Scott Derrickson's films up to this point have mainly been in the horror genre; in addition to directing such box-office hits as “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” “Sinister” and “Deliver Us from Evil,” he wrote the scripts the 2000 slasher sequel “Urban Legends: Final Cut” and the Pang Brothers' 2007 supernatural horror film “Messengers,” among others.
Which leads one to wonder: will the director's work on Marvel's “Doctor Strange” lead the MCU in a more macabre direction than we've previously seen? Try to garner some clues, if you can, from Derrickson's picks for the 10 greatest horror films of all time, submitted to us as part of this month's Ultimate Horror Movie Poll, which ranked the 100 greatest horror films of all time based on votes sent in by more than 100 horror movie professionals. Will the comic book hero's feature-film debut give us a dash of surrealistic color, a la Dario Argento's most-heralded film? Expressionistic strangeness of the variety famously introduced by German silent-film director Robert Wiene? Foreboding Steadicam shots, as in Stanley Kubrick's sole horror masterpiece?
After perusing Derrickson's selections below, you can check out over 100 other Top 10 lists from icons including Guillermo del Toro, Clive Barker, “Phantasm” director Don Coscarelli and musician-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie.
10. Martyrs (2008)
9. Repulsion (1965)
8. Let the Right One In (2008)
7. Psycho (1960)
6. Alien (1979)
5. I Saw the Devil (2010)
4. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
3. The Shining (1980)
2. Suspiria (1977)
1. The Exorcist (1973)