He’s not wrong.
With Jordan Peele’s third film Nope hitting theaters this weekend, fans have taken to Twitter to sing their praises of the contemporary horror master. With films like Get Out and Us already under his belt, Peele is a horror force to be reckoned with. But, when artist Adam Ellis tweeted that it’s time to declare Peele the best horror director of all time, the filmmaker quickly clapped back.
Ellis’ tweet is a screenshot of the Rotten Tomato percentages for each of Peele’s films along with his declaration about the director’s deserved status.
I know this is a hot take but at what point do we declare Jordan Peele the best horror director of all time? Can you think of another horror director that had 3 great films, let alone 3 in a row? I can’t. pic.twitter.com/s67M40TZ7p
— Adam ElIis 𓁹𓂏𓁹 (@adamtotscomix) July 20, 2022
Peele then simply replied:
Sir, please put the phone down I beg you.
— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) July 20, 2022
He then responded to his tweet, saying he loved the enthusiasm, but John Carpenter, in his opinion, in the best horror director of all time.
Horror icons such as Barbara Crampton and Caroline Williams replied to Peele showing their love for both directors. And there is absolutely no doubt that Carpenter is a horror legend. From truly kicking off the slasher genre with Halloween to creating the best body horror film of all time The Thing, Carpenter knows how to scare us. The official Letterboxd account even responded with a meme declaring six of Carpenter’s feature films masterpieces.
On top of directing, which was of course made possible by his producing partner Debra Hill, Carpenter is also a talented composer. For one, he composed and played the score for Halloween (1978). So we have him to thank not just for creating The Shape, but for giving us an unforgettable horror score. While Carpenter isn’t directing the new Halloween trilogy, he’s still scoring it with Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies.
Jordan Peele’s Nope stars Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun. They play residents of a dusty Southern California town outside of LA who discover a strange phenomenon. It comes to theaters July 22.
