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A male director with short brown hair seen from behind as he looks onto a film set.

Director and screenwriter

James Watkins

Best known for Directing 'Eden Lake', 'The Woman in Black', and 'Speak No Evil'

Born
1973
From
British
Working since
2002

If you like your cinema tense, nasty, and deeply uncomfortable, you already know James Watkins. He burst onto the scene by giving filmgoers nightmares with 'Eden Lake', then proved he could turn Victorian ghost stories into serious box-office gold by directing Daniel Radcliffe in 'The Woman in Black'. He doesn't pull punches, and that's exactly why producers keep calling him.

These days, Watkins is the go-to guy for nerve-shredding psychological thrillers. Between directing that brutally bleak 'Black Mirror' episode and teaming up with Blumhouse to unleash James McAvoy in 'Speak No Evil', he has made a career out of putting audiences through the wringer.

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James Watkins in brief

  • —Terrified cinemagoers with his brutal 2008 directorial debut 'Eden Lake'.
  • —Directed 'The Woman in Black', which broke UK horror box-office records.
  • —Helmed the acclaimed, stomach-churning 'Black Mirror' episode 'Shut Up and Dance'.
  • —Adapted classic spy thriller 'The Ipcress File' as a six-part television drama.
  • —Broke into the movie business by co-writing 2002 cult hit 'My Little Eye'.

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