Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I grew up in Melbourne.
Upgrade' was a hard one to make.
I love watching audiences scream.
I really liked that documentary, 'Room 237.'
I do try and keep my scripts quite economical.
Saw' definitely had an edge to it that wasn't American.
If I'm going to live in Sydney, I want to live on Bondi Beach.
When I was a kid, 'Robocop' to me was just good guys and bad guys.
You can't compare David Cronenberg's 'The Fly' to the older version.
You never meet other screenwriters because it's such a lonely profession.
The thing I love the most about low budget films is the creative freedom.
The most fun part of making a horror movie is watching it with an audience.
I'm still a big believer in movie theaters, and going to see movies in public.
I couldn't believe that people went to see 'Saw,' that people actually lined up.
Like everyone else, I use my phone a lot, and being a screenwriter, my laptop is my life.
Any movie that deals with an AI computer voice stands in the long, long shadow of '2001.'
The problem with acting is that there's really no control. You're at the behest of others.
I'm not actually terrified of technology. Though I'm certainly not an early adopter, either.
The writing process is the time where nothing's been set in stone. It's a blank slate, or a blank page.
I felt the violence in 'Upgrade' was necessary because I wanted to show what a computer was capable of.
I feel like if you boil supernatural ghost films down to their core essence, they're really about death.
Creating 'Upgrade' was really something I enjoyed even though it was stressful. I would do it all again.
Maybe I'm a product of my era, but I just enjoy the practical effects of 'The Thing' more than CGI aliens.
A lot of times when a film is a success, the fans of that film take ownership of it - it becomes their property.
It's a weird little anomaly about horror films in that the more money and noise you have, the less scary it gets.
A lot of low-budget genre films you see are horror movies, because horror is the friendliest movie to lack of money.
You might not have the biggest budget or resources or cast, but if you have a great story, people will latch onto it.
The great thing about 'The Exorcist' is it's dead serious horror. No comedy, no self-reference, it's a documentary style.
I will say that when it comes to the horror genre, for me, the scariest thing is when something is actually in the frame.
You know you've have a good idea when you're lying awake at night going 'someone else is going to take it, I just know it!'
I always want to fulfill genre expectations and think that should be the bedrock of any film - then you can layer in thematics.
I think repetition is the hardest thing to avoid with sequels, because you've told a story and now you're adding more story to the story.
Horror film fans are pretty starved for quality. If you do something thoughtful or if you make something good, they're so thankful for it.
I was influenced by people like David Fincher and William Friedkin, and these directors who kinda paint their films with these dark shades.
After 'Saw,' we got offered every horror remake under the sun, and I was just always thinking, 'I don't see how this could be interesting for me.'
It is nice to be validated by audiences and have people come up to you after a screening and tell you that they loved the movie. It never gets old.
Somewhere in the '80s during the home video era something happened and horror started getting more and more marginalized and thought of as schlock.
I don't know if I can see myself writing another 'Saw' film. It's such a special part of my life, and I almost don't want to ruin it by going back.
One of the most crucial aspects of a haunted house movie is the fear and disbelief of the characters, because they don't know what's happening to them.
A lot of the fear about being a first-time director is just starting with a completely blank slate and thinking: 'Is this going to connect with anybody?'
That's what I love about writing is you don't need anyone's permission to do it. You can just get up in the morning, grab a pad and pen and start writing.
If you have a year where a few good horror films come out, all of the sudden, horror is back and everyone's talking about how it's a vintage year for horror.
Supernatural films allow you to bend the rules of time and space - that's really fun, especially for screenwriters who often get shot down for logic reasons.
I'm the opposite of the actor that is bursting with confidence who just knows they're going to make it. I'm the guy who's like yeah, probably, it won't happen.
Horror films are very functional like comedies. The main thing with a comedy, the big question is "is it funny?" And with horror the question is "is it scary?"
For me in a horror film, just looking down a long corridor and seeing somebody standing there, the simplest thing in the world, has a really seismic impact to me.
Somewhere along the way, the ability to make terrifying big budget films like 'The Exorcist' or 'The Shining' was lost, and I don't know if we'll ever get it back.
As I was writing 'Insidious 3' I started to fall in love with the characters and the story. I became very possessive of it and I didn't want someone else to do it.
Freddie Kruger, Jason, Michael Myers - they're all our generation. I think the kids wanted some new guys that they could take ownership of and Jigsaw was that guy.
What I feel like science fiction fans respond to is just people trying to hit them with something new, something they haven't seen. And if you do that you'll be okay.