One of my cars had its oil filter located at the top of the engine, it was even sitting in a cup-shaped aluminum bowl that had a drain tube to let any spilled oil flow down into the pan. Its oil filter was easily changed and it created zero mess. It was pure genius, I wish I could remember which car that was.
The wifes 07 4.0 Tacoma was like that. With a small apron with a nipple at the bottom a hose could be attached to or just shove a small coffee can under the nipple and drain the filter into it. Absolute brilliance unlike the 944 I once had that let the filters contents run all over the engine.