Whatever it is that makes your movie unique is something you should embrace.
If you care about the characters, then whatever scary thing happens to them, you feel it even more.
To some degree, this re-release is to let people remember what the first ‘Saw’ film was, and let them know there was a time in the ‘Saw’ history where it wasn’t all about blood and traps.
I think, when you’re a director, you get sucked into your project whether you like it or not, right?
I loved ‘Jaws.’ I think that is not really a horror film, but it made me afraid of the ocean for a very long time.
Geoff Johns is super talented, super smart.
I always say it’s very difficult when you’re tackling something like ‘Spider-Man’ or ‘Batman’ that has been done so many times before.
‘Insidious’ is independent. It’s like the ‘Clerks’ of horror films, you know?
Isn’t it crazy to think that we’ve explored space more than we have explored the depths of our ocean? That just fires up my imagination about potential sea monsters and cool creatures, that kind of stuff.
I grew up loving X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman.
I’m very heavily involved in the editorial post-production process, and the camera – it’s just such a big part of my storytelling language. I like creating the tension; I like creating the emotion through the movement of my camera, or the lack of movement through my camera, depending on what fits the scene best.
You know what’s funny is, when I made ‘Saw,’ I got accused of being a fascist; when I made ‘Insidious,’ I got accused of being godless, and now I made the ‘Conjuring’ films, and I’m accused of being too much God.
What I would like with the Internet is to have it go faster.
I definitely love to be scared. It draws the primal side out of you.
I think what ‘Saw’ did was really open up a huge branch of lots of these other movies that ultimately retroactively gave the first ‘Saw’ somewhat of a negative reputation.
With ‘The Conjuring,’ I really wanted to create classical cinema-style film-making, pure cinema as it were.
I’m a big movie fan, and I want to make movies in every genre. I want to make my romantic comedy one day.
The kind of filmmaker that I am, even my darker horror films generally are still very fun. And I think that’s important for me and the kind of films I make.
I guess, deep down, there’s a dark side to us. I guess that’s why movie fans really love the revenge drama. We like to go into dark movie theaters and fantasize.
When you conceive the scene, you go, ‘That is scary, right?’ When you shoot it, a lot of times you’re not quite sure. Hopefully what you can shoot is what your conception is.
There’s something very cool about that indie spirit that I try to hang on to even now with the bigger films that I’m working on.
When I’m making a big movie, I miss and appreciate all the subtleties that come with making a smaller film that is more intimate, more personal.
The size of the budget doesn’t make that much of a difference because the kind of issues I have on a low budget film I have on a big budget film as well, but they’re just much bigger.
There’s two aspects of film crafting that I’m very strict about, and that’s how I move my camera and where I cut the film.
I’ve always wanted to do a world creation story and visually create this amazing, incredible, magical kingdom.
I feel like, with most filmmakers of my generation, I like the over-the-top stuff. I like to be wacky and really in your face.
I love ‘MacGyver.’
‘Insidious 2’ is a direct continuation of the first movie. We literally pick up from where we left off at the end of the first film. And whereas the first movie is a twist on the haunted house genre, the second movie is a twist on the classic domestic thriller.
For me, what usually makes a horror sequence scary is the journey not the destination.
I think, like most people, we are familiar with Aquaman. We grew up reading or watching this character on the peripheral. I was never so in depth with Aquaman as, let’s say, I was with X-Men.
I’m a big John Woo fan.
I think I try to look at all my films and break them down because, at the end of the day, it’s about creating characters that you like.
You can only go by the instinct that you have.
Just because I make movies in the scary world doesn’t mean I want to visit scary worlds.
I didn’t direct any of the ‘Saw’ sequels, but people thought I did.
I cannot state enough how important post-production is for the success of a horror movie. You bring so much to it with the way you edit it, the way it is sound-designed, and the way the music works with it.
I’m always excited when I can discover new filmmakers.
‘The Exorcist’ is one of the finest movies ever made, and it just so happens to be a scary movie.
That’s the thing about Aquaman that’s cool is he’s not an alien, right? He’s from our planet, and he’s from a society that we’re not privy to in the context of the story.
The great thing about the ‘Fast and Furious’ world is everything is up for speculation. Yes, anything is a possibility.
I try to pull my inspirations from everyday life. If I came across a situation that is like, ‘Oh, that’s going to be scary, that’s going to be frightening,’ that’s when I get inspired, and I put that into my films.
I thought the marketing was really smart and really clever and unique at the time. It positioned ‘Saw’ as a horror film that was different from the other horror films that were in the crowded marketplace.
When I am making a sequel, it needs to be different from what you have already seen. Yet, it needs to maintain a certain discipline so that people still associate it with the prequel.
‘The Conjuring’ was a massive success, and honestly, it set the bar quite high. So I was nervous about making the sequel, and I wasn’t sure if it will still have the same impact as the first one did. But that’s what moved me to make the sequel.
I think a lot of the Disney cartoons are scary when you watch them at a young age.
I always try to better myself with every movie I make. I don’t take anything sitting back, and so I try to learn from every film I make and carry that onto the next movie because I think it’s important as a filmmaker to keep growing with each film, and I think I am growing with each movie.
I use myself as a measuring yardstick, and so if I come up with an idea that really scares me, then I’d like to think that people out there would feel the same way as well.
I’d love to be a filmmaker and look back and be like, ‘Ah, man, we were part of that whole ’80s video nasty thing!’
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