Biography
Renny Harlin (born Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola on March 15, 1959) is a Finnish film director and producer, known for his prolific work in the action and horror genres. The peak of his success spanned from the late 1980s to the late 1990s, during which period he directed numerous hits, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, and Deep Blue Sea. The commercial performance of his films has waned since the mid 2000s, but Harlin remains 86th on the list of hig...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Deep Water
2026
Director
An eclectic group of international passengers on a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters...

The Strangers: Chapter 2
2025
Director
On the final day of their cross country road trip, a couple's vehicle breaks down, forcing them to take refuge in a remote Airbnb. As night falls, thr...

The Strangers: Chapter 1
2024
Director
After their car breaks down in an eerie small town, a young couple are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorize...

The Bricklayer
2023
Director
Someone is blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and making it look like the agency is responsible. As the world begins to unite a...

Refuge
2023
Director, Producer
Sergeant Rick Pedroni, who comes home to his wife Kate changed and dangerous after suffering an attack by a mysterious force during combat in Afghanis...

Reunion 3: Singles Cruise
2021
Director, Screenplay
The approaching baptism of his ex-wife's new baby destroys Antti's ability to function and puts him in catatonic state. Tuomas and Nippe take action t...

The Misfits
2021
Director
After being recruited by a group of unconventional thieves, renowned criminal Richard Pace finds himself caught up in an elaborate gold heist that pro...

The Dinosaur
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Acclaimed Finnish director Rauni Mollberg made several scandalous yet widely appreciated films. Former co-worker Veikko Aaltonen’s eye-opening documen...

Bodies at Rest
2019
Director
Working in the morgue, a hardworking forensics expert and his assistant are suddenly accosted by masked intruders who demand access to a body involved...

Legend of the Ancient Sword
2018
Director
Due to a fateful occurrence, Yue Wuyi leaves home. He meets revered master Xie Yi, who imparts to him the magical arts of Yan, and thus begins his jou...

Skiptrace
2016
Director
A detective from Hong Kong teams up with an American gambler to battle against a notorious Chinese criminal.

The Legend of Hercules
2014
as Officer Linus (uncredited)
In Ancient Greece 1200 B.C., a queen succumbs to the lust of Zeus to bear a son promised to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the king and restore peac...

The Legend of Hercules
2014
Director, Writer, Producer
In Ancient Greece 1200 B.C., a queen succumbs to the lust of Zeus to bear a son promised to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the king and restore peac...

The Dyatlov Pass Incident
2013
Director, Producer
In February of 1959, nine Russian hikers ventured into a remote area of the Ural Mountains. Two weeks later, all of them were found dead. What happene...
Hard Time: The Making of Prison
2013
as Himself
Retrospective documentary on the making of the low-budget horror film Prison (1987)

Fear Himself: The Life and Crimes of Freddy Krueger
2012
as Self
Retrospective on The Nightmare On Elm Street Series.

5 Days of War
2011
Producer, Director
An American journalist and his cameraman are caught in the combat zone during the first Russian airstrikes against Georgia. Rescuing Tatia, a young Ge...

The Resident
2011
Executive Producer
Juliet, a beautiful doctor, has found the perfect New York apartment to start a new life after separating from her husband. It's got spacious rooms, a...

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy
2010
as Self
For decades, Freddy Krueger has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters, scaring up over half a billion dollars at the box office a...

12 Rounds
2009
Director
When New Orleans Police Detective Danny Fisher stops a brilliant thief from getting away with a multimillion-dollar heist, the thief's girlfriend is a...

Cleaner
2007
Director
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban ...

The Covenant
2006
Director
Four young men who belong to a supernatural legacy are forced to battle a fifth power long thought to have died out. Another great force they must con...

Exorcist: The Beginning
2004
Director
Years before Father Merrin helped save Regan MacNeil’s soul, he first encounters the demon Pazuzu in East Africa.

Mindhunters
2004
Executive Producer, Director
Trainees in the FBI's psychological profiling program must put their training into practice when they discover a killer in their midst. Based very lo...

Wreckage and Rage: Making 'Alien³'
2003
as Self
The creation of the film Alien³ (1992) is covered here in this feature-length documentary in exhaustive detail. Many interviews with the cast and crew...

Driven
2001
as Replacement Driver
Talented rookie race-car driver Jimmy Bly has started losing his focus and begins to slip in the race rankings. It's no wonder, with the immense press...

Driven
2001
Director, Producer
Talented rookie race-car driver Jimmy Bly has started losing his focus and begins to slip in the race rankings. It's no wonder, with the immense press...

Deep Blue Sea
1999
Director
Researchers on the undersea lab Aquatica have genetically altered the brains of captive sharks to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease. But there's ...

Blast from the Past
1999
Producer
Following a bomb scare in the 1960s that locked the Webers into their bomb shelter for 35 years, Adam now ventures forth into Los Angeles to obtain fo...

Johtaja Uuno Turhapuro pisnismies
1998
as Renny Harlin
Uuno Turhapuro's younger brother Peni arrives in Helsinki. Uuno helps his brother in management duties.

Mistrial
1996
Executive Producer
When a cop-killer goes free, a detective's search for personal justice veers dangerously out of control. Declaring a mistrial, he takes the accused, t...

The Long Kiss Goodnight
1996
Director, Producer
Samantha Caine is a small-town schoolteacher and mom with no memory of her life before washing up on a beach eight years ago. After a car accident and...

Cutthroat Island
1995
Producer, Director
Morgan Adams and her slave, William Shaw, are on a quest to recover the three portions of a treasure map. Unfortunately, the final portion is held by ...

A Night to Die For
1995
as Self
TV special worth watching if only for the incongruous interviews with Wayne Newton, Wayne Gretzky, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Rudolph Giuliani, Mike Ditka, a...

Speechless
1994
Producer
In the midst of election season in New Mexico, political speechwriters Julia Mann and Kevin Vallick begin a romance, unaware they are working for cand...

The Foot Shooting Party
1994
Executive Producer
The lead singer of a band gets drafted for war in Vietnam. So as not to break up the band, he decides to shoot his own foot.

Cliffhanger
1993
Director, Producer
A year after losing his friend in a tragic 4,000-foot fall, former ranger Gabe Walker and his partner, Hal, are called to return to the same peak to r...

Slash & Burn: The Freddy Krueger Story
1991
as Self
Freddy Krueger hosts a retrospective special/making-of "Freddy's Dead."

Rambling Rose
1991
Producer
Rose is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as a 1930s housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Her appearence and per...

Raptori Moe!
1990
The rap group from Hyvinkää performs its hugely popular songs.

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
1990
Director
To the Los Angeles elite, Ford Fairlane is known as "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll Detective." This loudmouthed ladies' man serves an exclusive rock star clientel...

Die Hard 2
1990
Director
One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Chris...
The Making of 'Nightmare on Elm Street IV'
1989
as Self
Witness the behind-the-scenes techniques and gruesome special effects that dominate this box office hit! See through the mysteries of the slasher saga...

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
1988
as Student (uncredited)
Freddy Krueger is resurrected from his apparent demise, and rapidly tracks down and kills the remainder of the Elm Street kids. However, Kristen, who ...

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
1988
Director
Freddy Krueger is resurrected from his apparent demise, and rapidly tracks down and kills the remainder of the Elm Street kids. However, Kristen, who ...

Prison
1987
Director
After Charles Forsyth was sent to the electric chair for a crime he didn't commit, he forever haunts the prison where he was executed. Flash forward s...

Born American
1986
as Man's Voice from Ship's Loudspeakers (uncredited) (voice)
A trio of American students vacationing in Finland cross the border into the USSR and are soon imprisoned following a skirmish with Soviet soldiers.

Born American
1986
Director, Screenplay, Stunt Double
A trio of American students vacationing in Finland cross the border into the USSR and are soon imprisoned following a skirmish with Soviet soldiers.

The Breakthrough
1981
as Police officer (uncredited)
Theater students rehearse their own play, "Freedom," and become entangled in the depths of the play's themes in their personal lives.
Kohtauspaikka 33
1981
as Self (voice)
A documentary following youths of Helsinki and their habits of spending all their money on expensive clothes.
Kohtauspaikka 33
1981
Director, Producer
A documentary following youths of Helsinki and their habits of spending all their money on expensive clothes.
Custody
1980
Writer, Director
An alcoholic man is forced to come to grips with a society when he's taken into custody.
Carrier
N/A
Producer
When a mysterious phenomenon leads to mass chaos, a splintering family escapes to a small island…but their troubles are only beginning.

The Strangers: Chapter 3
N/A
Director
In the "Strangers" finale, survivors face new threats from masked strangers. Secrets emerge, jeopardizing their lives as the line between reality and ...
The Postcard Killer
N/A
Director
In the chilling sequel to The Postcard Killings, NYPD detective Jacob Kanon faces new terror. Haunted by his daughter's murder, Jacob is thrust back i...
Inspector Palmu
N/A
Director, Writer
Inspector Palmu gets to solve a new case, when a wealthy real estate millionaire connected to Germany is murdered in Kaivopuisto, middle of post-war H...
The Beast
N/A
Director
When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the United States, the president must utilize the highly classified offensive capab...
Black Tides
N/A
Director
Rebecca reunites with her estranged father, Bill, in sunny Málaga expecting a healing family trip with her young son, Sebastian. Instead, their voyage...