Minihan wrote, directed and edited the SXSW breakout thriller What Keeps You Alive (2018). The film, produced by Minihan's production company Digital Interference, was a New York Times Critics' pick and hit the top 10 on Netflix US charts. Minihan is also known for co-creating the popular Grave Encounters (2011) franchise, released by Tribeca Film. Minihan co-wrote and directed It Stains the Sands Red (2016), winner of the Midnight Extreme Award at The Sitges International Film Festival. The film was released by Dark Sky Films after its US premiere at the LA Film Festival. Other feature credits include co-writing and directing Extraterrestrial (2014) which premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and was released by IFC Midnight. Minihan is the founder of the independent production company Digital Interference, behind Still/Born (2017), awarded "The Scariest Film" at The Overlook Film Festival. Other Digital Interference titles include the popular Shudder Originals "Z" and "Spiral". As a music video director, Minihan won the Much Music Video Director of The Year Award (2009) and directed nearly one hundred music videos in his 20's.
Read moreShow less
Biography from IMDb.
- May 18, 1985 (41)
- Canada
- Writer, producer, director and editor
- 11 on MovieCove · 15 credits in all
What are Colin Minihan's films like?
Across their 10 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Society.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 1 · Earnest 8
Light 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 7
Grounded 7 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 0
Gentle 0 · Charged 3 · Intense 7
Steady 0 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 5
Straight-faced 10 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 2
Casual 0 · Engaged 6 · Full focus 4
A split, not a type: Easy watch 1 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 5
Resolved 3 · Open-ended 5 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet3
- Tragic2
- Ambiguous5
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Colin Minihan's films?
As of October 24, 2026, all 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on AMC+ (8).
- Grave Encounters (2011) · director, writer, producer, editor
- What Keeps You Alive (2018) · director, writer, producer, editor
- Z (2019) · writer, producer
- It Stains the Sands Red (2016) · director, writer, producer, editor
- Spiral (2019) · writer, producer, editor
- Still/Born (2017) · writer, producer
- Grave Encounters 2 (2012) · writer
- Extraterrestrial (2014) · director, writer, editor
Subscription and free streaming for Colin Minihan's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
15 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Coyotes(2025)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
Shelby Oaks(2024)
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films
Selfie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Z(2019)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
Spiral(2019)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
What Keeps You Alive(2018)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Still/Born(2017)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Incontrol(2017)
Midcredits score: 10th percentile of all films
It Stains the Sands Red(2016)
Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all films
Extraterrestrial(2014)
Midcredits score: 15th percentile of all films
Grave Encounters 2(2012)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
Grave Encounters(2011)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all filmsGrave Encounters (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Samaritan (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Stung (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 15 titles, 12 of them dated from 2011 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Grave Encounters (2011)
Highest rated
Grave Encounters (2011)
Most popular right now
Grave Encounters 2 (2012)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Colin Minihan's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 21st percentile, the median of all 11; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 31st percentile for acclaim.
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th7
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 11 titles are Mixed.
- Crowd Pleaser1
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed9
Reviewers score the dialogue 33/100 and the plot and story 37/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Colin Minihan's work okay for kids?
Across up to 8 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, profanity, alcohol & drugs and frightening / intense run heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Colin Minihan work with?
People who share at least 2 of Colin Minihan's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Brittany Allen shares the most, 7.
Directors
- Brandon ChristensenShared titles: Spiral (2019), Z (2019), What Keeps You Alive (2018), Still/Born (2017), It Stains the Sands Red (2016)See all 5 shared titles with Brandon Christensen
- Kurtis David HarderShared titles: Spiral (2019), Z (2019), What Keeps You Alive (2018), Incontrol (2017), Still/Born (2017)See all 5 shared titles with Kurtis David Harder
Writers
- Stuart OrtizShared titles: It Stains the Sands Red (2016), Extraterrestrial (2014), Grave Encounters 2 (2012), Grave Encounters (2011)See all 4 shared titles with Stuart Ortiz
- The Vicious BrothersShared titles: Extraterrestrial (2014), Grave Encounters 2 (2012), Grave Encounters (2011)See all 3 shared titles with The Vicious Brothers
Actors
- Brittany AllenShared titles: Coyotes (2025), Z (2019), What Keeps You Alive (2018), Incontrol (2017), Still/Born (2017), It Stains the Sands Red (2016), Extraterrestrial (2014)See all 7 shared titles with Brittany Allen
- Sean RogersonShared titles: Z (2019), Still/Born (2017), Extraterrestrial (2014), Grave Encounters 2 (2012), Grave Encounters (2011)See all 5 shared titles with Sean Rogerson
- Chandra WestShared titles: Spiral (2019), Z (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Chandra West
- Anja SavcicShared titles: Incontrol (2017), Extraterrestrial (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Anja Savcic
Composers and cinematographers
- Bradley StuckelShared titles: Spiral (2019), Z (2019), Incontrol (2017), Still/Born (2017)See all 4 shared titles with Bradley Stuckel
- Blitz//BerlinShared titles: Still/Born (2017), It Stains the Sands Red (2016), Extraterrestrial (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Blitz//Berlin
- Avery KentisShared titles: Spiral (2019), Incontrol (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Avery Kentis
- Quynne Alana PaxaShared titles: Grave Encounters 2 (2012), Grave Encounters (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Quynne Alana Paxa
Producers
- Chris BallShared titles: Spiral (2019), Z (2019), What Keeps You Alive (2018), Incontrol (2017), Still/Born (2017)See all 5 shared titles with Chris Ball
- Michael KarlinShared titles: Spiral (2019), What Keeps You Alive (2018), Still/Born (2017), It Stains the Sands Red (2016), Grave Encounters (2011)See all 5 shared titles with Michael Karlin
- Kyle McCachenShared titles: Spiral (2019), Z (2019), What Keeps You Alive (2018), It Stains the Sands Red (2016)See all 4 shared titles with Kyle McCachen
- Mark KnechtelShared titles: Z (2019), What Keeps You Alive (2018), Still/Born (2017), Grave Encounters (2011)See all 4 shared titles with Mark Knechtel
Mixed roles
- David SchuurmanShared titles: Z (2019), What Keeps You Alive (2018)See all 2 shared titles with David Schuurman