Last year around Halloween I released a list of my favorite horror movies. This year, I decided to release my list for the best horror directors. In many ways, a director can make or break a movie. Don’t get me wrong: The script, the actors, even the crew, all need to come together perfectly for a movie to be stellar, but it is the directors role to guide the production in that direction. It’s not an easy task by any means, so I decided to pay homage here to the best directors to ever grace the screen with there down right terrifying works of art.

5. Tobe Hopper

Though primarily a TV director now, Hopper deserves a spot on this list for a few of his earliest works that, in many ways, helped re-shape the horror genre from b-movie monsters and large scale mayhem to what it is today. With his film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” he looked to the scariest place he knew for inspiration: Real life. The titular serial killer Leatherface was based on real life serial killer Ed Gein. The movie even used the tagline “ . . . it happened” to promote its real world connections. Later in his career, Hopper also directed the highly successful “Poltergeist,” and a slew of popular TV movies like “Salem’s Lot.” You and I have Hopper to thank for bringing the serial killer genre to horror prominence, and for that, we are greatly indebted to him.

4. Terrence Fisher

You may not recognize his name, but you definitely recognize his work. Fisher is responsible for bringing some of the biggest names in horror back to the big screen. He made movies about Werewolves, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and even Sherlock Holmes. He was a master of horror in 1950’s and his ability to re-invent and reinvigorate old stories and characters has cemented his place as a horror legend.

3. Wes Craven

Wes Craven’s writing may be more notable than his directing, but his directing cannot be overlooked. As the creator of one of the greatest and most influential horror movies of all time, “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” it’s impossible to mention the genre without giving him a thought. Freddy Krueger is one of the most recognizable horror icons, and it’s only right to give his creator the third spot on my list. Other titles under his direction include the ever-popular “Scream” franchise and the original “The Hills Have Eyes.” Craven’s work truly is the stuff nightmares are made of.

2. George Romero

If you’re a fan of the Walking Dead or just zombies in general, you have this man, and this man alone to thank. Before Romero’s masterpiece “Night of The Living Dead,” zombies were little known creatures that had roots only in voodoo. It was his incantation of the re-animated dead that defined a new genre and set a precedent for all zombie flicks to come. Perhaps the best thing about him however, is the fact that he wasn’t looking to change the face of horror. Like all stories of true genius, Romero just wanted to make a movie he thought would be cool, the result just so happened to be one of the best horror movies to ever grace cinemas.

1. Alfred Hitchcock

Did you expect anyone different? The master of suspense is also the master of horror in my opinion. “Psycho,” “The Birds,” “Frenzy,” his movies may not be gory or filled with monsters, but the level of stress he is able to create in his films is unparalleled. Some may hesitate to call him true horror, but to me, the line between thriller and terror is consistently blurred in his films. There’s no one better, and few more influential.