Filmmaker of the Month | The Spool

Filmmaker of the Month

The glorious, grimy evil of Killer Joe

By: Kayleigh Donaldson

Friedkin at his most unsparing and cruel delivers a powerful late-career film that might be too much for some to stomach.

Rules of Engagement finds Friedkin in transition

By: Peter Sobczynski

The military courtroom drama has its moments, but is more notable for where it sent the director next.

When William Friedkin cuts to the heart of The Hunted, it shines

Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro's climactic duel is a stupendous piece of filmmaking in a good film that could have been great with some judicious paring.

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Getting to the bottom of William Friedkin’s Jade

By: Gena Radcliffe

Take a seat for a look at how this 90s not-very-erotic thriller hindered the filmmaker’s comeback.

Blue Chips turns over the ball early, never gets back into it

By: Tim Stevens

Friedkin’s facile take on corruption in college sports can’t run its game.

In Rampage, William Friedkin puts his own feelings about the death penalty on trial

By: Gena Radcliffe

Though mostly a by-the-numbers courtroom drama, this little seen thriller poses some uncomfortable questions.

The gold beneath the glitter of To Live and Die in L.A

By: Chris Ludovici

Initially written off as vapid & glitzy, L.A.‘s a searing indictment of 80s materialism and macho posturing crafted from the era’s shallow pop culture trappings. NOW STREAMING: Powered by JustWatch It must have been easy to be cynical about William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. in 1985. After a blazing hot early 1970s, his critical ... The gold beneath the glitter of To Live and Die in L.A

Sorcerer thrills thanks to Friedkin’s wizardly control of tone

By: Justin Harrison

Friedkin's classic thriller frays viewers' nerves without relying on bombast.

Friedkin tries his hands at comedy in The Brink’s Job and Deal of the Century

By: Peter Sobczynski

The director meets with decidedly mixed results when he attempts to swap intensity for guffaws in these two efforts.

A couple of lapsed Catholics talk about The Exorcist

By: Gena Radcliffe

Two of our writers discuss how a perhaps unhealthy fear of God makes William Friedkin’s most successful film so effective.

You’ll hate attending The Birthday Party, but it remains worth watching

By: Tim Stevens

Friedkin’s second film is a bruising affair that finds the fledgling director wielding style to produce maximum psychological damage.

Filmmaker of the Month: William Friedkin

Upon his recent passing, we remember the feisty & controversial director & his wildly diverse filmography.

Meg 2: The Trench is a soggy sequel that remembers to be fun too late

By: Tim Stevens

Wheatley’s latest ends on a gratifyingly silly monster movie third act, but viewers need to suffer through the rest of the film to get there.

Rebecca proves a pale imitator of its predecessor and the source material

By: Shannon Campe

Wheatley's adaptation of the classic gothic novel frequently looks lush, but can't back up its visuals

A movie breaks out during a firearm stunt reel in Free Fire

By: Tim Stevens

Wheatley flirts with Tarantino-esque “cool” crime with decidedly different results.

High-Rise explores stories of the class system in chaos

By: Jon Paul Roberts

Wheatley's first encounter with a movie star, Tom Hiddleston, dives deep into humanity's social climbing dark side.

A Field in England goes afield, in England

By: Gregory J. Smalley

Wheatley keeps it eclectic with the most psychedelic offering in his filmography.

Sightseers takes murder on the road

By: Michael Frank

Ben Wheatley's third film brings Bonnie and Clyde across the pond for a decidedly less glamorous take on homicidal lovers.

Kill List disturbs thanks to Wheatley’s merciless anti-romanticism

By: Justin Harrison

A disaffected hitman and his best pal descend into an entirely different sort of hell in the director/writer’s genre-hopping nightmare.

Down Terrace visits crime at the bottom of the barrel

By: Tim Stevens

Ben Wheatley's debut film rejects cool attitude and snappy dialogue to tell a working-class tale of crime.

Filmmaker of the Month: Ben Wheatley

We celebrate the British filmmaker taking his biggest swipe yet at the mainstream this month with Meg 2: The Trench by declaring him our Filmmaker of the Month.

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