Quotes from James Wan

The 'Saw' sequels went in a direction I wouldn't have gone in. With 'Insidious 2,' I wanted to push a potential franchise in the direction I thought it should go in.

With 'Insidious 2,' I wanted to push a potential franchise in the direction I thought it should go in.

'Insidious' is independent. It's like the 'Clerks' of horror films, 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.

You can only go by the instinct that you have.

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.

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.

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 I have on a big budget film as well, but they're just much bigger.

I love a ghost story. I think they affect me more than other people that are much more skeptical than I am. I think that it's good that I do buy into them to some degree.

We think craft is important, and the irony has always been that horror may be disregarded by critics, but often they are the best-made movies you're going to find in terms of craft. You can't scare people if they see the seams.

I think a lot of the Disney cartoons are scary when you watch them at a young age.

'Poltergeist' was the film that scarred me for life. I saw it at such a young age - 5 or 6 years old - and it has one of the creepiest doll sequences with the clown, and ever since then, I've just been fascinated by dolls.

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'm a big fan of the 'Fast' franchise. I remember when I met Neal Moritz early on, I joked if Justin Lin ever left the franchise, I would be the perfect guy to slip right in and take over, and no one would know the difference.

It's actually smarter to make a dumb film.

The very first movie that I ever saw in a theater was 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.'

You may not quite understand the cinematic tricks that go behind the making of a film, but as long as you feel it, I think that's the important thing.

We all agreed that violence begets violence, and you can't solve issues with more violence.

I kind of joke that creating franchises is a lot like directing pilot episodes of TV series. You set a look and feel and kind of pass it on.

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.

My low-budget films, more than anything, taught me that you've got to create cool, likable characters and great stories because, if you don't, it doesn't matter how cool it might look - no one is going to care about it.

When you create those characters that people love and care about and put them in a dark hallway, already the audience is on edge, and they feel empathy for that character. Then it's up to me to decide what jumps out in that hallway. So I think laying that foundation of strong characters and strong story is the most important thing in a horror film.

I like the 'Twilight' films.

I think that the first 'Saw' was really more of a psychological film about two people stuck in a room, and the traps and games that fans seem to embrace so much now were quite a small portion of the film.