The name James Wan has become synonymous with quality horror films that have gone on to be very lucrative at the box office, making him one of the most successful horror directors in recent memory. Wan is producing the new film Annabelle, and to celebrate its release, we bring you our Top 5 Greatest James Wan films.
We’ve included only the films that Wan has directed for this list, although he’s a phenomenal writer and outstanding producer as well. Wan’s movies have set the box office on fire, as we’ll review in the listings below. We also must mention that Wan has been a producer on all the Saw films after the original, and in addition to the movies on the list, he was also a writer on Saw III and Insidious 2 as well as the upcoming Conjuring 2. And Wan produced Demonic and Insidious: Chapter 3, which have upcoming releases scheduled.
And now, the Top 5 Greatest James Wan films.
The Conjuring
In Wan’s most recent writing/directorial foray, he dives into the world of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Famous for investigating the haunting of the Lutz Family that would go on to be known as The Amityville Horror, the Warrens had previously investigated another alleged paranormal event at the Perron home, and this would be the tale behind The Conjuring. Audiences ate the film up as it went on to gross $318 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. Now that is getting a bang for your buck! And the best part of the whole thing is the movie is really scary. Wan kills it in the climactic scene, making viewers cower in their seats as the final moments play out. The Conjuring is indeed Wan’s most downright frightening film and was so successful that you can count on seeing the sequel next year, and, of course, its spinoff, Annabelle.
Insidious
The beginning of a tale that gets even darker and deeper with Insidious: Chapter 2, this movie sets the stage for another great James Wan film series. This is the first movie that would inspire Wan to direct a sequel as he felt there were more stories to be told here. Insidious was created on a meager $1.5 million budget and would go on to gross over $97 million at the box office. Another home run for Wan, who could basically now print money with his success in the horror genre. Insidious: Chapter 2 would continue the story with the same cast of characters, including a Wan favorite, Patrick Wilson, and co-writer Leigh Whannell in starring roles. A third installment in the series is scheduled for release in 2015, and it will be Whannell’s feature film directorial debut.
Death Sentence
It’s all about family. Okay, so it isn’t exactly a Charles Bronson, picture-perfect revenge flick, but Death Sentence is certainly a worthy effort that gets the juices flowing… both the adrenaline of the audience and the blood on-screen. And there were definitely some very cool, memorable things about Death Sentence. First and foremost, the portrayal of Bones by John Goodman jumps immediately to mind, as well as an absolutely insane car chase. The action in Death Sentence is top-notch. Sure, it drags a bit between high-intensity scenes, but you take the good with the bad. And horror fans simply had to love the subtle references to Wan’s previous films such as Saw and Dead Silence that appear in this film. Very clever. Perhaps this is a bit of a precursor to what we may get when Wan releases Fast and Furious 7 next year. And btw, if you haven’t checked out anything on that one yet, make a note to. The cast includes everyone from The Rock to Ronda Rousey, Iggy Azalea to Kurt Russell. Should be interesting.
Dead Silence
Oh, those goddamn dolls! There are few things that are creepier than a bunch of marionettes, and Wan was hip to that information and gave us all the puppet horror we could handle with Dead Silence. And he takes all that he learned scaring the bejesus out of audiences with the dolls in this movie and builds on it in Annabelle. The Dead Silence combination of a ton of unsettling marionettes with the Mary Shaw legend was a perfect concoction for a horrific tale. Starring Ryan Kwanten and Donnie Wahlberg, Dead Silence reunited Wan with his Saw writing partner, Leigh Whannell. It wasn’t a box office smash and the reviews were so-so, but you’ve got to admit that as a viewer, at some point during Dead Silence you found yourself a bit unsettled, a bit wary of that wall of dolls. Regardless of whatever else it was, Dead Silence was friggin’ creepy!
Saw
Saw was the film that started it all for James Wan. He wrote and directed the movie which was based on a short film that he also wrote and directed, which is now known as Saw 0.5 and became the infamous “reverse bear trap” scene in Saw. The movie would go on to gross over $103 million on a budget just over $1 million. That’s the kind of results that vault you to instant stardom in Hollywood, and Saw did just that for Wan. The movie blew audiences away, and they kept coming back for more as the entire Saw series would go on to gross nearly $1 billion worldwide. And why is that? That’s because the original Saw kicked fucking ass! When Cary Elwes sawed off his own foot, we cringed. And when Jigsaw, who we assumed was a dead body lying on the floor, stood up, we were all immediately fans of Saw and its brilliant creator, James Wan. And the director has proven that Saw was just the beginning of his horrific exploits as now, 10 years later, he’s still getting under audiences’ skin with films like The Conjuring, and Annabelle is sure to follow suit.
