A biography for Leigh Whannellhasn’t been written yet.
“I've actually written a children's film called 'The Myth,' which you could say is like a big 'Harry Potter'-esque fantasy for kids, and that's a film I would love to see get made. That's a dream project of mine.”
“The good thing with 'Insidious' and 'The Further' is that it's so nebulous, this supernatural world, that it allows you to bend things. There's a lot of room, it's very malleable, like how in the second film we had a lot of time travel.”
“When the whole 'Saw' thing died down, I feel like I had praise withdrawals. I had never been congratulated so much on something in my life. So, it was a really amazing whirlwind when 'Saw' came out.”
“I grew up in Melbourne.”
“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.”
“The problem with acting is that there's really no control. You're at the behest of others.”
“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.”
“I think true connectivity is something that is rare in sequels. I mean I love the first 'Die Hard' film; you won't find a bigger 'Die Hard' fan than me. But I feel like with the sequels, they're just taking that character and dropping him in different scenarios. There's no real connective tissue.”
“The thing I love the most about low budget films is the creative freedom.”
“One of our film lecturers, one of the guys teaching the course, said to the departing film class, 'No one in this room is going to make it, as a filmmaker.' I have no idea why he said that.”
“It's a weird little anomaly about horror films in that the more money and noise you have, the less scary it gets.”
“When I directed the third 'Insidious' film I loved it so much that I decided this is what I want to do from now on. I don't even think I would write something as a screenplay now with no intention of directing it.”
“The most fun part of making a horror movie is watching it with an audience.”
“I think, what happened with 'Dead Silence' is that other people told us that we should be doing that and now that I look back, I realize, 'should' is not a word that comes into an art. It's whatever you're feeling like doing.”
“Maybe I'm a product of my era, but I just enjoy the practical effects of 'The Thing' more than CGI aliens.”
“Upgrade' was a hard one to make.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I'd always had this romantic idea, ever since I've been writing scripts, that I would travel one day and pull up stumps, as we say in Australia. It's a cricket reference. You can Google it. Pull up stumps in some country like Italy or Spain and do my little Truman Capote thing.”
“You might not have the biggest budget or resources or cast, but if you have a great story, people will latch onto it.”