From Evil Dead to Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez has directed some of the best horror movies of the past decade – but not all of his films have been quite that great. Álvarez first caught Hollywood’s attention when he dropped his short film Ataque de Pánico! on YouTube in 2009. He was quickly recruited by Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures to develop his debut feature, and that debut feature ended up being a remake of Raimi’s own debut feature, The Evil Dead. Álvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead introduced the franchise to a whole new generation of horror fans.
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Since Evil Dead put Álvarez on the map as an exciting new voice in the genre, he’s become one of the most sought-after horror directors in Hollywood. He’s helmed daring original projects, like Don’t Breathe, and tackled other daunting reboots of legendary franchises, like his Alien movie. Álvarez is a visionary filmmaker who goes all in when he takes on a new project. But his movies haven’t all been as successful as Don’t Breathe; he’s also directed some disappointing duds, like the misguided The Girl in the Spider’s Web. So, here are all his films, ranked worst to best.
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4 The Girl In The Spider’s Web
Released In 2018
The Girl in the Spider’s Web 
2.0 0
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Director Fede Alvarez Release Date November 9, 2018 Writers Jay Basu , Steven Knight , Fede Alvarez Cast Claire Foy , Volker Bruch , Sylvia Hoeks , Cameron Britton , Andreja Pejic , Vicky Krieps , Stephen Merchant , Christopher Convery , Sverrir Gudnason , LaKeith Stanfield , Mikael Persbrandt Runtime 117minutes
The only real disappointment of Álvarez’s directorial career is The Girl in the Spider’s Web. It’s technically a sequel to David Fincher’s English-language remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from 2011, but it features an entirely different cast and, with Álvarez at the helm, a totally different style. Claire Foy replaces Rooney Mara in the role of hacker Lisbeth Salander and Sverrir Gudnason replaces Daniel Craig in the role of journalist Mikael Blomkvist. The plot revolves around Lisbeth’s battle against a shady organization known as “The Spiders,” who seek world domination.
The movie isn’t based on an entry in Stieg Larsson’s original Millennium series; it’s based on a book by David Lagercrantz that takes place in that universe. That might be the root of the problem; it plays more like a fanfic than a genuine canonical entry in this saga. It eschews the intense realism of the Millennium series and essentially pits Lisbeth against Dr. Doofenshmirtz. The Girl in the Spider’s Web is the only movie Álvarez has directed that was widely panned by critics, and deservingly so.
Álvarez proves himself to be a pretty capable action director, but his reboot lacks the nuance and intrigue and complexity that made this franchise so popular in the first place.
Whereas Fincher’s movie and Larsson’s original novels dared to go to some really grim places, The Girl in the Spider’s Web plays it disappointingly safe. Whereas Fincher’s movie and the books were gritty mysteries that left a trail of breadcrumbs for eagle-eyed audiences to follow, The Girl in the Spider’s Web is a by-the-numbers action thriller with no discernible tension. Álvarez proves himself to be a pretty capable action director, but his reboot lacks the nuance and intrigue and complexity that made this franchise so popular in the first place.
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There is one bright spot in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Foy gives a typically terrific performance in the lead role, seamlessly adopting the role from Mara, but she’s given almost nothing to work with. The complicated antihero from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, who Mara played so spectacularly, is reduced to a standard one-dimensional action star. The Girl in the Spider’s Web is almost cartoonish in its use of Bond movie clichés and high-octane action set-pieces. Drawing inevitable comparisons with Fincher’s masterful work on the previous film doesn’t do this one any favors.
3 Evil Dead
Released In 2013
Evil Dead (2013) 4.0 0
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Director Fede Alvarez Release Date April 5, 2013 Cast Jane Levy , Shiloh Fernandez , Lou Taylor Pucci , Jessica Lucas , Elizabeth Blackmore , Phoenix Connolly , Jim McLarty , Sian Davis , Stephen Butterworth , Karl Willetts , Randal Wilson , Rupert Degas , Bob Dorian , Ellen Sandweiss , Jack Walley , Bruce Campbell Runtime 91 Minutes Expand
For his very first feature film, Álvarez took on a project that even the most seasoned horror director would find intimidating: a remake of The Evil Dead. Horror remakes are almost always pointless and dissatisfying, because nothing is ever as scary the second time. But against all odds, Álvarez managed to create an Evil Dead reboot that lived up to its predecessors. 2013’s Evil Dead is just as much grisly fun as any of Raimi’s original films, and Álvarez managed to take the gore to an even crazier level in the reboot.
Álvarez’s Evil Dead addresses some of the plot holes from the original. In the original movie, there’s no real reason for these kids to go and stay at a creepy cabin in the middle of nowhere. But in Álvarez’s remake, they need to get their drug-addicted friend to an isolated location so she can go cold turkey and kick her addiction. This also creates a great conceit that draws out the suspense longer than the original. When she starts seeing paranormal terrors around the cabin, her friends assume she’s just hallucinating as a symptom of withdrawal.
It usually doesn’t work when a horror remake employs CGI to recreate scares from the original film, because the weightless digital effects don’t elicit the same visceral response as old-school practical effects. But 2013’s Evil Dead is the exception that proves the rule, because its modern effects actually enhance the horror. The notorious tree attack sequence from the original movie looks a little silly by today’s standards, because off-screen crew members are just waving twigs and branches in front of the camera.
But in the reboot, Álvarez uses CGI to make this scene more convincing – and, in turn, more horrifying.
There is one downside to Álvarez’s Evil Dead remake, and it’s a pretty big one: for the most part, it forgoes Raimi’s signature absurdist humor. To be fair, that humor wasn’t really prevalent in the original film that this one is based on – it became a bigger element in the sequels – but it’s one of the main reasons why the Evil Dead franchise is so unique and endearing, so it was pretty disappointing for a new Evil Dead movie to do without it. But that’s a minor gripe in such a great horror movie.
2 Alien: Romulus
Released In 2024
Alien: Romulus 3.5 27
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Director Fede Alvarez Release Date August 16, 2024 Cast Cailee Spaeny , David Jonsson , Archie Renaux , Isabela Merced , Spike Fearn , Aileen Wu , Rosie Ede , Soma Simon , Bence Okeke , Viktor Orizu , Robert Bobroczkyi , Trevor Newlin , Annemarie Griggs , Daniel Betts Runtime 119 Minutes
Álvarez finally redeemed a string of underwhelming sequels, prequels, and spin-offs and got the Alien franchise back on track with Alien: Romulus. Alien: Romulus takes place between Alien and Aliens on the timeline, and it’s also pitched somewhere between those two movies tonally. It sees a group of young space colonists traveling to an abandoned research station in search of the cryosleep chambers they need for their journey to a brighter future. But when they get to the station, they find that it wasn’t abandoned; it’s been ravaged from the inside.
Each half of this station represents the style of a different Alien movie: the Remus half is a chilling haunted house where the crew has to stay on their toes, where the movie enjoys the claustrophobic thrills of Alien, while the Romulus half is a festering hive of xenomorphs where the crew has to shoot their way out, replicating the blockbuster action spectacle of Aliens. Álvarez does a fine job of balancing these two tones. The James Cameron-style pulse-rifle-toting action never undermines the Ridley Scott-style unsettling atmosphere.
Álvarez also recreates Scott and Cameron’s use of practical effects over CGI. The grimy retro-futuristic production design would’ve made H.R. Giger proud, and the practical xenomorph costumes make the creatures much more terrifying than the CG xenomorphs of the last few Alien movies. Led by Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson’s heartfelt sibling dynamic, Alien: Romulus has some of the strongest character work of Álvarez’s filmography. Like Scott, he takes plenty of time to let the audience get to know the characters, so they care enough about those characters to root for them when the xenomorphs show up.
Throughout its first two acts, Alien: Romulus is a very well-made sci-fi horror film with mesmerizing visuals, fiercely effective scares, and a deeply unnerving atmosphere. But the third act is when it goes from good to great. Just when it seems like the movie is wrapping up and Álvarez hasn’t quite pushed the horror far enough, a truly disturbing monstrosity shows up and pushes the film to greatness.
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1 Don’t Breathe
Released In 2016
Don’t Breathe 3.5 1
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Director Fede Alvarez Release Date August 26, 2016 Cast Stephen Lang , Katia Bokor , Daniel Zovatto , Sergej Onopko , Jane May Graves , Jon Donahue , Jane Levy , Dylan Minnette Runtime 88minutes
Arguably Álvarez’s finest film is also his most original. Don’t Breathe flips the usual home invasion thriller formula on its head. In most home invasion movies, from Panic Room to Wait Until Dark, the homeowners are the protagonists and the burglars are the antagonists. But in Don’t Breathe, the opposite is true: the protagonists are the young criminals who break into a blind war veteran’s house to retrieve the money they need to buy themselves a better life, and the antagonist is the blind man who promptly turns the tables on these would-be thieves.
Álvarez has some truly jaw-dropping twists up his sleeve in
Don’t Breathe
– not the least of which is the disturbing sight they find in the basement.
Álvarez did an admirable job of recreating the claustrophobic feel of Scott’s original Alien film in Alien: Romulus, but Don’t Breathe is his most claustrophobic film. Álvarez creates a palpable sense of dread as the burglars desperately try to escape from the house with their lives. Every new discovery about the man they’re robbing reveals him to be even more monstrous and terrifying. Álvarez has some truly jaw-dropping twists up his sleeve in Don’t Breathe – not the least of which is the disturbing sight they find in the basement.
Whereas Evil Dead and Alien: Romulus have some lulls in their tension, Don’t Breathe manages to maintain the suspense from beginning to end. As soon as the blind man starts fighting back against the burglars who have broken into his home, the movie draws audiences right to the edge of their seats and doesn’t let them relax until the very end. It’s easy to see why Don’t Breathe convinced Disney executives that Fede Álvarez was the right filmmaker to tackle an Alien movie.
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