Roxanne Benjamin is an American film director, writer, and producer. She is best known for directing the horror films Body at Brighton Rock and There's Something Wrong with the Children and as one of the creators and producers of the V/H/S horror anthology films, having developed and produced V/H/S and V/H/S/2.[1] She also produced the genre anthology Southbound, along with directing and writing on the film, and wrote and produced multiple segments of the anthology film XX.[1][2][3]
Roxanne Benjamin | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, film producer |
| Known for | |
Life and career
Roxanne Benjamin was born and raised in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Benjamin began their filmmaking career as a producer, developing and producing genre films and anthologies, most notably V/H/S, XX, and Southbound. Benjamin is a credited producer on V/H/S and its sequel V/H/S/2 and worked on development of the third entry in the franchise before parting ways with the series to move on to directing.[4]
Benjamin then wrote and directed segments for Southbound, a film which she also developed and produced with a number of the original V/H/S creative team. The film premiered at TIFF in the Midnight section in 2015, along with another film that Benjamin is a credited Co-producer on, The Devil’s Candy. Benjamin was then brought on to the anthology feature XX, directing and writing their own segment and co-writing and producing another with artist and musician St. Vincent.
In 2016, Benjamin directed a gore-heavy horror-themed music video for indie band Cherry Glazerr’s song “Nurse Ratched”, featuring lead singer Clementine Creevy stalking former band member Sasami Ashworth through the woods [5]
In 2019, Benjamin’s survival thriller Body at Brighton Rock, their first solo feature film, premiered at SXSW. Their second feature film, There's Something Wrong with the Children was released in 2023 with Amazon and MGM+, with Blumhouse Productions producing.[6][7]
in between the two films, Benjamin directed multiple television series focused in the genre space, including horror anthology Creepshow for Shudder, the CW’s Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for Netflix, Nancy Drew, One of Us Is Lying, and HBO Max’s Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Pretty Little Liars: Summer School.
In March 2019, Benjamin was hired to write the screenplay for the remake of Night of the Comet for Orion Pictures.[8] In July 2021, Benjamin signed on to direct an American remake of the Spanish horror film La cueva titled Fall Into Darkness.[9]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | V/H/S | No | No | Yes | |
| 2013 | V/H/S/2 | No | No | Yes | Role as Zombie |
| 2019 | Body at Brighton Rock | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2023 | There's Something Wrong with the Children | Yes | No | No |
Co-producer
- Faults (2014)
- V/H/S: Viral (2014)
- The Devil's Candy (2015)
Anthology segments, Music Videos, and Commercial Projects
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Siren | Yes | Yes | Yes | Segment of Southbound; role as Claire |
| 2016 | Nurse Ratched | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cherry Glazerr music video |
| 2017 | Don't Fall | Yes | Yes | Yes | Segment of XX |
| 2017 | The Birthday Party | No | Yes – cowriter | Yes | Segment of XX |
| 2018 | Final Stop | Yes | Yes | No | Commercial project for Sennheiser |
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Creepshow | Episodes: “Lydia Lane’s Better Half”, “Skinwalkers” |
| 2020 | Riverdale | Episode: "Chapter Sixty-Seven: Varsity Blues" |
| Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | Episode: "Chapter Twenty-Five: The Devil Within" | |
| 2021 | Nancy Drew | Episodes: “The Legend of the Spider Sapphire”, “The Quest for the Murder Hotel” |
| 2022 | Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin | Episode: "Chapter Nine: Dead and Buried" |
| One of Us Is Lying | Episodes: "Simon Says You Better Pray", "Simon Says Ho, Ho, Ho" | |
| 2023 | Pretty Little Liars: Summer School | 2 Episodes |