Known for Directing
Rodney Ascher is a filmmaker whose feature debut, the ‘subjective documentary' ROOM 237 (IFC) looked at Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining through the eyes of five very different people, each obsessed with solving its countless mysteries. The film premiered at Sundance in 2012 before screening at festivals around the world including Cannes, London, the Vienalle, Sitges, Toronto, and New York. His follow-up, the ‘horror-documentary’ THE NIGHTMARE (Gravitas Ventures) explored the phenomenon of ‘sleep paralysis’ and it likewise debuted at Sundance where it was called The Scariest Movie of the decade” and “One of the scariest documentaries ever’ before being released internationally in theaters and digitally. His other projects include a PRIMAL SCREEN for the Shudder Network, a GIF-centric music video for the experimental, Hugo-nominated hip-hop band CLIPPING, Andy Kaufman’s posthumous (?) comedy album, ANDY AND HIS GRANDMOTHER (Drag City) and the infamous S FROM HELL.
Birthplace
USA
Filmography
47 films


An Evening with Rodney Ascher
2025 · 1h 36m
A twisted cinematic supercut of short films, visual essays, found footage, remixes and music videos.


Ghost Boy
2025 · 1h 32m · US
Martin Pistorius slipped into a coma at the age of 12. Three years later he woke up but was unable to communicate and no-one realized he was fully aware. This is the true story of his remarkable journey back to life.


A Glitch in the Matrix
2021 · 1h 48m · US
Are we in fact living in a simulation? This is the question postulated, wrestled with, and ultimately argued for through archival footage, compelling interviews with real people shrouded in digital avatars, and a collection of cases from some of our most iconoclastic figures in contemporary culture.


Doris Wishman Directs A Music Video
2020 · 25m
When buying a marital aid at an adult emporium, Tom Smith unexpectedly discovers legendary exploitation filmmaker Doris Wishman working behind the counter and their unexpected adventure begins. This short film and amazing tale Rodney Ascher (ROOM 237) about a late-career creative effort by Doris Wishman has never been published until now. Included as bonus material is the final music video referenced in the title, finally edited some 20 years after it was shot.


The El Duce Tapes
2019 · 1h 46m · US
A wilfully offensive band, The Mentors gained infamy for performing in black executioner hoods and spewing cartoonishly racist, homophobic and misogynistic lyrics in the 1980s and ‘90s—but was their use of shock meant to propagate hate or confront it?


Haunted, Horrifying Sounds from Beyond the Grave
2018 · 5m · US
A musician’s money grab Halloween composition unleashes the haunting sound of his own mother’s death.


Primal Screen
2017 · 27m
Primal Screen is a documentary about a person's childhood fear of ventriloquist dummies and dolls due to the uncanny valley.


The Nightmare
2015 · 1h 30m · US
Eight people experience sleep paralysis, a condition which leaves them unable to move, speak or react.


ABCs of Death 2
2014 · 2h 4m · BR
Taking all that was great from the first instalment, the movie aims to be a wilder, leaner, faster-paced and even more entertaining anthology this time around, with a new crop of award-winning, visionary filmmakers from around the globe.


Enter the Optigan
2014 · 20m · US
A segment from the abandoned documentary film "The Collectors." Shot in 1999 and edited in 2013–2014. The short documentary centers on Pea Hicks, a collector of an obscure electronic instrument called the Optigan.


Room 237
2012 · 1h 43m · US
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.


The S from Hell
2010 · 9m
THE S FROM HELL is a short documentary-cum-horror film about the scariest corporate symbol in history - The 1964 Screen Gems logo, aka ‘The S From Hell.’ Built around interviews with survivors still traumatized from their childhood exposure to the logo after shows like Bewitched or The Monkees, the film brings their stories to life with animation, found footage, and dramatic reenactments.
Dog Days
Dog Days
2009 · 4m · US
A glimpse into a day in the life of two dogs.


Visions of Terror
2008 · 6m · US
A young woman meets the ultimate terror, a supernatural reality-bending maniac with a very large collection of out of print VHS tapes.


Hot Chicks
2006 · 1h 40m
Hot Chicks is a unique omnibus collaboration that adapts several of the widely-read palm-sized religious comic book tracts that have been published by Jack T Chick since 1958. Over 400 million copies of Chick's easy-to-read work have been distributed in over 70 languages around the world, to spread his message of born again salvation.


Somebody Goofed
2006 · 8m · US
Appropriated from one of fundamentalist comic book artist Jack Chick’s short “Chick tracts” designed to illustrate Christian doctrine, a young boy in the city is led astray by an older friend who disparages a sidewalk sermonizer.


Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2001 · 1h
All of the album's songs were made into music videos by various filmmakers, such as the Quay Brothers, Garine Torossian, Grant Gee, and Guy Maddin.


The Wheel of Torment
1998 · 3m · US
A perfect little nightmare, WHEEL OF TORMENT takes several dizzying turns around Hieronymus Bosch’s epic pageants of violence set to Buckethead's spastic music.
Alfred
Alfred
1997 · 2m
Alfred is a (very) short film about the mysteries of other people's inner lives, the isolation of the individual within a group, good stiff drinks and traffic safety.