David Bruckner (born c. 1977) is an American film director. With

Jacob Gentry Jacob Gentry is an American film director, editor, and writer. He is best known for ''The Signal (2007 film), The Signal'', which he co-wrote and co-directed with David Bruckner and Dan Bush. He also directed the ''My Super Psycho Sweet 16'' tr ...

and

Dan Bush Dan Bush is an American film director and screenwriter best known for '' The Signal'' (2007), which he co-directed and co-wrote with Jacob Gentry and David Bruckner. Early life Bush attended the University of South Carolina and University of N ...

, he co-wrote and co-directed the 2007

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

'' The Signal''. Bruckner also co-wrote and directed the "Amateur Night" segment of the 2012 horror anthology film ''

V/H/S ''V/H/S'' is a 2012 American found footage horror anthology film and the first installment in the ''V/H/S'' franchise created by Brad Miska and Bloody Disgusting and produced by Miska and Roxanne Benjamin. It features a series of found foota ...

'', as well as directed the 2017 film '' The Ritual'' and the 2020 film ''

The Night House ''The Night House'' is a 2020 psychological horror film directed by David Bruckner and written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski. The film stars Rebecca Hall as a widow who discovers a dark secret about the house her recently deceased architect ...

''.

Early history

Bruckner grew up in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. His father is a police detective and his mother an emergency room nurse. He attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

along with

A. J. Bowen Alfred Charles "A. J." Bowen Jr. (born December 21, 1977) is an American actor and producer. He starred in '' The Signal'' (2007) and ''A Horrible Way To Die'' (2010). Early life Bowen was born in Marietta, Georgia, and attended the University ...

and

. The three would later collaborate with

on '' The Signal'' (2007).

Career

With

and

, Bruckner co-wrote and co-directed ''The Signal''. The filmmakers used their connections in Atlanta to compose a crew. The concept came from a

Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

game called

exquisite corpse Exquisite corpse (from the original French term ', literally exquisite cadaver), is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. ...

, in which multiple people collaborate in order to complete an art project. When Gentry was unable to contribute to the horror anthology ''

'' (2012), he suggested Bruckner, who eventually co-wrote and directed the segment "Amateur Night". Also released in 2012, his short film ''Talk Show'' addresses the torture debate in mainstream media. Bruckner was set to direct a reboot of ''

Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. ...

'' for Paramount Pictures but was reported to have left in late 2015. His film '' Southbound'' premiered at the 2015

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

and was picked up for distribution by

the Orchard The Orchard may refer to: * The Orchard (company), American music and entertainment company * The Orchard (band), Canadian country music duo * ''The Orchard'' (Lizz Wright album), 2008 * ''The Orchard'' (Ra Ra Riot album), 2010 * The Orchard (t ...

for release in 2016. In 2016, he was an executive producer on ''

Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...

'', which was based on his ''V/H/S'' segment "Amateur Night". In 2017, he released his first solo directed feature, '' The Ritual'', based on the horror novel by Adam Nevill. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, and was released by Netflix. Bruckner's most recent film is the horror-thriller ''

'', starring

Rebecca Hall Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and filmmaker. She made her first onscreen appearance at age 10 in the 1992 television adaptation of ''The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, Sir Peter Hall. Her professional s ...

. Theatrically released on August 20, 2021, the film was acclaimed by critics. In 2020, it was announced that Bruckner would be helming a reboot of ''

Hellraiser ''Hellraiser'' is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, and produced by Christopher Figg, based on Barker's 1986 novella ''The Hellbound Heart''. The film marked Barker's directorial debut. Its plot invol ...

''.

Awards and nominations

In 2008, Bruckner was nominated for the

Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award is presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000 by the Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers. It is named after ac ...

along with Gentry and Bush for ''The Signal''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruckner, David Living people American film directors Horror film directors Year of birth missing (living people)