Best known for his work on horror films, director Neil Marshall has spent the last two decades directing a variety of film and television projects that span across multiple genres. From low-budget horror movies to tentpole superhero films to prestige television, Neil Marshall has assembled quite the filmography.
While Neil Marshall has tried his hand at a number of different endeavors, some have been more successful and well-received than others. Spanning the highs of his early work to the more recent stumbles, his IMDb page reveals the audience reactions to the ebbs and flows of his career so far.
8 Not Eligible: Television Work
While Neil Marshall became well known for his work on feature films, he has also had a successful career directing episodes of television. As such, it is worth noting that he has directed well-received episodes of shows such as Westworld, Hannibal, and Game of Thrones.
Neil Marshall was nominated for an Emmy for directing Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 9, "The Watchers on the Wall" (9.6), in which Jon Snow and the Night's Watch battled against the Wildlings. Marshall has demonstrated an incredible prowess for storytelling and action through his television work.
7 The Reckoning (4.6)
Neil Marshall's most recent directorial work, The Reckoning, is also his lowest-rated film. The Reckoning follows a woman who lost her husband during the Great Plague and is falsely accused of being a witch, but things start to change as she is persecuted.
Despite the potentially interesting premise, critics and audiences found The Reckoning to be an unpleasant, downer of an experience. With negative reviews and only a small box office return, The Reckoning seems destined to be one of Neil Marshall's least memorable films.
6 Hellboy (5.2)
Fans were disappointed when they learned that Hellboy was being rebooted rather than receiving a third entry by acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro. The original Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, starring Ron Perlman, have become cult classics. There was a glimmer of hope that director Neil Marshall and Stranger Things star David Harbour would be able to do something new and original with the franchise.
While the new Hellboy certainly took things in a different direction, fans simply were not interested in a Hellboy movie that did not feature Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman. The reboot was not well received and the franchise appears to have stalled for now.
5 Tales Of Halloween (5.5)
Tales of Halloween is a holiday anthology film in which 10 different segments were written and directed by various filmmakers. The segment written and directed by Neil Marshall, entitled "Bad Seed," is about a murderous sentient pumpkin.
Overall, the film received mixed reviews with critics rating it more positively than audiences. Critics lauded the consistent quality but thought the movie lacked the necessary darkness of a great horror film. Anthology movies can, by nature, yield mixed results because they are made up of unrelated or loosely connected segments. However, this one fared relatively well for a horror anthology.
4 Doomsday (6.0)
Doomsday is a futuristic science fiction movie set in a world in which Scotland has been quarantined for decades because of a deadly virus called the Reaper virus. When the virus reaches England, a special ops team is sent into Scotland to try to track down a cure. However, once there, they encounter marauders as well as medieval-style knights.
While there are certainly some interesting ideas at work in this film, they never really come together as well as they do in other films with similar concepts such as Mad Max. As a result, the film received mixed reviews from audiences and critics alike.
3 Centurion (6.4)
Loosely based on a true story, Centurion details the struggle between Roman soldiers and indigenous Scottish warriors in the second century. This movie boasts one of the most talented casts Neil Marshall has ever directed, featuring performances from Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, Imogen Poots, and recent Oscar nominee Riz Ahmed.
The movie is filled with entertaining fight sequences but is held back by a generic script. While it is not his highest-rated film, it further proved that Neil Marshall was more than capable of directing action. As a result, Centurion received mixed, albeit slightly more positive, reviews.
2 Dog Soldiers (6.8)
Neil Marshall's feature directorial debut, Dog Soldiers is a low-budget action horror movie that pits werewolves against soldiers. The story revolves around a squad of British soldiers who are dropped into the Scottish Highlands for a training exercise. However, that training is quickly disrupted by a pack of werewolves.
Dog Soldiers was well received by both critics and audiences, as it offered a fresh take on the werewolf genre. Praised for its action, humor, and scares, Dog Soldiers was an impressive debut for Neil Marshall that opened the door for his next movie.
1 The Descent (7.2)
Neil Marshall followed up his successful debut with The Descent, a tense horror film that follows a group of women who encounter a clan of monstrous, cave-dwelling crawlers. When a grieving woman goes on a group spelunking trip with her friends, they get lost in the unfamiliar cave system and are subsequently attacked by subterranean monsters.
The movie was an instant hit thanks to great scares, strong performances, and excellent direction, complemented by a brutal ending that left audiences in shock. The Descent made over $57 million and received positive reviews from both audiences and critics.
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April 20, 2021 at 05:30AM
