In 2004 Australian director James Wan and his writing partner Leigh Whannell released a little horror movie that they shot in 18 days for a budget of roughly a million dollars. That film was Saw and it instantly became a $100 million hit worldwide. It was always intended to be simply a showcase for the budding filmmakers that they hoped with turn a small profit on DVD and set them up for bigger and better things. Instead the film became a phenomenon, launched 6 sequels, and along with Hostel kicked off the 2000s preeminent horror trend and media buzzword “torture porn.” How to follow a decade-defining work was a challenge for Wan and Whannell. The pair made it clear early on that they never considered themselves gore merchants (in fact the first Saw is light on gore compared to the increasingly grizzly sequels) and tried to embrace subtle scares with their ventriloquist dummy sophomore slump Dead Silence. When that film bombed, Wan tried to switch genres with the exploitation reveng...
Netflix is adding a batch of great new horror movies in April, including James Wan's Insidious and Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak.
The part that gets you the most in horror movies isn’t necessarily the ghost or the monster. It’s the eerie expression of kids, if any. Like the devil child in Omen, or the demon child leader in Village of the Damned. There’s just something about kids in horror movies that send chills down our spine. Have you wondered how these kids turn out in real life? Let’s take a look at some of the famous kids in horror movies, and where are they now?
A new scientific study has seemingly revealed the scariest movie of all-time, though you may not agree with the choice.
I'm wondering... is this supposed to be a critique or a summary of the film? There has been a lot of talk lately amongst the circles I run in about critics. It seems as though we can no longer rely on critics to properly inform us of the films we are interested in. As a filmmaker myself this critique is an immense disappointment.
At what point was it ok to reveal the full synopsis of a film while bashing the filmmaker?
I myself am NOT a fan of the Torture Porn genre that Leigh and James created with Saw. I was at their Screening this past Wed they held along w/ cast and crew and aspiring filmmakers as their audience.... and you must know that the crowd absolutely ROARED and praised this film for what it is. There is definitely a great sense of "tip of the hat" to The Poltergeist. Their marketing team has done a great job at making audiences aware of that by stating "This generations Poltergeist."
but going back to my comment about the Torture Porn. In my opinion I feel that James and Leigh felt a responsibility to steer the industry back in the right direction of making a horror film. They basically got behind the wheel while drunk with the first Saw. I think they've accomplished something great here with this low-budget film. $800k shot over 22 days. I challenge you to do the same.
The nerds in this film were not casted to look identical to the ones from Poltergeist, if you'd done your homework, you'd realize that this is the writer: Leigh, playing Nick, and his real-life best friend playing opposite of him. I think they might have went a little too heavy on the comic relief with these two characters and it took me out of the world of terror I was living in... but I forgave them.
It is definitely not a conventional Haunted House film, nor should it be. This film is just an overall accomplishment. To terrorize this particular audience in the way that they did without a single drop of blood being shown on screen, is saying something.
I am looking forward to seeing how fellow filmmakers take it upon themselves to follow in their footsteps once more and continue bringing us classic horror films. There is a dark, gritty, scary future ahead for the Horror Genre and I like it!