The Movie Brats
Arguably the most famous director ever. Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Steven Spielberg
John Carpenter's classic named after a certain spooky holiday
Halloween (1978)
Michael Keaton played this superhero in Tim Burton's 1989 film of the same name, one who has become a staple in films, comics, cartoons, video games, and much, much more.
Batman
Before Fury Road, there was just Mad Max, the DIY brainchild of which Australian filmmaker?
George Miller
This home movie format, though superior in quality, lost to VHS as the dominant medium in the home video market.
Betamax
Director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Sells wine these days and makes worse movies.
Francis Ford Coppola
This horror masterpiece, featuring the most iconic carpet in film history, might be the most overanalyzed film of all time.
The Shining (1980)
The soundtrack for this John Travolta movie was the best selling album in history until Michael Jackson's Thriller
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
The modern action movie simply would not exist without this Hong Kong gun-fu pioneer.
John Woo
Though it existed long before the emergence of HBO and Showtime, the home video market in the 1980's led to an explosion in the popularity of what?
Cable
Known for his gangster movies and collaborations with Paul Schrader. You may know him as the "Absolute Cinema" meme guy.
Martin Scorsese
John Landis' horror-comedy romp about a man in a foreign land who undergoes a notoriously grisly transformation.
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
This musician's soundtracks were crucial to the marketability of Top Gun, Footloose, and Caddyshack
Kenny Loggins
This Dutch filmmaker went from making subversive, erotic movies such as Turkish Delight to hyperviolent, subversive blockbusters such as Robocop.
Paul Verhoeven
This grotesque category of low-budget horror movies caused quite a stir in the UK since home video releases could bypass the review process required for theatrical releases.
Video Nasty
Noted Hitchcock aficionado. Walks the line between homage and plagiarism.
Brian De Palma
This movie was pitched as "Jaws in Space"
Alien (1979)
Jaws, Back to the Future, and Die Hard - three different genres united by sleek logos, merchandising/branding opportunities, and simple premises -- are all examples of what kind of film?
High-Concept Film
Known for both his documentaries and his narrative films, this German filmmaker once ate a shoe on camera.
Werner Herzog
In order to compensate for the 4:3 aspect ratio of home televisions, film editors used this technique to make widescreen films suitable for home viewing.
Scan and Pan
Founder of special effects studio Industrial Light and Magic. Made some movies you have probably heard of.
George Lucas
When asked about this movie, the director said, "It's about a woman who f*cks with an octopus"
Possession (1981)
The video game tie-in for this Spielberg movie was SO BAD that unsold copies were buried in a landfill and sealed with concrete
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The writer and director of the cannibalistic The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, this British filmmaker thrived in controversy.
Peter Greenaway
Prior to the advent of VHS, cinephiles could acquire film prints in this format for home viewing if they had a projector
Super 8