Random Article - Father/Son (and Daughter) Horror Directors, Part 4

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 the past two years on the subject.

George P. and Panos Cosmatos-

Maybe a bit of an unexpected choice, but this is a pretty solid pairing. An Italian-born journeyman, the elder George was an upcoming name in the 1980s with a small but notable collection of films including the killer rat effort Of Unknown Origin, the horror-infused action/slasher hybrid classic Cobra, and the beloved cheesy sea-creature feature Leviathan. As well, with credits including Escape from Athens, Rambo: First Blood, Part II, and Tombstone demonstrating a proficiency towards slick, glossy mainstream-ready fare that signaled a big talent was on the way before being unfortunately taken too early with throat cancer.

Turning to Panos, he doesn't have near his dad's catalog but does have some notable aspects to mention. With only two films to his credit so far in Beyond the Black Rainbow and Mandy, it's present that he favors heavy psychedelia and acid-washed visuals throughout with both features dripping with such trippy imagery. The wild, bizarre themes and over-the-top concepts both of his films employ are certainly cause for an individual's preference unlike his father's mainstream-ready work, so he clearly marches to his own muse. Given the lack of updates about his next project since and a sizeable gap of nearly a decade between those two to begin with (Rainbow was released in 2010 while Mandy in 18) as well as nothing in the interim, he takes his time and is an intriguing name to keep an eye on.

David and Brandon Cronenberg-

One of the most revered names in the modern genre, it's nearly impossible not to find a fan who doesn't have one of the elder Canadian's films in their favorites list. David is THE name when it comes to body-horror genre features and rattled off one of the most impressive runs of films not just in the genre as a whole but filmmaking in general with 1975's Shivers up through 1988's Dead Ringers (some would include Naked Lunch but despite the imagery present it's not a horror film in my eyes) while some would even throw later titles Crash or Eastern Promises into the mix. Regardless, the last true genre film being Ringers is where I leave it with his career as this run has made him one of the biggest names in the scene.

Now, his son Brandon is quite new to the scene with only a few titles to his name overall but a few patterns can already be seen. With his so-far released titles Antiviral and especially Possessor demonstrate, he's clearly influenced by the biological intricacies of life, the implications of outside factors over the human condition, and how the human body can be fragile due to exposure to these elements. Granted, we're only at the first few films in his career but he's one of the more promising and intriguing voices in the scene at the moment.

Roberto and Alex Infascelli-

Technically, this can be a three-generation write-up for this family but we'll cap this at two while giving a passing mention to patriarch Carlo Infascelli. Carlo was a seasoned writer and producer in Italy in the 50s and 60s, working mainly on comedies and historical dramas without really touching close to the genre for the most part. His son Roberto was similarly involved in writer/producer roles like his dad, working on a wide range of genres but was involved in the genre efforts Puzzle, The Last Stop on the Night Train, and The Sunday Woman in either capacity. While neither of his two directorial efforts was genre films, the fact that he still touches within the genre as both Puzzle and Woman can be said to be giallos, and Night Train is a stellar rape/revenge exploitation film makes it fine to include him.

Grandson Alex, interestingly, could've been a saving grace for the giallo genre in the early 2000s as he started his career in the genre. After initially directing music videos and a segment in the anthology DeGenerazione (which also featured Asia Argento as a contributor), he churned out one of the finer new millennium gialli with Almost Blue which showed him to contain some promise for the genre going forward. Unfortunately, with follow-ups The Vanity Serum and Hate 2O failing at the box office he was forced to depart the genre and turn to other ventures while still working sporadically in several genres for Italian television.

F.U. Ramsay and Shyam, Tulsi, Keshu, and Kiran Ramsay (with all the other brothers)-

The royal family of Hindi horror cinema in India, the Ramsay family are responsible for being the biggest and most respected names in the genre in the country producing a massive string of hit films from the 70s through the 90s that included films at the top of the country's output, all by themselves.

To get to the family members individually, patriarch F.U. Ramsay was a writer/producer on nearly all of his sons' works when they got into the industry, although he did have a few credits in other films beyond his family but nothing major. By the time his eldest son Tulsi entered the business as a director, followed closely by his brother Shyam, he continued working on his sons' films so that the rest of the family could enter the business. Eventually, it turned almost into a factory where Kumar Ramsay would do the writing almost exclusively as his profession, Keshu Ramsay acted as the main producer, Gangu Ramsay was the cinematographer, Arjun Ramsay took up second-unit work and Kiran Ramsay handled sound as both Tulsi and Shyam took on directorial chores together. Working together on these projects, the family produced films as a unit that are considered the highest tier that was ever produced in the country including but not limited to Darwaza, Hotel, 3D Saamri, Veerana, and Mahakaal among others.

Spurned by this success, two of them tried their own hand at directing. Keshu was the first to do so, offering Haveli before churning out the classic Dak Bangla which was both very much in the vein of the brother's other films. Also directing Saaya as well as the troubled Mahal alongside several non-genre efforts, he does have the most experience in the position amongst the other brothers. Kiran offered up both Shaitani Ilaaka and Aakhri Cheekh while the genre was winding down in popularity in the 1990s.

However, before we leave it would be remiss to not bring about Tulsi's son Deepak, who also entered the business and worked on several titles. Performing second-unit duties on a couple of the family's last works in Veerana, Bandh Darwaza, and Mahakaal, he also directed two films of his own with only one being the genre effort Aatma. Mostly, though, he seems to be the main conduit for keeping the family name alive as he's become a source for keeping the hallowed name of his family alive across the world so he most certainly deserves some credit and mention.

Stefano, Enrico and Carlo Vanzina-

The last family to look at is this Italian pairing that deserves mention. Starting with the elder Stefano (who will actually be more well-known to cinephiles under the name Steno), he was a master of the Italian slapstick comedy in the 50s and 60s, primarily working with beloved comedic actors Toto, Aldo Fabrizi, Alberto Sordi, and Ugo Tognazzi among others. Known for a rapid-fire style of joke delivery and physical comedy was highly profitable at the time, he offered a string of hits at the box office and became one of the more popular directors at the time. First turning to the genre with the hysterical vampire comedy Hard Times for Dracula/Uncle Was a Vampire starring Christopher Lee in a send-up of the then-just-released Horror of Dracula role, comedian Renato Rascel, and Sylvia Koscina, he didn't really differ from his usual formula for success and produced a minor cult classic as a result. However, despite the success, he didn't really return to the genre of horror/comedy until 1971 with the controversial The Terror with Cross-Eyes, a giallo spoof that's more well-known for mocking the Manson family murders than anything else and has slipped into obscurity as a result. He tried again with another giallo/comedy hybrid with Double Murder later on but spent the last decade of his life working on television fare until he died in 1988.

Turning to his sons, elder brother Enrico Vanzina has more of a background as a writer in comedies, much like his dad. The overwhelming majority of his work here is spent working on these types of films from the 70s until today, offering up a few scattered genre choices here and there including the film Shock Treatment from 1973 as his first professional credit. He does have a directorial credit on a comedy in the 2000s but as expected, that's a comedy and not technically part of the overview on the site. However, younger brother Carlo Vanzina was the one to follow dad into the director's seat and brought about a solid career in the comedy scene in the late 70s/early 80s before trying the giallo effort Mystere in the wake of Dario Argento's Tenebre. That allowed him to team up with his brother Enrico to try the genre again with the critically successful Noting Underneath, one of the genre's few hits in the decade at the Italian box office. Despite the success, it took until the mid-90s before they returned with Squillo, a genre effort that was met with little attention despite actually being a decent-enough film and another decade-plus in comedy before his genre swan-song with a loose follow-up to his earlier hit with Nothing Underneath - The Last Parade. While he would continue directing until he died in 2019, this would be his last touch with the genre as a whole.

And with that, we find ourselves at the end of this list for now. Join us again next year for another celebration of these duos as we honor Father's Day with this special series of articles. To those out there reading this, have a happy Father's Day and we'll see you all next time.