# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/61 "2003-04-29T10:21:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sirtonyh \* > **Paul Voerhoven - I wouldn’t consider him to be a great director but he turned an awful script for Basic Instinct into an almost watchable film. Robocop, Starship Troopers and Hollow Man are all watchable and the first two at least almost work. His earlier work, like Soldier of Orange, is very good.** That’s an apt analysis of Verhoeven, IMHO. I’ll concede that he’s probably a somewhat limited director, and that he sometimes overestimates himself. _Showgirls_ is utter dreck, I think we can all agree on that. _Soldier of Orange_ is a work of art, it truly is. Moreso for the story itself than the directing, but he certainly didn’t ruin it. _Total Recall_ is another decent action flick of his. _Robocop_ and _Starship Troopers_ are just plain good. I certainly wouldn’t call him the worst director of them all. It’s difficult to nominate someone here, but I’ll go with Mick Jackson. After all, he directed _The Bodyguard_. I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![pcarney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@pcarney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pcarney)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/62 "2003-04-29T12:36:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by capacitor \* > \*\*Cause John made Roddy Piper look good, that’s why. \*\* DAMN STRAIGHT! That movie was great, and delivered onto us the immortal line- "I’ve come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubblegum. Carpenter’s latest stuff has been awful, but They along with The Thing are great, great movies (one for cheese, one for creepiness). ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/63 "2003-04-29T13:23:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\* _Starship Troopers_ are just plain good. > > \*\* Ah… Coldy, you’re driving a red hot poker into the hearts of us Robert Heinlein fans, you know that? If they’d named that movie, “Space Bugs!” it would have been amusing entertainment. But we fans of the book weren’t looking to watch a satire, we wanted to see Starship Troopers. ---
**Author:** ![pcarney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@pcarney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pcarney)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/64 "2003-04-29T13:37:43Z")
Micheal Bay wins my vote as the worst. How about the ‘best’ Worst director…the guy or gal who makes movies so bad they’re fun. My vote- \Roger Corman \ ---
**Author:** ![pcarney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@pcarney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pcarney)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/65 "2003-04-29T13:41:13Z")
Damnable HTML! Roger Corman link - [http://us.imdb.com/Name?Corman,+Roger](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Corman,+Roger) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/66 "2003-04-29T14:11:41Z")
None of these qualifies (except maybe for the guy who made **Manos** ) – all of these films are _watchable_\*. Even Ed Wood, Jr. had a sense of plotting and setting up a scene. Heck – some scenes are even _good_. The scene of Tor Johnson rising from the grave is pretty damned dramatic and spooky. And Ed Wood had the sense to make his films techincally good, in that the shots are well-lit and crisply printed. If you are looking for a BAD director, you want someone who can’t set up a shot, makes films where you can’t follow what’s going on, and where the technical aspects are the pits – murky, grainy films with bad registration and bad sound. Films, in short, that are hard to watch, even if you suspend your critical judgment on rationality and good writing. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you **Larry Buchanan** [http://us.imdb.com/Name?Buchanan,%20Larry](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Buchanan,%20Larry) His **The Eye Creatures** alone should win him this honor – crappy remake of a cheap 1950s monster flick ( **Invasion of the Saucer Men** ), it cheaped out by only having one complete costume and by having technically awful prints. A poor-quality bad remake of a bad film. It was rightly crucified on MST3K. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he did two more of these. **Creature of Destruction** is a bad remake of a previous bad 1950s flick, **The She-Creature**. His **Zontar, the Thing from Venus** is a bad remake of **It Conquered the World**. The originals were better (they all had monster suits by the unsunbg – or at least not sufficiently appreciated – Paul Blaisdell), and had up and coming stars and were technically watchable. Buchanan’s remakes were derivative schlock with muddy color and visible cost-cutting. He also gave us **Mars Needs Women** and _two_ Marilyn Monroe movies, along with a film suggesting that Jimi and Janis were killed by a US Government conspiracy. Buchanan wrote, or at least co-wrote, his flicks. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/67 "2003-04-29T15:07:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by CalMeacham_ > **If you are looking for a BAD director, you want someone who can’t set up a shot, makes films where you can’t follow what’s going on, and where the technical aspects are the pits – murky, grainy films with bad registration and bad sound. Films, in short, that are hard to watch, even if you suspend your critical judgment on rationality and good writing.** Have you ever _seen_ _The Giant Spider Invasion?_ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/68 "2003-04-29T15:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Have you ever _seen_ The Giant Spider Invasion? Yeah – it was on MST3K, too, like Eye Creatures. I’ll still take Buchanan. I thought his stuff was muddier than TGSI. And besides, Larry’s made more movies. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/69 "2003-04-29T16:03:30Z")
At least all those B-sci-fi movies are fun. [Alan Alda](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Alda,+Alan). They’re all just too bland too remember. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/70 "2003-04-29T16:34:22Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by CalMeacham_ > **And besides, Larry’s made more movies.** Good point. Sort of like the guy who sells each item at a loss, hoping to make it up in volume. Or perhaps the guy with the personality so negative that he walks into a room and people look around and ask, “who left?” ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/71 "2003-04-29T19:04:27Z")
I’m sorry, but \*The Attack of the the \*[sic] _Eye Creatures_ is infinitely more watchable than, say, _The Beast of Yucca Flats_ or _Red Zone Cuba_. At least you can tell that Buchanan just didn’t give a crap, to the point that some of the Eye Creatures just wear sneakers and stuff, but Coleman Francis actually seemed to want to make good movies. He was just completely unable to do so. Seriously. Watch _The Beast of Yucca Flats_ and tell me that it’s not the worst movie of all time. “A woman’s purse. A flag on the moon.” Totally nonsensical, random sentences float through the movie in a narrator’s voice. Ugh. I think I have to go take a shower now from just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/72 "2003-04-29T22:54:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stephe96 \* > \*\*Well, how 'bout we expand the title of ‘Worst Director’ to not only a filmmaker who actually MADE some terrible movies, but also one who INFLUENCED even more godawful movies in his or her wake… > > With this in mind I’d like to give the nod to Michael “No Single Shot Over Three Seconds Allowed” Bay. I find his movies and all the resulting clones impossible to sit through. \*\* By that token, let me go after the Wachowski brothers 'cause, although they were cool at first, I’m getting real sick of Matrix fights. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/73 "2003-04-29T23:39:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > It’s difficult to nominate someone here, but I’ll go with Mick Jackson. After all, he directed _The Bodyguard_. I rest my case. While not technically during his stint as a **film** director, in mitigation, I’ll enter his work as a [director for British TV](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Jackson,+Mick) during the 1970s and 80s. He did some good stuff. Much of _The Ascent of Man_ stands up as beautifully photographed and I regard the Auschwitz sequence as one of the most powerful bits of TV I’ve ever seen. _Connections_ still seems much loved, to judge by some of the conversations in these parts. Just recently, we’ve had people rightly [recommending](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=178861) _Life Story_. Meanwhile, _Threads_ still seems to put the shivers up people. And, even if the plotting now looks a bit dated, _A Very British Coup_ is still a class piece of television from its period. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/74 "2003-04-30T00:01:34Z")
How did I miss this thread?!? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lauramarlane \* > \*\*Alan Smithee 🙂 \*\* You called? 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490.md?page=3)