Favorite movie of all time? I hate being asked… that’s like being asked, ‘What’s your favorite song?’ – James Wan
If you care about the characters, then whatever scary thing happens to them, you feel it even more. – James Wan
‘Saw’ really was like a student film for me; we expected it to go straight to video. I never expected anyone to see that film, and then it becomes one of the most successful horror franchises. – James Wan
There’s a reason why Smellovision has never really taken off. And I think it’s a good thing. – James Wan
I like to think we’re not the only thing that exists on the plane of existence. I like to think that just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. – James Wan
I love Carpenter, I love Craven – these are all the classics – the Romeros of the world, but I think the biggest influence on me as a storyteller and as a filmmaker is actually Steven Spielberg. I love that even though Steven isn’t known for being a horror director, he started out his career making scary movies. – James Wan
I love high concept movies, but they can only work if the source of inspiration is really human – if they’re driven by pain and strong emotions. Once you connect the audience with that, then I swear you can take them on the craziest journey, and they’ll come along. – James Wan
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. – James Wan
‘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. – James Wan
If I can get the audience to connect with the characters emotionally – and they love who they are, they love the larger-than-life situation that they’re in, but most of all get the audience invested in the characters – then I always feel like I can sort of put them in the most outrageous circumstances, and the audience is okay to go with that. – James Wan
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. – James Wan
I love my genre films, but I think when I get older, the way I tell it will be very different to how I told it when I was in my mid-twenties, which is how old I was when I made the first ‘Saw.’ – James Wan
I’ve always loved action movies. The first films I fell in love with were ‘Star Wars’ and Steven Spielberg films. – James Wan
I love to be scared in the safety of a movie theater. It is like a thrill ride; like a roller-coaster ride. – James Wan
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. – James Wan
I love the idea of being the underdog, coming in with a take on this underdog character and completely blow people’s expectations away. Like, ‘Oh, you thought he was going to be a wimpy character? No no no.’ – James Wan
The thing that ultimately pushed me more towards ‘Aquaman’ is I love the possibility of creating a whole new world. I’ve always wanted to do a world creation story and visually create this amazing, incredible, magical kingdom. – James Wan
If I have free time, I want to go to the beach, walk around a shopping mall, go grocery shopping. Live a little bit of life. – James Wan
I think, in a lot of ways, directing is puppeteering. I guess I see a lot of analogies between what puppeteers and filmmakers do. There’s something about creating life out of things that have no life. – James Wan
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. – James Wan
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. – James Wan
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. – James Wan
With all the crap that’s going on around the world, you kind of want to do what you can to protect the ones you love. – James Wan
If I have to point to something specific with the way I move my camera, I love to do it with a wide lens. I like to show you as much of the space as I can, even if I’m following a character. – James Wan