(Not) First Feature Films by Famous Filmmakers
All of feature films listed below are widely thought to be classic "debuts" and are seemingly first features of great directors. However, if you dig deeper, turns out their actual feature debuts were forgotten for one reason or another. Which of these faux first features is your favorite and most inspiring case of early filmmaking by a known director?
Note: Finished feature films only.
Discuss the poll here
Note: Finished feature films only.
Discuss the poll here
List activity
104 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
31 titles
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.Real first feature by Sam Raimi: It's Murder! (1977)
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDennis WeaverJacqueline ScottEddie FirestoneA business commuter is pursued and terrorized by the malevolent driver of a massive tractor-trailer.Real first feature by Steven Spielberg: Firelight (1964)
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.Real first feature by Tobe Hooper: Eggshells (1969)
- DirectorGeorgiy DaneliyaStarsNikita MikhalkovAleksei LoktevGalina PolskikhYoung Siberian writer Volodya meets Kolya in the Moscow metro in his visit to a famous author. Volodya and Kolya's friend Sasha adventure their love interests in their own way, while Kolya sets out to help them.Real first feature by Georgiy Daneliya: Seryozha (1960)
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsEvan C. KimBong Soo HanBill BixbyThe daily programming of a fictional local TV channel presented as a series of highly irreverent skits.Real first feature by John Landis: Schlock (1973)
- DirectorWilliam LustigStarsJoe SpinellCaroline MunroAbigail ClaytonA psychopathic man goes on a killing and mutilation spree in New York City.Real first feature by William Lustig: The Viloation of Claudia (1977)
- DirectorMario BavaStarsBarbara SteeleJohn RichardsonAndrea ChecchiA vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant.Real first feature by Mario Bava: I vampiri (1959)
- DirectorEldar RyazanovStarsIgor IlyinskyLyudmila GurchenkoYuri BelovA new chief of a "Culture House" is planning to hold a terribly boring New Year concert. A group of young amateur actors are doing their best to liven up the concert.Real first feature by Eldar Ryazanov: Ostrov Sakhalin (1955)
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPaul HamptonJoe SilverLynn LowryThe residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact.Real first feature by David Cronenberg: Stereo (Tile 3B of a CAEE Educational Mosaic) (1969)
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroHarvey KeitelDavid ProvalIn New York City's Little Italy, a devoutly Catholic mobster must reconcile his desire for power, his feelings for his epileptic lover, and his devotion to his troublesome friend.Real first feature by Martin Scorsese: I Call First (1967)
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsJeffrey CombsBruce AbbottBarbara CramptonAfter an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.Real first feature by Stuart Gordon: Bleacher Bums (1979)
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsJohn LurieEszter BalintRichard EdsonA New Yorker's life is thrown into a tailspin when his younger cousin surprise-visits him, starting a strange, unpredictable adventure.Real first feature by Jim Jarmusch: Permanent Vacation (1980)
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.Real first feature by Ridley Scott: The Duellists (1977)
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonMichael BiehnA human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.Real first feature by James Cameron: Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981)
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAustin StokerDarwin JostonLaurie ZimmerA Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.Real first feature by John Carpenter: Dark Star (1974)
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsBradford DillmanHeather Menzies-UrichKevin McCarthyWhen flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.Real first feature by Joe Dante: The Movie Orgy (1968)
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTim RobbinsMorgan FreemanBob GuntonOver the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.Real first feature by Frank Darabont: Buried Alive (1990)
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.Real first feature by Christopher Nolan: Following (1998)
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsTracy Camilla JohnsTommy Redmond HicksJohn Canada TerrellStory of a woman and her three lovers.Real first feature by Spike Lee: Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983)
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJoel McCreaRandolph ScottMariette HartleyAn ex-union soldier is hired to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. But what he doesn't realize is that his partner and old friend is plotting to double-cross him.Real first feature by Sam Peckinpah: The Deadly Companions (1961)
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsRobert De NiroChristopher WalkenJohn CazaleAn in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.Real first feature by Michael Cimino: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsMark WahlbergJulianne MooreBurt ReynoldsBack when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, an idealistic porn producer aspires to elevate his craft to an art when he discovers a hot young talent.Real first feature by Paul Thomas Anderson: Hard Eight (1996)
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodGian Maria VolontèMarianne KochA wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.Real first feature by Sergio Leone: Colussus of Rhodes (1961)
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.Real first feature by The Wachowskis: Bound (1996)
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.Real first feature by Hugh Hudson: Irresistible (1971)
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsEmilio EstevezJudd NelsonMolly RingwaldFive high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.Real first feature by John Hughes: Sixteen Candles (1984)
- DirectorTony ScottStarsCatherine DeneuveDavid BowieSusan SarandonA love triangle develops between a beautiful yet dangerous vampire (Catherine Deneuve), her cellist companion (David Bowie), and a gerontologist (Susan Sarandon).Real first feature by Tony Scott: Loving Memory (1971)
- DirectorM. Night ShyamalanStarsJoseph CrossTimothy ReifsnyderDana DelanyA 10-year-old boy goes on a search for God after his grandfather dies.Real first feature by M. Night Shyamalan: Praying with Anger (1992)
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsKurt RussellJack WardenGerrit GrahamWhen the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.Real first feature by Robert Zemeckis: I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)
- DirectorBryan SingerStarsKevin SpaceyGabriel ByrneChazz PalminteriThe sole survivor of a pier shoot-out tells the story of how a notorious criminal influenced the events that began with five criminals meeting in a seemingly random police lineup.Real first feature by Bryan Singer: Public Access (1993)
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsFrank SilveraIrene KaneJamie SmithReady to catch a train to his hometown, a washed-up boxer tells us about the strange and twisty events that happened to him the past couple of days.Real first feature by Stanley Kubrick: Fear and Desire (1953)