However, it isn’t always established horror names that create an impact. Some of the genre’s most memorable films have been made by directors who aren’t known for horror, and who maybe never make another film in the horror genre. The following films are fantastic examples.

RELATED: Best Modern Horror Slasher Movies To Watch This Halloween

Oscar-winning South Korean director Bong Joon-ho has been gradually building up his reputation for years, quietly making excellent films before becoming a household name with his film Parasite in 2019. While Bong Joon-ho had been making genre-smashing films for a while, The Host was his first foray into horror with a monster movie worthy of the hall of fame.

In this tale, the American military dumps formaldehyde into the Han River, which leads to the mutation of a strange and scary amphibious monster. Several years later, the creature makes a very public appearance on the river bank. Park Gang-du runs a snack stall down by the river, and the monster grabs his daughter Hyun-Seo and disappears with her. The rest of the film sees Park search for his daughter as she tries to survive in the sewers. It is a scary, devastating family drama as well as a monster movie.

Director Adrian Lyne took a hard right turn with his 1990 film Jacob’s Ladder. Before developing this harrowing look at PTSD brought on by the Vietnam War, Lyne was known for 9 1/2 Weeks, Fatal Attraction, and Flashdance. In a completely different vein, Jacob’s Ladder stars Tim Robbins as Vietnam War veteran Jacob Singer. Jacob is plagued by disturbing visions and struggles to differentiate reality from madness.

With horrific medical scenes, creepy vibrating figures, and an uneasy feeling that this could not be PTSD but something more, Jacob’s Ladder has become regarded as one of the scariest films of all time. The terrifying visuals and blanket of dread and confusion that coat the film make it an all-time masterpiece.

Werner Herzog is known for his slow, often grim documentary works alongside his works of drama and fiction. He is also known for getting shot in the abdomen by an airsoft rifle during an interview and simply continuing on with the interview. Despite all of this, one of Herzog’s most famous films is the remake/re-imagining of the 1922 version of Nosferatu. Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre starred Klaus Kinski as the titular bloodsucker and Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker.

The film was praised for its aesthetic and for making the headlining vampire sympathetic and somewhat forlorn. With beautiful composition and a haunting melancholy throughout, Nosferatu the Vampyre is still acknowledged today as one of the great vampire films telling the story of Dracula.

Frequently touted as the quintessential werewolf film, An American Werewolf in London has left an indelible mark on horror cinema. Considering John Landis isn’t known for making horror films, it’s quite an achievement. The film sees American tourists David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) trekking across the Yorkshire moors in England when they are attacked by an unseen creature. Jack is killed and David is injured, but little does David know he has received much more than an injury from the attack.

After waking up in London, it becomes clear that David is now a werewolf. Over the course of several days, David transforms at night and rampages through London, indiscriminately tearing people to shreds. The film is famous for its makeup effects and the grisly transformation sequence that turns David into a murderous beast.

Near Dark was a surprising and now cult take on the vampire genre by director Kathryn Bigelow in her debut as a solo director. In this neo-western take on horror and nomadic vampires, small-town boy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) crosses paths with a traveling group of vampires headed by Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen). After being bitten by Mae (Jenny Wright), Caleb becomes a vampire and is swept up by the RV-driving night lovers.

Caleb is drawn into a life he doesn’t want and struggles against his new condition and the savagery of the group he has ended up in. Bill Paxton plays Severen, an unhinged member of the vampire clan, in what is often dubbed one of his most memorable performances. Near Dark did poorly on release but has gained a huge cult following over the years. Surprisingly, despite Bigelow beginning her career with this horror film, she went on to direct Point Break, Zero Dark Thirty, and The Hurt Locker. She hasn’t yet returned to the horror genre.

MORE: Horror Films That Put A Unique Spin On The Genre