Eli Raphael Roth created several short-films along with his brothers before his high school graduation. He worked as production assistant with Howard Stern on ‘Private Parts’ (1997) and appeared (uncredited roles) in the TV-series ‘The Practice’ and the sci-fi film ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ (1997).
Roth’s student film ‘Restaurant Dogs’ (1995) won him a ‘Student Academy Award.’ In 1999, he created the animated shorts-series ‘Chowdaheads’ (but wasn’t aired) and the stop-motion short ‘Rotten Fruits’ (2000).
Roth co-wrote and directed his first feature film comedy horror, ‘Cabin Fever,’ in 2001 (released in 2003), which garnered critical and commercial success. His next horror film ‘Hostel’ (2005), about mysterious organization that torments and kills abducted tourists, became a top grosser and was chosen the ‘Best Horror film of 2007.’
For the double feature ‘Grindhouse’ (2007), Roth created a fake trailer segment, ‘Thanksgiving,’ winning ‘Spike-TV Scream Award for Best Screamplay.’ He also featured in Tarantino’s ‘Death Proof’ segment of ‘Grindhouse.’
The sequel to ‘Hostel,’ ‘Hostel Part II,’ was released in 2007, which reportedly was illegally downloaded millions of times, and received ‘Spike-TV Scream Award’ multiple nominations. Apart from his own movies, he has also appeared in ‘Tales from the Crapper’ (2004), ‘2001 Maniacs’ (2005) and a starring role in Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009) earning accolades. He directed ‘Nation’s Pride’ (2009) which was a film-within-film of ‘Inglourious Basterds.’
Next, Roth was wrote, produced and starred in the disaster horror-film ‘Aftershock’ (2012) and wrote, co-produced the martial-arts film ‘The Man with the Iron Fists’ (2012). He next wrote, produced, and directed the cannibal horror film ‘The Green Inferno’ (2013), which received criticism from some critics. He directed the remake of the action thriller ‘Death Wish’ (2018), a film about a surgeon turning vigilante after an attack on his family.
Roth produced the found-footage supernatural horror ‘The Last Exorcism’ (2010), and also produced and acted in supernatural horror ‘Clown’ (2014). In 2015, he co-wrote and directed the erotic thriller ‘Knock Knock,’ a remake of the 1977 ‘Death Game.’
Thereafter, Roth directed the fantasy comedy ‘The House with a Clock in its Walls’ (2018), which was the most commercially successful of all his movies. He made a documentary ‘Fin’ (2021) about the extinction of sharks.