the 70’s Jabberwocky. In between were some other “cult faves” like Baron Munchasen and the Monty Python films. James Cameron, Terminator and Aliens.
Paul Verhoven, even if he’s lost his touch now. Robocop was amazing for me.
I really enjoy Tony Scott’s work, he went from blockbusters like Top Gun and Beverly
Hills Cop 2, to mroe stylized fare such as Man on Fire and Domino, which feature a new directorial style. It’s not for everyone, but I like how he’s just doing something different.
With horror, oh my goodness, there is just so much. I am huge Giallo nut. Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Luigi Fulci, all the great masters of horror from Europe. I also love the
old Hammer stuff. In America, there’s just a ton of directors and creators whom I enjoy.
Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, Sean Cunningham, John Carpenter, Don Coscarelli, Sam Raimi just to name a few. Maybe the slashers became derivative, but Cunningham’s first outing with Friday the 13th was an original, as was the first Nightmare on Elm Street, and I also enjoyed many other Craven films like Serpent and the Rainbow. John Carpenter, what an amazing director, with his own unique soundtracks even. Halloween is the easy one to say, and Escape from NY, but there really weren’t many Carpenter films I disliked, until the later years. Coscarelli’s Phantasm was an amazing original, and I used to love those Beastmaster films when I was a kid(Yes I know, cheesy cheesy) The rest of my choices are pretty obvious.
I really enjoyed Donnie Darko, and I’m interested in Richard Kelley’s next project Southland tales. And I’m also eager to see Lucky Mckee’s next film, May was a bit
distrubing, but also fantastic.
Right now, I’m turning towards France and Japan, they are kicking our ass cinematically.
Christophe Gans, Le Pacte De Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf). Haute Tension/Switchblade Romance . And Luc Besson is the man. I wish they could bring Banlieue 13 to the states, just saw that recently too. But I like so many of the films he has directed and written.
I just saw Empire of the Wolf, great movie, there is such passion and style and originality in the films coming out of France that we simply lack. And the same goes for some of the movies coming out of Japan. I recently imported a film called Casshern, oh man, it’s AMAZING, shot by a commercial director from Japan, using tons of CG, and it so wonderfully uses CG with live action, it’s a great movie to watch.
Oh man, there are so many films that have created so much influence for me, so many films that I remember, scene by scene even! I guess this is a start.
