Sanctum Film's Top Ten Director Provocateurs

Cinema used to be about directors. Once upon a time, not so long ago it seems, moviegoers went to the cineplex anxious to see the latest films by they're favorite auteurs simply because it was made by them. Now, in the age of blockbusters, sequels, and fighting robots, directors are not the draw they once were. The highest grossing franchises of late seem to have a different person at the helm for each installment, and the names are all but interchangeable.
Perhaps only one or two stand out as artists that the public at large idolizes. Quentin Tarantino certainly makes that grade. But who else? Guillermo Del Toro, perhaps? If we stretch, maybe the likes of J.J. Abrams, or Ridley Scott could find a place on the list, but not really. Especially when Scott is much better known for his films made almost twenty years ago, such as Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), and Kingdom of Heaven (2003). Moreover, any of those works is greatly overshadowed by even earlier masterpieces - Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982). Abrams, for his part, is a solid filmmaker. Nevertheless, audiences at large still view him as nothing more than the heir apparent to Steven Spielberg, a director whose most recent film - Ready Player One (2018) - has been rightly lambasted as a pandering, meandering, mealy-mouthed homage to a pop culture he once helped to create. One might be wont to remark along the lines of how the mighty have fallen...
So, Alas! Gone are the days when one could go to the theater and, simply by watching, determine that this is a Hitchcock film, that is a John Carpenter film. And yet, those of us who love movies know the rewards of plumbing the depths of the great directors' oeuvres. What is there to find? Hidden gems? Amusing flops? The seeds of greatness germinating in the early efforts of fledgling masters?

Just as there used to be respect for directors themselves, there was also a phenomenon of filmmakers who were known for pushing the envelope. They bucked the system, stretched the boundaries of good taste, and used their camera to assault viewers with the grotesque, the shocking, and the forbidden. For the purposes of this list, we will not be examining directors who challenged us with one, or even two, films that are hard to watch - sorry Saving Private Ryan (1998), but Spielberg will not be meriting an inclusion - but rather those whose entire filmography demonstrates a pattern of transgression and provocation. They are the bonafide enfants terribles of the cinema. Here is Sanctum Film's Top Ten Director Provocateurs! Each ranking includes a short list of suggestions to help newcomers dive right in!

10) Herschell Gordon Lewis

Known affectionately as the Godfather of Gore, HG Lewis is credited with popularizing (if not essentially inventing) the gore film. Armed with no budget and gallons of bright red paint, Lewis and his producer partner David Friedman moved from 'nudie cuties' in the late 1950's to splattery mayhem in the 60's with the infamously awful-yet-entertaining Blood Feast (1963). His approach was simple: instead of bare breasts and butts every ten minutes, there would be a scene of hilariously graphic gore filmed in - as the promo posters advertised - "Blood-red Color!"

Films to Watch: The Wizard of Gore (1970), Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)

9) Jean Rollin

Rollin's films were little-seen in the United States until Kino Lorber began restoring them to blu-ray under their Redemption Films label in the 2010's. Watching his surrealist approach, one has a hard time not wondering if David Lynch was inspired by his work. Rollin himself described his films - usually centering around vampires and naked women wandering through deserted castles and ruins - as less horror, but more cinema fantastique. He was partial more-so to subtle dread and eroticism, and less to the gore and violence that producers generally forced him to include. The boundary-pushing here comes from the dream logic atmosphere that permeates his greatest works, and the result is more psychologically unsettling than the visceral thrills of more mainstream horror fair. His filmography is also notable in the appearance of the Euro-porn star Brigitte LaHaie, who starred in many of his most popular titles.

Films to Watch: Shiver of the Vampires (1971), Requiem for a Vampire (1973), The Grapes of Death (1978), Fascination (1979)

8) John Waters

The self-described King of Bad Taste set about disturbing every sense of propriety he could when he first exploded onto the grindhouse scene with the likes of Mondo Trasho (1969) and Multiple Maniacs (1970). Together with the queen of drag, Divine, he made a slew of films in the 70's that earned him his rightful place in trash cinema history. Incest, cannibalism, coprophagia, and extreme kinks both hetero- and homosexual abound in never-ending assaults on common decency. Unlikely as it may seem, Waters (an out and proud gay man) has parlayed his trademark bad taste into an undeniable celebration of the LGBT community, and thus more than deserves his spot on this list.

Films to Watch: Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974), Cry Baby (1990)

7) Lars Von Trier

Perhaps the most current director presented here, no one can say that they haven't heard of some sort of outrage or another regarding Lars Von Trier. His handling of paranoia, depression, and graphic sexuality always seems to make headlines - especially with conservative outlets such as Fox News, who have more than once claimed that the director's films are representative of the moral decay in Western society. Now, if that doesn't make you want to watch his movies, what will? Actors who have jumped at the chance to work with Trier include Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgaard, Willem Dafoe, and even Shia LaBeouf!

Films to Watch: Breaking the Waves (1996), Antichrist (2009), Nymphomaniac Volumes 1 & 2 (2013)

6) Jess Franco

Euro-trash has no equal to Jesus Manera Franco. His films range from arthouse masterpieces to the lowest of bottom-barrel exploitation, but there is always one through-line: violent sexual obsession. Franco directed more than two hundred films over the course of his nearly fifty-year career. His greatest level of output was during the 1970's, where he made twelve pictures in 1973 alone. Most consider his best work to be his collaboration with Spanish beauty Soledad Miranda, but interested movie-watchers should also check out his long-time partnership with his wife Lina Romay, whose own claim to be a complete exhibitionist comes through magnificently in every performance she gives!

Films to Watch: Eugenie... The Story of Her Journey Into Perversion (1969), Vampyros Lesbos (1970), She Killed in Ecstasy (1971), Countess Perverse (1973)

5) Walerian Borowczyk

A Polish immigrant to France, Borowczyk had a particular talent for juxtaposing outrageous sexuality with subtle erotica. Though he made primarily pornographic films, he also directed a number of masterpieces that display a dizzying blend of arthouse aesthetics and exploitation. He may be the most unknown filmmaker on this list, but his wry humor and inventively biting satire more than merit his inclusion. Some of his best-regarded works are still banned or heavily censored to this very day in many countries.

Films to Watch: Immoral Tales (1974), The Beast (1975), The Strange Tale of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne (1981)

4) Pier Paolo Pasolini

Poet, Painter, Author, Philosopher, and Anarchist. Pasolini was a master of nearly every classical art form. He was a connoisseur of classical music and literature. He was regarded by his contemporaries as a political force of nature. Most importantly, he embodied the age-old image of the Renaissance Man. When his masterful Trilogy of Life - three films celebrating life in all it's glory and ugliness, and replete with graphic sexuality, violence, and scatological humor - became relentlessly knocked-off by soft-core sexploitation films, he penned an article rejecting it completely and resolved to make a film "so indigestible" (as he put it) that no one would dare copy or imitate it. Shortly before the release of that film, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), Pasolini himself was murdered in a crime that has never to this day been solved.

Films to Watch: The Decameron (1971), The Arabian Nights (1974), Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)

3) Nagisa Oshima

Pornography as art. That seems to unjustly be the lasting legacy of Nagisa Oshima. Finding his native Japan to be heavy on censorship, Oshima left to join the Cahiers du cinema in France, where he developed his penchant for art that could be free of social constraints. The lasting impact of his films is hard to overstate. While some have termed Yasojiru Ozu to be the "most Japanese of Japanese directors", Oshima may well be the most introspective of a culture that is both incredibly vibrant and yet remarkably repressed. His explorations of love, and in particular homosexuality, are some of the most touching in all of cinema.

Films to Watch: In the Realm of the Senses (1976), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)

2) Dario Argento

Unlike other directors on this list, Dario Argento is not so much provocative in terms of content (though he is renowned for his depictions of gory violence), but more so in how he uses a combination of sight and sound to assault the audience. His pioneering of the Giallo genre into an art earned him the title of The Italian Hitchcock. While his brand of surrealism isn't as pronounced as that of others presented here, such as Rollin, or Franco, the barrage of soundtrack, bright colors, and bloody set pieces ensures the viewer is left both dazed and awed. Music lovers especially will enjoy his frequent collaborations with Ennio Morricone and the instrumental rock band Goblin.

Films to Watch: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Deep Red (1975), Suspiria (1977)

1) Alfred Hitchcock

The Master of Suspense may seem an odd choice to top a list of directors that revel in nudity, sexuality, and graphic violence. Nevertheless, Hitchcock's obsession with the perverse and taboo is the undeniable draw that keeps audiences enthralled with his films more than half a century after his most celebrated masterworks first graced the big screen. Even as early as The Lodger (1927), Britain's greatest director made a habit of inserting subtle erotic images, and forbidden themes. One need look no further than the first on-screen toilet flush in movie history to see the proof.

Films to Watch: The Lady Vanishes (1938), Shadow of a Doubt (1942), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960)

No Top Ten would be complete without a few Honorable Mentions - Lucio Fulci (Zombie, The Beyond), Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust, Last Cannibal World), Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox, Man From Deep River), Gaspar Noe (Irreversible, Enter the Void), David Lynch (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet)

That's all-she-wrote for our Top Ten Director Provocateurs! Agree with our choices? Have a few of your own? Feel free to say so in the comments below!