10 Memorable Cameos from Horror Filmmakers… In Their Own Movies!
John Squires
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Wes Craven – Scream
There’s perhaps no greater director cameo in the history of horror than Wes Craven’s in Scream, where he played the role of Fred the janitor. An obvious bit of self-referential humor, Fred was completely decked out in the outfit worn by Craven’s greatest creation, rocking Freddy’s fedora and iconic Christmas sweater. The director went on to appear in small uncredited roles in all of the Scream sequels – though his role as a coroner in the fourth one was cut from the finished film. Yup, Craven found himself on the cutting room floor of his own movie!
Sam Raimi – The Evil Dead
Though mostly known as a director, Sam Raimi has actually acted in more films over the years than he has directed, showing off his chops in movies like Maniac Cop and Intruder. He can even briefly be seen in The Evil Dead, appearing as one of the hitchhiking fishermen who waves at the gang as they pass by, on their way to the ill-fated cabin in the woods. His hitchhiking buddy was played by Rob Tapert, the film’s producer.
Tobe Hooper – Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Part 2
Tobe Hooper is not a guy who often puts himself in his own movies, or does any sort of acting at all – which makes his brief appearance in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Part 2 all the more special. Early in the film, Stretch pays a visit to Lefty at the hotel he’s staying at, where a bunch of drunk football fans are causing all kinds of ruckus in the halls. As she knocks on Lefty’s door, waiting for an answer, a cigar-smoking man wearing an orange hat with horns on it walks directly past her and gets pelted with a handful of ice – that man is none other than Tobe Hooper, who throws his beer can at the drunks and quickly makes an exit off screen.
David Cronenberg – The Fly
As far as utterly disgusting scenes go, it doesn’t get much more revolting than Veronica’s nightmare sequence in David Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly – wherein she gives birth to a giant larva. Quite fittingly, the doctor tasked with delivering the hideous creature in the scene is the same man who conceived it – David Cronenberg. Though his face is almost completely hidden by a surgical mask, you don’t need to see much more than his eyes or hear his voice to know it’s the master of body horror underneath those scrubs. Cronenberg of course blew this cameo completely out of the water several years later, getting killed off by Jason in Jason X!
