I'm gonna come back and say more here, but just quickly: I liked Absentia too! I agree with what you say, it was striking that he cast people who, while certainly being excellent actors, are mostly fairly average-looking non-supermodel people. Also, I used to live in a house where I had to regularly walk through a tunnel like the one in Absentia, and I'm glad that was before Absentia came out or it would have been really scary to have to walk through there at night.

Ive seen 4 from him

Oculus: El espejo del mal (2013) 8/10
Hush (2016) 6/10
Absentia (2011) 7/10
Ouija: El origen del mal (2016) 5/10

I thought Hush was okay. Don't remember much about it, other than it being a survival type movie featuring a girl with a handicap.

Oculus was pretty decent. Kinda weird supernatural stuff with a nice downer ending.

Gerald's Game was pretty cool, too. Like the other two, this is a rather simple movie with limited settings, but it stays interesting, and it features an excellent scene to make you squirm in your seat.

Overall, I guess I like the guy enough. I haven't seen anything I'd call "bad" from him, so I ought to look into more of his work.

I am a fan, the guy even made the ouija sequel half decent, fair play to him. bit nepotistic to cast your wife in everything, but hey its good enough for RZ so why not. saying that perhaps he should have cast an actual deaf actress in hush (the poorest of his movies for me).

ranked i'd go - Oculus, Absentia, HoHH, Gerald, BEfore I Wake, Ouija, Hush

I haven't seen Gerald's Game. I liked everything I have seen from him (from best to worst): Oculus, Before I Wake, Absentia, Ouija, and Hush. The producers must like him too because he has been given some decent budgets and theatrical releases.

He is making a sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, that is going to be released later this year.

As you said, Flanagan's not quite a household name. He stands out more than a lot of modern horror directors though. My favorite movie of his is either Oculus or Gerald's Game.

I thought Oculus was going to be similar to supernatural movies like The Conjuring. To my surprise and relief, it isn't really like that and is much more interesting.

Gerald's Game is a well-made, faithful adaptation of a good book. Can't ask for more than that. I'm looking forward to his adaptation of Doctor Sleep.

Hush wasn't bad, but it could've been better. The main character being deaf was an interesting aspect and I liked how she used her skills as a writer to her advantage.

I didn't care much for Before I Wake. It looked and sounded like my kind of movie, with the kid's dreams and nightmares becoming reality. I just wasn't into how it played out.

Absentia is my least favorite. After being pleasantly surprised by Oculus, I hoped the same would be true for Absentia, but I didn't think it was anywhere near as good.

I haven't seen Ouija: Origin of Evil or The Haunting of Hill House. I've heard nothing but good things about The Haunting of Hill House and plan to watch it eventually.