On Halloween night I hope that people didnt do something dumb like go to a party or even worse trick or treating but instead you went to see the movie SAW and shit your pants. Its most disturbing movie coming out of America this year and one of the best balls out horror films Ive seen since The Fly. Co-writer and director James Wan has crafted a beautiful executed horror film with twists that no one will guess. I got a chance to talk with James a few days before SAWs opening weekend.
Check out the official website for SAW
Daniel Robert Epstein: How was working with Charlie Clouser on the soundtrack because in the liner notes of the SAW soundtrack you mention how nervous you were when he was watching a screening of the movie?
James Wan: Charlie is so fucking cool. [SAW star/co-writer] Leigh and I have always said that if Trent Reznor deems anyone good enough to work with then that guy must something about him because Reznor is as tough with his music as James Cameron is with his films. We were very lucky to have Charlie onboard and have him really get the film. He did the score in three weeks which was amazing.
DRE: What was your temp score like?
JW: I temped it with Nine Inch Nails, Tool, the Heat soundtrack and a lot of Einstrzende Neubauten. I had to temp it because when you have such a short amount of time you have to have a guide.
DRE: Neubauten must have sounded wild on your movie.
JW: Yeah the whole last sequence was temped with Einstrzende Neubauten layered with Requiem for a Dream. It was this cacophony of noise. Some more mature reviewers said the ending soundtrack was like a wall of noise. They must be really old.
DRE: What I really liked about SAW is that you didnt go for any cheap scares.
JW: I didnt go for any of those. Im not a big fan of that. Any time the music goes RAWR! its for something.
DRE: Obviously you are a fan of Dario Argento. Argento doesnt have any desire to explain his movies.
JW: [laughs] I know! Some people asked me why I didnt explain certain things in SAW. My two biggest inspirations for SAW are David Lynch and Argento and those two dont have any desire to explain anything in their movies. Use your fucking brain!
DRE: I think SAW makes perfect sense.
JW: Right, people shouldnt be so passive, use your mind.
DRE: The Grudge opened really big last week. Do you think that will help your movie?
JW: I dont know. Will people think theyve seen enough horror films? I hope they arent horrored out by the time they get to SAW.
DRE: I brought up The Grudge because one of things I liked about that movie is that they chose to not explain much of anything. I never thought that would happen in America. Were there scenes of exposition in SAW that you cut out?
JW: I did have to trim some things and that was probably due to the fact that we shot it in 18 days so I couldnt get everything I wanted. It was challenging doing this movie on a budget smaller than Cabin Fever. It was good because what that meant is that they were willing to take risks. I could do things I wouldnt have been able to do on a bigger film. If this was a studio film they would have wanted a safer ending and not make it so intense.
DRE: You did a short film which is what got your actors and producers involved with the movie. Will that be on the DVD?
JW: I hope so. There are legal issues with the actors that appeared in it and the crew that worked for free.
DRE: Where did you shoot SAW?
JW: Downtown Los Angeles in the same converted warehouse where they shot Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, The Convent and a lot of porn.
DRE: Well I hope you mopped up before shooting.
JW: [laughs] Major cleanup.
DRE: I didnt see the last twist coming.
JW: Thats good! The trouble with the internet nowadays is that when you make a film like this everyone gets on the net and starts talking about it even before it comes out.
DRE: There seems to be a lot of backlash against the film even before it opens! What are some of the criticisms youve heard?
JW: People compare it to Se7en and stuff like that. So they go in expecting the next fucking Se7en masterpiece thats slick on every level. When I was shooting it I knew exactly the things I wasnt getting and it was hard because there was nothing I could do about it. I was told that if I didnt get some things right in the first take we had to move on. David Fincher could have gotten 30 or 40 takes to get his shots right and Ill be lucky if I could get two takes with Cary or Danny. On a really good day Id be happy to get three takes. Thats just not fair. I was even filming the rehearsals. But the thing is you cant tell people stuff like that. You cant put a disclaimer on the poster saying we only had 18 days to shoot the film. I see all the mistakes but I cant do anything about it.
DRE: Because the production company gave you such a low budget and a short schedule do you think they were surprised that the movie came out as good as it did?
JW: To be honest, I dont know. I dont think they were expecting such huge buzz on the internet and a wide release of 2500 screens. Also its been doing really well in the UK. It opened at number two behind Wimbledon and there is no way any film is going to beat a film called Wimbledon in the UK. But we had the highest per screen average even though we had a rating comparable to NC-17. We creamed Sky Captain! Usually films, especially horror films, drop in the second week from 40 to 60 percent and we only dropped 16 percent. I couldnt believe it. Then the following week we only dropped an additional 15 percent. The people who get on the internet are a small minority and they have a stage platform to give their criticism from but the general public must be taking to it.
DRE: Ive had a crush on Shawnee Smith since The Blob [released in 1988].
JW: Me too and thats why I cast her in my film.
DRE: Who built the headpiece that she wears?
JW: I got an industrial designer friend of mine to do it. The logistic thing is when you get a prop designer to make you something its a prop but when I got an industrial designer to do it he told me that if he replaced certain parts with real parts it would work.
DRE: How did Shawnee deal with that thing on her face?
JW: She was really sick with a cold that day we had her and we did everything with her in one day. It was hard and she was such a trooper.
DRE: Where is the headpiece now?
JW: The special effects guy has it.
DRE: What do you think of the opening date switch to Halloween weekend?
JW: I think its smart because otherwise we would have been competing with Ladder 49 and Shark Tale. Then The Grudge last week. The second week of The Grudge is still the big competition.
DRE: Eli Roth took immediate advantage of his fame and started hanging with the elite of horror directors.
JW: Eli is so smart and so savvy. He really knows what to do. I met him at the premiere of Cube Zero at ScreamFest in LA.
DRE: Is there anything uniquely Australian about this movie?
JW: I dont know because my biggest inspirations were Italian horror like Argento and Mario Bava. I usually tell people that being handcuffed to pipes and if you dont cut yourself out in time was like Mad Max.
DRE: I thought it might be some Australian drinking game.
What part of Australia did you grow up in?
JW: I was born in Malaysia and I grew up Perth which is on the western side of Australia.
DRE: My biggest impression of Australia is from the Crocodile Dundee movies. So growing up, were horror movies as accessible to you as they are in other places?
JW: Melbourne is a lot like Seattle and Boston pushed together. Its got a really great underground scene. Anytime you have that you have access to good horror movies and there is a big horror community there actually. We had good video stores.
DRE: Music as well?
JW: Oh yeah! Melbourne is very good with the live music compared to Sydney.
DRE: What did you see Tobin Bell in that made you remember his face?
JW: I actually cast him on his amazing voice because I knew we werent going to see him that much. I am not comparing myself to Orson Welles when I saw this but I remember reading about when Orson Welles cast Citizen Kane he did it based on their voices. I wanted to do that.
DRE: Were you the dark kid in high school?
JW: I was a pretty quiet guy in school. I always saw myself as the loner. I love that whole loner thing like Donnie Darko.
DRE: Is Shhh the next movie youre doing?
JW: Thats what Im writing with Leigh but I dont know what Im directing next.
DRE: Have offers come yet?
JW: Weve been sent scripts but I think people are waiting for the movie to open.
DRE: Have you read anything you can talk about?
JW: Not that I cant talk about but I havent read anything interesting. Theyre all terrible. If you want to do something good you have to write it yourself. A lot of people think the script they have is really good and Im like Really?
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official website for SAW
Daniel Robert Epstein: How was working with Charlie Clouser on the soundtrack because in the liner notes of the SAW soundtrack you mention how nervous you were when he was watching a screening of the movie?
James Wan: Charlie is so fucking cool. [SAW star/co-writer] Leigh and I have always said that if Trent Reznor deems anyone good enough to work with then that guy must something about him because Reznor is as tough with his music as James Cameron is with his films. We were very lucky to have Charlie onboard and have him really get the film. He did the score in three weeks which was amazing.
DRE: What was your temp score like?
JW: I temped it with Nine Inch Nails, Tool, the Heat soundtrack and a lot of Einstrzende Neubauten. I had to temp it because when you have such a short amount of time you have to have a guide.
DRE: Neubauten must have sounded wild on your movie.
JW: Yeah the whole last sequence was temped with Einstrzende Neubauten layered with Requiem for a Dream. It was this cacophony of noise. Some more mature reviewers said the ending soundtrack was like a wall of noise. They must be really old.
DRE: What I really liked about SAW is that you didnt go for any cheap scares.
JW: I didnt go for any of those. Im not a big fan of that. Any time the music goes RAWR! its for something.
DRE: Obviously you are a fan of Dario Argento. Argento doesnt have any desire to explain his movies.
JW: [laughs] I know! Some people asked me why I didnt explain certain things in SAW. My two biggest inspirations for SAW are David Lynch and Argento and those two dont have any desire to explain anything in their movies. Use your fucking brain!
DRE: I think SAW makes perfect sense.
JW: Right, people shouldnt be so passive, use your mind.
DRE: The Grudge opened really big last week. Do you think that will help your movie?
JW: I dont know. Will people think theyve seen enough horror films? I hope they arent horrored out by the time they get to SAW.
DRE: I brought up The Grudge because one of things I liked about that movie is that they chose to not explain much of anything. I never thought that would happen in America. Were there scenes of exposition in SAW that you cut out?
JW: I did have to trim some things and that was probably due to the fact that we shot it in 18 days so I couldnt get everything I wanted. It was challenging doing this movie on a budget smaller than Cabin Fever. It was good because what that meant is that they were willing to take risks. I could do things I wouldnt have been able to do on a bigger film. If this was a studio film they would have wanted a safer ending and not make it so intense.
DRE: You did a short film which is what got your actors and producers involved with the movie. Will that be on the DVD?
JW: I hope so. There are legal issues with the actors that appeared in it and the crew that worked for free.
DRE: Where did you shoot SAW?
JW: Downtown Los Angeles in the same converted warehouse where they shot Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, The Convent and a lot of porn.
DRE: Well I hope you mopped up before shooting.
JW: [laughs] Major cleanup.
DRE: I didnt see the last twist coming.
JW: Thats good! The trouble with the internet nowadays is that when you make a film like this everyone gets on the net and starts talking about it even before it comes out.
DRE: There seems to be a lot of backlash against the film even before it opens! What are some of the criticisms youve heard?
JW: People compare it to Se7en and stuff like that. So they go in expecting the next fucking Se7en masterpiece thats slick on every level. When I was shooting it I knew exactly the things I wasnt getting and it was hard because there was nothing I could do about it. I was told that if I didnt get some things right in the first take we had to move on. David Fincher could have gotten 30 or 40 takes to get his shots right and Ill be lucky if I could get two takes with Cary or Danny. On a really good day Id be happy to get three takes. Thats just not fair. I was even filming the rehearsals. But the thing is you cant tell people stuff like that. You cant put a disclaimer on the poster saying we only had 18 days to shoot the film. I see all the mistakes but I cant do anything about it.
DRE: Because the production company gave you such a low budget and a short schedule do you think they were surprised that the movie came out as good as it did?
JW: To be honest, I dont know. I dont think they were expecting such huge buzz on the internet and a wide release of 2500 screens. Also its been doing really well in the UK. It opened at number two behind Wimbledon and there is no way any film is going to beat a film called Wimbledon in the UK. But we had the highest per screen average even though we had a rating comparable to NC-17. We creamed Sky Captain! Usually films, especially horror films, drop in the second week from 40 to 60 percent and we only dropped 16 percent. I couldnt believe it. Then the following week we only dropped an additional 15 percent. The people who get on the internet are a small minority and they have a stage platform to give their criticism from but the general public must be taking to it.
DRE: Ive had a crush on Shawnee Smith since The Blob [released in 1988].
JW: Me too and thats why I cast her in my film.
DRE: Who built the headpiece that she wears?
JW: I got an industrial designer friend of mine to do it. The logistic thing is when you get a prop designer to make you something its a prop but when I got an industrial designer to do it he told me that if he replaced certain parts with real parts it would work.
DRE: How did Shawnee deal with that thing on her face?
JW: She was really sick with a cold that day we had her and we did everything with her in one day. It was hard and she was such a trooper.
DRE: Where is the headpiece now?
JW: The special effects guy has it.
DRE: What do you think of the opening date switch to Halloween weekend?
JW: I think its smart because otherwise we would have been competing with Ladder 49 and Shark Tale. Then The Grudge last week. The second week of The Grudge is still the big competition.
DRE: Eli Roth took immediate advantage of his fame and started hanging with the elite of horror directors.
JW: Eli is so smart and so savvy. He really knows what to do. I met him at the premiere of Cube Zero at ScreamFest in LA.
DRE: Is there anything uniquely Australian about this movie?
JW: I dont know because my biggest inspirations were Italian horror like Argento and Mario Bava. I usually tell people that being handcuffed to pipes and if you dont cut yourself out in time was like Mad Max.
DRE: I thought it might be some Australian drinking game.
What part of Australia did you grow up in?
JW: I was born in Malaysia and I grew up Perth which is on the western side of Australia.
DRE: My biggest impression of Australia is from the Crocodile Dundee movies. So growing up, were horror movies as accessible to you as they are in other places?
JW: Melbourne is a lot like Seattle and Boston pushed together. Its got a really great underground scene. Anytime you have that you have access to good horror movies and there is a big horror community there actually. We had good video stores.
DRE: Music as well?
JW: Oh yeah! Melbourne is very good with the live music compared to Sydney.
DRE: What did you see Tobin Bell in that made you remember his face?
JW: I actually cast him on his amazing voice because I knew we werent going to see him that much. I am not comparing myself to Orson Welles when I saw this but I remember reading about when Orson Welles cast Citizen Kane he did it based on their voices. I wanted to do that.
DRE: Were you the dark kid in high school?
JW: I was a pretty quiet guy in school. I always saw myself as the loner. I love that whole loner thing like Donnie Darko.
DRE: Is Shhh the next movie youre doing?
JW: Thats what Im writing with Leigh but I dont know what Im directing next.
DRE: Have offers come yet?
JW: Weve been sent scripts but I think people are waiting for the movie to open.
DRE: Have you read anything you can talk about?
JW: Not that I cant talk about but I havent read anything interesting. Theyre all terrible. If you want to do something good you have to write it yourself. A lot of people think the script they have is really good and Im like Really?
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 16 of 16 COMMENTS
mattthegoon:
same as everyone else...the acting was terrible. the rest was good.
handsome_rob:
i watched it last week with some friends and although the first twenty minutes were pretty rivetting and the concept of the whole thing was pretty cool, the acting was so bad it's like an hour and a half of my life i can never get back. i was actually upset that i could have been doing laundry during that time had i been at home.