Top 10 Worst Hollywood Directors

With his filmography including such cinematic flops as “Without a Paddle” and “Little Nicky,” Brill’s movies have been universally panned. Horrible scripts are punctuated by horrible direction, making for a unique combination of awful. While Brill has written and acted in some okay films – including everyone’s favorite hockey movie – his attempts at directing fall short. He has more movies set for future release, ensuring the world hasn’t seen the last of his movie failures.

He may’ve found a way to fund his stage-to-screen films without the use of major studios, but it doesn’t mean his movies have been any good. With his slew of “Madea” films and “woman, thou art loose” plot themes, Perry’s films have continuously toed the line between boring and predictable. More often than not, they’ve seemed like an excuse for him to dress in women’s clothing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In spite of the fact that he’s never made one decent film, he still seems to find a way to make more. As the director of such gems as “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas” and “Snow Dogs,” Levant seems to excel at making truly dreadful movies disguised as family films. He even manages to miss the mark of his movies being so bad that they’re good, with most just being shockingly terrible.

Although some of his films have been moderately successful, with “Rambling Rose” even landing him some critical acclaim, one can’t forget the man who brought us “The Adventures of Ford Fairlaine” and “The Covenant.” He even managed to set a world record for the biggest box office failure of all time with 1995’s “Cutthroat Island.” When you’ve made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for how badly your films do, something is wrong.

He’s responsible for “Malibu’s Most Wanted,” “Deck the Halls” and the “Big Momma’s House” sequels. Suffice it to say, Whitesell is not aiming for quality filmmaking. While there may be room for feel-good entertainment and blue-collar humor, he seems to be secretly in a lifelong competition for “Director of Least Funny Comedy.” If so, he’s definitely a strong contender.

It seems as though he’s been making different versions of the same movie for the last 15 years. While Bay’s movies tend to be financially successful, his penchant for explosions, slow-motion, and gluttonous special effects is overwrought. Plus, his heavy-handed approach to brain candy visuals leaves much to be desired in the way of actual direction. Big-budget blockbuster flicks don’t have to be mindless, but Bay seems to find a way.

He wowed us with “The Sixth Sense” and then proceeded to disappoint us with a string of colossal plot-twist failures. Shyamalan has struggled to follow up the critical acclaim of “The Sixth Sense,” choosing to maintain a supernatural element to his films but failing to deliver on quality plots. His movies seem desperate to trick their audience, making his plot twists seem forced. And let’s not forget what he did to “The Last Airbender.”

These two have mastered the art of taking a joke and running it into the ground. Their spoof films of movies like “Scream” and “300” are painfully unfunny, with cliché jokes and cringe-worthy punchlines. Friedberg and Seltzer movies have somehow managed to become parodies of themselves, with their awfulness being the constant theme throughout. It’s almost as if they’re trolling the movie industry, and succeeding.

Apparently, being a douchebag comes with directing credits. Ratner has choked out some pretty lame films, including “Money Talks,” “Rush Hour 3,” and “Tower Heist,” but it’s his antics off-camera that have made him unbearable. Between using homophobic slurs, claiming to “bang and forget” actresses, and his contempt for his audience, Ratner seems to have cornered the market on sleazebag directors.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Paul W.S. Anderson
- Dennis Dugan
- Rob Zombie
- Joel Schumacher
- Brian Robbins

Boll has made some of the worst Hollywood movies on record. Known for turning video games into major motion pictures, including “Blood Rayne” and “House of the Dead,” Boll creates box-office bombs religiously. He’s regarded as the “Ed Wood” of the modern age, eliciting an online petition for him to retire from filmmaking. Boll likes to challenge his critics to boxing matches, but he should probably be thinking about another line of work.

Do you agree with our list? Who do you think is the worst Hollywood movie director? For more entertaining Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.