I've always thought John Carpenter had a lot more to offer creatively than Wes Craven did IMO. I mean this guy created Snake Plisken for Christ's sake, and he took a great horror movie like "The Thing" and re-made it into a scarier better movie.
Dario Argento Lucio Fulci George Romero Mario Bava HG Lewis Sam Fuller Sam Peckinpah Takashi Miike loads more but i cant think of them right now
Some that come to mind are: Robert Bresson Jim Jarmusch Luis Bunuel Alfred Hitchcock Clint Eastwood Woody Allen Sergio Leone (westerns just don't get better than "Fistful of Dollars" and "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly")
David Lynch Oliver Stone Werner Herzog Ingmar Bergman Jim Jarmusch (Matt, I didnt know you were a fan:sunglasse ) Quentin Tarantino Stanely Kubrick Brian Depalma George Romero Dario Argento Takeshi Kitano Roman Polanski Sergio Leone F.W. Murnau Tobe Hooper Tim Burton Martin Scorsese Dennis Hopper Terry Gilliam Mel Brooks Akira Kurosawa
Alfred Hitchcock Quentin Tarantino Martin Scorsese Stanley Kubrick Brian De Palma Paul Thomas Anderson David Lynch Milos Forman David Fincher Alexander Payne Terry Zwigoff Steven Spielberg Spike Jonze Wes Anderson David Cronenberg John Carpenter Wes Craven Lloyd Kaufman Terry Gilliam Blake Edwards Jean-Pierre Jeunet Roger Corman George A. Romero Joel and Ethan Coen
im not really knowledgable as far as directors go, but my favorite is by far quentin tarantino. michael moore would probably be a close second, but those are really the only ones im familiar with.
1'st place: Kevin Smith 2'nd place: Tim Burton 3'd place: Stephen Speilburg Honorable Mention: Quentin Tarrentino