Eyelids peeled back, monkeys smashing bones, masked men and women watching group sex — sounds like a Stanley Kubrick film. Known for his perfectionism, which required some actors to do up to a hundred takes for one scene, Kubrick’s legacy became just as important as the films themselves. British tabloids made a habit of posting articles about Kubrick, for instance saying that he shot a would-be visitor on his front lawn. Kubrick had no response, and just continued living on his English estate, thus solidifying his image of being the J.D. Salinger of cinema.

Gaining notoriety with his first film Eraserhead, David Lynch embarked on an eclectic career spanning over two decades. His popularity surged with Blue Velvet, inventing the “Guy-who-finds-an-ear-in-a-field” genre and earning Lynch his second Best Director nomination. In the 90’s, his TV show Twin Peaks became the show nobody quite understood but everyone talked about. It was last generation's TV equivalent to, well, nothing. It's still in a class on its own.

Herzog makes film students piss in their pants upon hearing his stories of creating films. For his film Fitzcarraldo, Herzog lived in the jungle for three years researching his vision. In fact, during the climactic scene in which a group of tribespeople pull a boat over a steep mountain slope, Herzog made local villagers do exactly that. In other words, no special effects. Some may call him crazy. Some may call him German. What you can say about him is that he is a director with an uncompromising vision and a knack for the crazy.

Below: watch Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, a documentary filmed after he lost a bet between himself and fellow director Errol Morris. Then watch him get shot in an interview.

Von Trier’s public life has rarely predicted the outcome of his films, but his body of work has been defined by his own terms, quite literally. He founded the “Dogme95”, a cinematic vow of chastity disallowing the use of such enhancements as props, costumes, and music, thus pushing the filmmaker to think outside the box stylistically. The outcome can feel like a sixteen-year-old's homemade art film, but Von Trier has a reputation for breaking the cinematic conventions. One of his most popular works was the musical Dancer in the Dark, starring Icelandic singer Björk. He thus made the first Björk video that actually makes sense on the first viewing.

If you’ve ever watched a film and if feels like a deranged interpretation of your old home videos, you’ve probably seen a Guy Maddin picture. Maddin shoots his films in the style of old 1920’s silent pictures, mostly with a grainy black and white film negative. Hailing from Winnipeg, Canada, Maddin’s subject matter deals mostly with his relationship with his mother, who seemingly caused Guy deep psychological damage. Some of his films feel like an exercise to expel these issues from his psyche like a Lynch-inspired version of The Wonder Years. Love his work or not, Maddin’s unique vision is unlike anything ever seen before.

A casual name among film historians but virtually unknown to the common filmgoer, Fritz Lang was director of the most expensive film of all time... in 1927. Metropolis took two years to shoot and cost (adjusted for inflation) two hundred million dollars to create. A classic eccentric, Fritz was known to wear a monocle and expensive suits off-set. He was also known for his short temper, which led to speculation that he was responsible for his first wife's death by gunshot. As if that isn't bad enough, one of Lang’s most outspoken fans was Adolph Hitler, who wanted him to be the head of German cinema. Talk about having a shitty PR agent.