# Worst Film Directors of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490 "2003-04-27T15:13:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vaderempire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a3d4f5/32.png) [@vaderempire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vaderempire)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/21 "2003-04-28T00:42:29Z")
As far as Mr. Lucas technically…he didnt direct after 77. empire and jedi were directed by others. is he the worse…dont know… paul anderson who directed resident evil and sooooo many others out there kinda make lucas pale in comparison… ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/22 "2003-04-28T00:43:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ender\_Will \* > **David Lynch.** David Lynch directed **The Elephant Man** and **The Straight Story**. Even if every single one of his other films were horrifying bad (which I don’t think they all are) he doesn’t deserve to be in a thread called “Worst Directors of All Time” when those two movies are beautiful, sensitive and brilliant. He may have directed the Movie You Hated Most Of All, but TEM and TSS make up for a million Eraserheads (which I haven’t seen). ---
**Author:** ![vaderempire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a3d4f5/32.png) [@vaderempire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vaderempire)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/23 "2003-04-28T00:44:10Z")
actually i forgot… joel schumacher recent michael bay movies recent john singleton movies ---
**Author:** ![Protesilaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Protesilaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Protesilaus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/24 "2003-04-28T01:17:00Z")
No thread about the worst directors ever would be complete without a mention of [Albert Pyun](http://us.imdb.com/RName?Pyun,%20Albert). ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/25 "2003-04-28T02:11:46Z")
Bill Rebane ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/26 "2003-04-28T02:38:34Z")
Regarding David Lynch, from **Equipoise** > [@](#): > > He may have directed the Movie You Hated Most Of All, but TEM and TSS make up for a million Eraserheads (which I haven’t seen). As I said, watch “Eraserhead” The film is so monstrously awful that even if every other film he ever made won the Palme D’Or (Good God, I butchered that spelling, but you know what I mean. That big prize at Cannes), Best Picture, and was on every Top Ten list, he should still be mentioned in a “Worst Director” list. I could launch into a Pit-worthy rant on Lynch and his fans, but I really don’t care to, and will say no more about him, his fans, or his movies. ---
**Author:** ![gorillacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@gorillacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorillacus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/27 "2003-04-28T02:50:18Z")
Russ Meyer was the _breast_ director. ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/28 "2003-04-28T02:54:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*Roger Corman? \*\* I’m gonna have to disagree. Corman is a GREAT director. He just happens to have made low-budget movies. Seriously – rent the original “Little Shop of Horrors”. It’s not a bad sci-fi movie, it’s a spoof of bad sci-fi movies that featured a damned good early performance by Jack Nicholson, was edited perfectly, and was completed in three days. I don’t have a cite, but I read a Corman interview years ago. He didn’t understand the whole ‘big budget’ movie attitude. He’d rather take that money and, say, clean up a neighborhood or put in a nice park somewhere. Plus, he has his own ‘school’ of filmmaking, that features such alumi as Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Johnathan Sayles, Ron Howard and Johnathan Demme. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/29 "2003-04-28T02:56:41Z")
John Woo couldn’t direct his way out of a paper bag. A handful of competent action sequences does not a movie make. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Goo\_Fee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Doctor\_Goo\_Fee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Goo_Fee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/30 "2003-04-28T03:09:10Z")
Joel Schumacher is always a good choice– But for overall lack-of-any-cinematic-value whatsoeverability, Joel can’t even TOUCH Kevin Smith. ---
**Author:** ![vaderempire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a3d4f5/32.png) [@vaderempire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vaderempire)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/31 "2003-04-28T03:31:08Z")
CLerks is classic though. I mean his writing is not great but he did gives us clerks ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/32 "2003-04-28T03:31:51Z")
Andy Sidaris. The guy actually manages to make naked Playboy Plamates running around Hawaii boring and unwatchable! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/33 "2003-04-28T04:03:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vaderempire \* > CLerks is classic though. I mean his writing is not great but he did gives us clerks \*\* Clerks was clever and all but Chasing Amy and Mallrats seemed really amateurish. Surprised no one mentioned John Carpenter. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/34 "2003-04-28T04:05:49Z")
Cause John made Roddy Piper look good, that’s why. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/35 "2003-04-28T04:41:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Andy Warhol. I just saw Women in Revolt, and could barely get through it–only the wonderful Candy Darling kept me tuned in. I get the impression Andy (or whichever cohort was on duty that day), just pointed the camera at the cast and disinterestedly walked out of the room. No script, no focus, sometimes the camera wasn’t even pointed at anything in particular. made Ed Wood look like Griffith. Andy Warhol didn’t really direct movies. He just exposed the film to light. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/36 "2003-04-28T05:00:16Z")
So many kinds of “worst”: Worst Director Thought by A Lot of People to Be Quite Good, But Who Really Isn’t: **Paul Thomas Anderson** Worst No-Budget Director: **Coleman Francis** Worst Low-Budget Director: **Henry Jaglom** Worst Big-Budget Director: **Joel Schumacher** ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/37 "2003-04-28T05:00:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*Paul Verhoeven: I used to think he made schlocky movies on purpose. Then he made _Showgirls_, and I realized that he’d been _serious_ about all those other movies. When he sets out to make a _bad_ movie, he doesn’t mess around. \*\* How did I know I was going to have to come in here and defend Paul Verhoeven? I haven’t seen _Showgirls_, so I won’t comment on that. But _RoboCop_ and to a lesser extent _Starship Troopers_ were really clever parodies. There are a lot of different metaphors and themes in _RoboCop_ but sadly most people couldn’t see past the violence in the film. As for _Starship Troopers_, I think a lot of the bashing of that film is unfairly in response to Verhoeven’s open contempt for the source material. > [@](#): > > _VarlosZ_\*\* John Woo couldn’t direct his way out of a paper bag. A handful of competent action sequences does not a movie make. \*\* Have you seen any of his Hong Kong films, like _The Killer_ or _Hard-Boiled_? They are much, much better than the crap we get from his Hollywood efforts, like _Face/Off_ or _Windtalkers_. And I would hardly characterize his action sequences as merely “competent”. Geez, if John Woo isn’t “action” enough for you, what is? As for my own picks, I’ll second Schumacher (even though I liked the Michael Douglas parts of _Falling Down_, and _Phone Booth_) and I’ll raise everyone Renny Harlin, who blasphemed _Die Hard_ with a shameful sequel compared to the masterpiece original. Although on the plus side, maybe his effort shamed John McTiernan into coming back for #3. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/38 "2003-04-28T05:06:45Z")
I don’t know what shocks me more: That this’ll be my third post on this thread (I don’t even have that many on ones _I’ve_ started) or that I’m going to speak ill of Kevin Smith, but here goes. Kevin Smith cannot direct. He can write, really, really well though, and as I read somewhere, he really ought to write for an HBO series where the obscenities wouldn’t be censored (really, just one more time, because thrice per sentence is insufficient). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/39 "2003-04-28T05:27:13Z")
Willard Huyck directed consecutively _Best Defense_ and _Howard the Duck_ but strangely nothing since. ---
**Author:** ![torben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@torben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torben)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/40 "2003-04-28T05:34:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*Paul Verhoeven: I used to think he made schlocky movies on purpose. Then he made _Showgirls_, and I realized that he’d been _serious_ about all those other movies. When he sets out to make a _bad_ movie, he doesn’t mess around. \*\* But then he redeemed himself with Starship Troopers. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490.md?page=3)