Spooks and Swerves
September 23 2025
3 min read
For this post, a $30 CAD donation was made to the Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Québec (CPFQ), a Montréal-based non-profit that "raise[s] awareness of the Palestinian cause and support[s] our people through initiatives such as our child sponsorship program and our Gaza food program, which provides meals in Rafah for displaced residents." You can learn more about their essential work here.
We’re nearing the end of September, which means two things: pumpkin spice on everything, and spooky movie month watch-lists. So, for those who haven’t gotten their own lists ready yet, here’s something a little... different.
Balktober: A List of 31 Films By Well-Regarded Horror/Thriller Directors That Are Surprisingly Non-Horror/Thriller
After watching George A. Romero’s Knightriders (in 2023) and David Cronenberg’s Fast Company (last week), a thought hit me: How many other directors have done big swerves like this from usual oeuvres? Has Tobe Hooper ever directed a comedy? Did Wes Craven direct a straight drama? Could James Whale adapt a broadway musical? And... well, yeah.
It’s up to audiences to decide whether they’re successful or not, of course. I just find it an interesting challenge to try to separate what we think we know about these directors, our expectations and assumptions, and try to see how they could handle something that’s markedly different from what comes before or after in their filmography. How do we know they always want to make scary movies? Maybe they want to do something different? Maybe they’ve always been a fan of historical dramas or pantomime comedies or whatever and, if given the freedom, would go absolutely Sicko on a project like that? ...Or maybe the whole thing was a misstep and they should just stay in their lanes. Who knows! It can get messy, and that's how I like it.
So to celebrate the what-ifs, the what-abouts, and the wouldn’t-it-be-funny-ifs, here’s a list of 31 films by 31 well-regarded horror and thriller directors that are absolutely not horrors or thrillers. Enjoy!
UPDATE 2025/09/30: I made a list on Letterboxd too for easier viewing and tracking.
Knightriders (1981) - George A. Romero | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Show Boat (1936) - James Whale | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Starman (1984) - John Carpenter | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Basically (2014) - Ari Aster | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Fast Company (1979) - David Cronenberg | IMDB | Letterboxd |
終わった人 (Life in Overtime) (2018) - Hideo Nakata | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Blue Chips (1994) - William Friedkin | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) - Alfred Hitchcock | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Music of the Heart (1999) - Wes Craven | IMDB | Letterboxd |
The Heisters (1964) - Tobe Hooper | IMDB | Letterboxd |
The Straight Story (1999) - David Lynch | IMDB | Letterboxd |
The Five Days (1973) - Dario Argento | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Maid to Order (1987) - Amy Holden-Jones | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Wise Guys (1986) - Brian De Palma | IMDB | Letterboxd |
City Girl (1930) - F. W. Murnau | IMDB | Letterboxd |
The Boss of it All (2006) - Lars Von Trier | IMDB | Letterboxd |
The Life of Chuck (2024) - Mike Flanagan | IMDB | Letterboxd |
魔女の宅急便 (Kiki’s Delivery Service) (2014) - Takashi Shimizu | IMDB | Letterboxd |
A Good Year (2006) - Ridley Scott | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996) - David R. Ellis | IMDB | Letterboxd |
For the Love of the Game (1999) - Sam Raimi | IMDB | Letterboxd |
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998) - Stuart Gordon | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Tokyo Pop (1988) - Fran Rubel Kuzui | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Wide Awake (1998) - M. Night Shyamalan | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Flashdance (1983) - Adrian Lyne | IMDB | Letterboxd |
In Her Shoes (2005) - Curtis Hanson | IMDB | Letterboxd |
The Sea Inside (2004) - Alejandro Amenábar | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Women in Love (1969) - Ken Russell | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Showgirls (1995) - Paul Verhoeven | IMDB | Letterboxd |
The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010) - David Robert Mitchell | IMDB | Letterboxd |
Titanic (1999) - James Cameron | IMDB | Letterboxd |