Eli Roth burst onto the film scene at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival, with his directorial debut Cabin Fever. The film sparked a seven studio bidding war, and went on to be Lionsgate’s highest grossing film of 2003. Roth’s follow-up film, Hostel which he wrote, produced and directed, executive produced by Quentin Tarantino, earned him critical praise and was a massive worldwide hit, spawning a successful sequel, Hostel Part II, also written and directed by Roth.

In 2015, Lionsgate released Roth’s thriller Knock Knock, starring Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas in her English language debut. Additionally, Roth co-wrote, produced and directed The Green Inferno, and directed the critically acclaimed The House with a Clock in its Walls starring Cate Blanchett and Jack Black for Amblin Entertainment, as well as the gritty hit action film Death Wish starring Bruce Willis for MGM.

As an actor, Roth starred in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds as the bat-wielding Sgt. Donnie Donowitz, for which he and his cast members received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble. He also acted in Sam Levinson’s HBO series “The Idol” , and will soon appear alongside Vanessa Kirby in “The Night Always Comes” for Netflix.

As a producer, Roth has produced such hit films as The Last Exorcism, The Man with the Iron Fists, Jon Watts’ directing debut Clown and the hit Emmy ® Nominated Netflix series, Hemlock Grove. Roth hired an unknown Damien Chezelle to write the sequel to The Last Exorcism, starring Julia Garner and Ashley Bell. Roth’s critically acclaimed docuseries “Eli Roth’s History of Horror” ran for three seasons on AMC and was turned into a #1 podcast.

Roth’s critically acclaimed documentary Fin, produced with Leonardo DiCaprio,premiered to rave reviews in July 2021 as part of Discovery’s Shark Week, and went on to Best Documentary at the Ischia Global Film Festival. He directed Borderlands for Lionsgate Entertainment, reuniting Roth with stars Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, along with an all star cast including Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ariana Greenblatt.

Roth co-created the Dreamworks Animation kids series “Fright Krewe” for Peacock and Hulu, and co-wrote, produced and directed the hit horror film “Thanksgiving” for TriStar Pictures, starring Patrick Dempsey. He is currently writing a sequel, as well as a TV series of “Hostel” starring Paul Giamatti.

An avid shark lover, Eli spends his time promoting shark conservation, working as a board member of Environmental Media Group. He is currently in post production on a new secret environmental documentary which he narrates and produced with Leonardo DiCaprio.

In 2025 Roth founded The Horror Section, a new independent studio to make unrated no holds barred horror films theatrically released through Iconic Events. The studio’s first release, Joe Begos’ alien splatter fest “Jimmy and Stiggs” will hit theaters in August in a wide release.

Roth lives with his wife, fashion designer Vittoria Buraschi, and their daughter Donatella Sophia in Los Angeles.