James Wan

James Wan

27 February 1977

A Malaysian-born Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director.

He attended the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology along with close friend Leigh Whannell.

 

As director, producer, writer

• Stygian (2000)
• Saw (short film) (2003)
• Saw (2004)
• Saw II (2005)
• Saw III (2006)
• Dead Silence (2007)
• Death Sentence (2007)
• Saw IV (2007)
• Saw V (2008)
• Saw VI (2009)
• Saw 3D (2010)
• Insidious (2010)
• The Conjuring (2013)
• Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
• Annabelle (2014)
• Demonic (2015)
• Furious 7 (2015)
• Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)
• The Conjuring 2 (2016)
• Lights Out (2016)
• Annabelle 2 (2017)
• Insidious: Chapter 4 (2017)
• Saw: Legacy (2017)
• Aquaman (2018)

Quotations

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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.

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For me and my films, I want my audience to experience cinema in its full glory. It's not just visual, it's audio as well. It's emotional, and I want you to be engaged with not just the scene but with the characters.

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For me, the sound design and the musical score is a big part of what makes scary movies work.

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Not many people realize this, but I'm a really squeamish guy. When I watch other horror films that are really over-the-top with their blood and guts, I cannot watch it.

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I'm a big movie fan, and I want to make movies in every genre. I want to make my romantic comedy one day.

* * *

Whether it's a popcorn movie or some really intellectual sociopolitical movie, I think to some degree they're all influenced by the social climate that we're living in.

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