Richard Raaphorst

Richard Raaphorst (born 21 June 1971) is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. He is best known as the co-writer and director of the feature full-length film Frankenstein's Army (2013).^[1] Before graduating in 1996, he created several independent short films, including Zombi 1 (1995)^[2] and began work on his project concept Worst Case Scenario,^[3] and later the film adaptation planned for release in 2008 that was ultimately cancelled due to financial problems.^[4] He has collaborated with several filmmakers, including horror film producer and director Brian Yuzna.^[5]

Raaphorst began his career in 1998 as a storyboard artist on Who Am I?, directed by Jackie Chan.^[6] He later worked on horror films such as Faust: Love of the Damned (2000), Dagon (2001), Beyond Re-Animator (2003) Fragile (2005), and Black Book (2006).^[7][8] In 2008, he served as storyboard artist, second-unit director, and concept artist for The Silent Army, directed by Jean van de Velde.^[9] His more recent works include Late Phases (2014), Blood Red Sky (2021), Brooklyn 45 (2023), and Infinity Pool (2023).^[10]

Richard Raaphorst was born in Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands. He studied at the Willem de Kooning Academy and attended at Graphic Lyceum^[11] in Rotterdam, where he graduated in 1996^[12] with the short film Zombi 1 as part of his studies.^[2]

Raaphorst began his career in the film industry after graduating in 1996. His graduation project, the short film Zombi 1, was released on 14 June 1995, featured in the film anthology Nether Horror Collection.^[13] He spent years designing and developing ideas for his project Worst Case Scenario, directing the short film adaptation in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, Gorehound Inc. released a teaser^[14] and a limited promotional trailer^[15] for the film on DVD in 2008 and was nominated for a Golden Trailer Award in 2005 in the category of 'Best Movie Trailer,^[16] however, due to numerous financial difficulties, the film was ultimately canceled in March 2009 before its completion.^[17]

In 2008, Raaphorst wrote and directed the Dutch short drama film Popo, starring Victor Löw in the title role as a clown who experiences a surreal moment. The film premiered on 11 April 2008 in the Netherlands. It was later selected for the Nederhorror Short Film Festival, held on 22 March 2009 at Cinema OT301 in Amsterdam, where it competed alongside nine other Dutch horror shorts,^[18] and was screened at the Rotterdams Open Doek Festival in 2016.^[19]

In 2012, Raaphorst directed the short film The Rocketeer starring Stephan Evenblij and Pauline Greidanus. The film premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival and was later screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on 2 and 4 February 2012.^[20][21]

Following the collapse of the Worst Case Scenario film project, Raaphorst proposed a new story using some of the concepts and designs, set in 1945, exploring the final stages of World War II in the German–Polish borderlands.^[22] The project would have focused on Wehrmacht soldiers reinforced by zombie troops, fighting in a prequel titled Army of Frankenstein (which was later renamed and reworked into Frankenstein's Army)^[23] with a screenplay written by Chris W. Mitchell and Miguel Tejada-Flores.^[24] The found-footage film was released on 26 July 2013, worldwide and later became available for streaming on 10 March 2014.^[25] He was nominated and won at the Catalan International Film Festival in 2013.^[26]

In 2016, outside of his film projects, Raaphorst worked with Pedri Animation, an animation studio, where he directed paper-folded animation commercial for the Dutch company Independer. The animation was produced by Elmer Kaan and Sergio Lara Jimenez.^[27] He also directed a series of clay animation commercials for the Dutch online bank Moneyou. A total of eleven clay-animated clips were created, all directed by him and animated by Elmer Kaan.^[28]

In 2017, Raaphorst directed and co-wrote The Profundis with Shane Berryhill, also serving as the film's producer. The project won the Pitch Contest at the Imagine Film Festival.^[29][30]

In 2020, Raaphorst attempted to revive his earlier abandoned project Worst Case Scenario by launching a crowdfunding campaign for a graphic novel adaptation of the story.^[31]

In 2021, Raaphorst, head of the special effects group Mad Scientists Movement, was enlisted by filmmaker Jan van Gorkum to contribute to the short film Shiny New World, for which he later received an award for special effects at the ToHorror Film Fest in Italy.^[32][26]

On 10 May 2021, Raaphorst claimed that the design of a boss monster in Capcom's Resident Evil Village resembled a creature from his 2013 film, Frankenstein's Army. He stated that the design was used without authorization or credit, calling it a "one to one" copy.^[33][34]

In early 2025, Raaphorst and writer Eron Sheean announced that his upcoming film Möbius had entered pre-production, with principal photography scheduled to begin in the summer in the Netherlands.^[35] The film is being developed by Raaphorst's Mad Scientists collective in collaboration with Brandon Cronenberg and Rob Vermeulen (under Holland Harbour Entertainment BV), and has received support from the Dutch Film Fund.^[36] The film won the UFX Studios Award, a category of the Hatching Raven Awards, at the 9th edition of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival's Genre Film Market.^[37][38]

In the same year, Raaphorst was announced to return to feature filmmaking with Children of the Moor. The project was presented at the Frontières Platform at the Marché du Film in Cannes, an industry event supported by Canada's Fantasia Festival and the Marché du Film.^[39] The film is backed by Raaphorst's creative collective, The Mad Scientists, in collaboration with 52 Films, a U.K.-based production company headed by screenwriter Adam Park. The principal photography for Children of the Moor is scheduled to begin in spring 2026.^[40]

Raaphorst has expressed a strong preference for practical effects over CGI, criticizing the overuse of digital enhancements in modern filmmaking for producing artificial and lifeless imagery.^[41] He often applies an "oil painting" approach to filmmaking, building visual richness through layered practical elements.^[42] His signature "zombots" (zombie‑robots) stem from a lifelong fascination with industrial machinery and repurposed found objects, especially influenced by early experiences such as constructing puppets from dolls.^[43] A recurring narrative motif in Raaphorst's films is the marriage of war and grotesque fantasy. In Frankenstein's Army, for instance, the Nazi-industrial setting is populated with monstrous, steam-powered creatures built from human corpses and scrap metal.^[44] He has also described his interest in using the language of propaganda and gaming in his films.^[45]

Raaphorst has cited a wide range of influences, from horror cinema to animation and industrial design. He has named filmmakers such as Peter Jackson, Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg, and Italian horror directors Dario Argento^[40] and Lucio Fulci as key inspirations for both style and storytelling.^[44] He cited John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) as a major influence on Frankenstein's Army, particularly for its use of practical effects and creature design.^[46] He expressed admiration for David Lynch's surreal and unsettling aesthetics, highlighting works like Eraserhead (1977) as formative influences on his own visual approach.^[44] Also he also named the Japanese animated film Akira (1988) as one of his all-time favorites.^[42]

Raaphorst has received recognition at several international genre film festivals for his work as a director and special effects artist.

• Genzlinger, Neil (2013). "Scare Me, Sure, but Also Make a Statement". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
• Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-2571-2945-4.
• Lee Brien, Donna; Piatti-Farnell, Lorna, eds. (2015). New Directions in 21st-Century Gothic The Gothic Compass. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-3176-0901-8.
• Barsanti, Chris (2014). The Sci-Fi Movie Guide The Universe of Film from Alien to Zardoz. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-1-5785-9533-4.
• Ward, James J. (2015). A. Bowdoin, Van Riper; Miller J., Cynthia (eds.). Nazis on the Moon! Nazis under the Polar Ice Cap!. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4422-5112-0.

• richardraaphorst.com
• Richard Raaphorst at IMDb