Random Article - Father/Son (and Daughter) Horror Directors, Part 2

Welcome back, and it's time for our yearly tradition in which every Father's Day we celebrate by taking a look at Father-and-Son (or Daughter) horror directors, just like the post we did last year on the subject.


Now, unfortunately first, I do have a bit of housekeeping that needs to be included. The post I put up last year accidentally had a tribute post for Mario and Lamberto Bava but had failed to mention the third member of the Bava family with Lamberto's son Fabrizio. The actual write-up there was a first draft that I never replaced once a series of information-hunting revealed that Lamberto actually worked with his son on a Giallo-TV series in 2012 which incidentally I discovered through that research. I do apologize for this error in letting an unchecked piece go through and would like to gratefully acknowledge his contributions even though Fabrizio doesn't have too many directorial credits beyond this TV series as he's been more of an assistant director in his career.

So, with that out of the way, let's continue this with another look at this topic featuring ten more father-and-son/daughter horror director teams.

Daniel, Tomas and Hans Alfredson-
All right, let's start with this Swedish group. Patriarch Hans doesn't really have a lot of worth here being mostly a writer of early Swedish humor and absurdist comedy, though he was equally competent at Dramas. Rarely venturing into the cinematic realm, he does have a few credits in the field but it's more acting than anything and nothing even comes close to the genre. So, that brings us to his sons. Oldest son Daniel has come close, doing parts of the Millennium trilogy of thrillers but otherwise not having much of any contact with the genre or even much of any films with a sporadic filmography. However, the whole point of the family's inclusion here is youngest son Tomas and his lone genre-worthy title in Let the Right One In. One of the few modern vampire classics, it's risen in stature over time and is one of the biggest genre entries in the new millennium. It might be a cheat to have them included just for one film but the importance of their film is the key here.

Victor and Al Adamson-
One that most might not be aware of, this pairing is what I wanted to highlight with these posts. Victor Adamson is one of the silent era unsung heroes directing a slew of westerns that were part of the launching of therapy Hollywood system. Responsible for plenty of schlocky titles from the 20s through the 40s, his work was a large part of what set the stage for the prolific outpouring of the genre in the early 20th Century and even gave young Al his start by working on a title with his dad. While few are remembered today, those early films are still worth mentioning here.

Once he got to his own career, Al provided plenty of noteworthy content. He cranked out flicks in every conceivable genre, from scuzzy biker items like Satan's Sadists, Hell's Bloody Devils, and Angels' Wild Women, grungy westerns from Five Bloody Graves and Jessi's Girls, smarmy softcore sex comedies in The Naughty Stewardesses and Blazing Stewardesses, funky blaxploitation entries Mean Mother and Black Heat, ridiculous science-fiction dross in Horror of the Blood Monsters, two Jim Kelly martial arts action outings Black Samurai and Death Dimension, lurid horror fare from Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Brain of Blood, Nurse Sherri and even the tongue-in-cheek softcore science-fiction musical Cinderella 2000. While his life ended before it should've, he's one of the biggest names from the earliest exploitation and grindhouse days.

S.F. and Anthony Brownrigg (with Stacy)-

Another early performer of the genres genre's cinema, this time around we're looking at a somewhat overlooked family. Born Sherald Fergus, S.F. Brownrigg emerged in the early 70s with a small but effective showing of genre titles in his Texas homeland, most notably Don't Look in the Basement and Don't Open the Door among several other sleazy drive-in fares during that time. Renown for his penchant for bleak, brooding tones, murky plots, startling twist endings, lively acting from a game no-name cast, shocking moments of gruesome violence, and a pungent and flavorsome down-home backwoods country atmosphere, he developed a strong following before deciding to call it quits and found work on ESPN and other local production areas in Texas.

As for his progeny, there's not much to say here. Oldest son Anthony is mostly an actor, working on several indie credits and various industry titles before his most notable credit in his directorial debut Don't Look in the Basement 2. A sequel to his dad's own work, sadly I haven't seen that yet so I can't comment on how it ties in or even its own style but it got released when several rumors had persisted around that time to remake the original speaks about the film somewhat. Still working sporadically, it's enough to get him on this write-up much like his brother Stacy. Almost exclusively working as a sound mixer on various projects of varying genres and styles, he did work on several horror remakes made in the 2000s in addition to other work in TV and feature films.

David and Jennifer Lynch-

A real oversight from the first round-up, as there's something to be said for this father/daughter pairing. David, one of the founding members of the surreal and psychological that is really running rampant in the scene today, started off in the 70s with his only true out-and-out genre effort Eraserhead featuring a father coming to terms with the possibility his deformed son is the result of a monstrous creature which is a truly underwhelming outlook on what happens. Filled with surreal, almost experimental imagery and filming tactics which became his trademark that was carried over to roundabout genre titles Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Lost Highway. As those entries skirt the genre but still have plenty of appeal forcing their mention, and with the majority of his work in shorts or music videos that's the extent of his mention.

His daughter, Jennifer, is similarly rather light on the genre work but still has some notable entries. After initially debuting with the horrific drama Boxing Helena which read very much like her dad's work, she never directed again until the thriller Surveillance, over 25 years later. After that, she emerged with a Hindi horror/fantasy known as Hisss which plays on the snake-woman folktale through a Bollywood lens. With the serial killer thriller Chained arriving shortly afterward, that's the extent of her feature films but not the mention of her genre work as she's become one of the regulars on the TV circuit. Working on efforts like 'The Strain,' 'Warehouse 13' and 'American Horror Story,' she's one of the big names working in that medium which makes her one of the more worthwhile additions to this write-up.

Antonio and Edoardo Margheriti (with Antonella)-

The last family we'll talk about tonight is one of the biggest family's in Italian horror with the Margheriti family. Patriarch Antonio, right alongside Mario Bava as one of the genre's best figureheads in the 1960s, managed to work in nearly every genre and movement possible during those early years of the country's exploitation cinema. Working on Spaghetti Westerns, Strong-Man, Spy films, and even Space Operas, he undoubtedly did his best work on Gothic Horrors with three masterpieces in the scene with The Virgin of Nuremberg, Castle of Blood, and The Long Hair of Death. He even brought that work into the 70s with Web of the Spider, which was a color remake of Castle, and the gothic-tinged Giallo Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye before moving on to other genres. He did a creature feature/jungle adventure with Killer Fish, brought out the gore with Cannibal Apocalypse, and finally did the ripoff movement with Aliens from the Deep which was his swansong in the director's chair in terms of genre work.

As for his progeny, there's not much to say. His son Edoardo worked with his father frequently in the 70s as an assistant or second unit director for most of his films into the 80s, finally taking the role for several TV shows and movies, including the action films Black Cobra and its sequel before finally doing his first genre effort with two episodes of a Giallo TV series which is all he's worked on for now. His sister Antonella is even less with a career mostly consisting of script supervisor roles for her father or other foreign films shooting in Italy, though that's barely over a dozen credits anyway.

And with that, we'll call it for now so you can enjoy the day yourself. Happy Fathers Day, and we'll see you later.