Darren Lynn Bousman continued, “I think there are so many different genres of horror lovers. You have one group of horror fans that don’t like to see horror commercialized. I think that Saw is – it’s hit such a mainstream audience. It’s crossed over. It’s not just some little obscure horror film.”
Saw was never intended to be a mainstream movie. “Not at all,” acknowledged Bousman. “We went in to make a dark, f**ked up, extremely in-your-face, non-cookie cutter horror film and those are the same people that damn it. What’s funny is the critics. I love reading critics. A lot of what the critics hate is what all the fans love. Like a lot of the critics hate is [directed toward] the rapid-fire fast editing style - the fans love that. Critics will say it’s just blood for blood’s sake – the fans love that. You’ve got to think, ‘I’m not making movies for the critics; I’m making it the fans.’ I don’t take offense to people who come in and say, I hate the movie, I hate it,’ as long as the fans are happy.”
Based on the reaction of the Comic Con audience to Bousman’s appearance at the annual event and the exclusive premiere of a clip from Saw III, the Saw filmmakers appear to have gotten the formula right. “Just right before this [interview] I walked out and I was just bombarded by all these people,” said Bousman. “That’s great because you know that for every bad review I get, there’s one kid out there that loved the movie and comes running up to me. And so at the end of the day, as much as I would love the critics to like the movie, I would rather they [the fans] like the movie.
My favorite thing is that - I’ve used this line twice now – when people say, ‘This is nothing more than a gorefest. This is nothing more than blood and guts and how dare you take away storytelling to just to put blood in the movie,’ my answer is, ‘Look to the tag line of the movie.’ It was, ‘Oh yes, there will be blood.’ We didn’t go in there and say to you we’re going to have the best dramatic piece you’ve ever seen. But that’s why I like Saw III. Saw III addresses all of the what I would consider problems that I had with II. When I watch them it’s like why didn’t I do this, why didn’t I do that? Saw III is the best of what Saw I and II is. It took the best parts of Saw I and the best parts of Saw II and made Saw III. It’s scary. It’s intense, it’s violent, it’s emotional as hell. I can really say that watching it… I don’t believe we have these kinds of emotions out of a horror film. So that’s what I’m most excited about – the emotions.”
The Tendency to Pigeonhole Directors: Bousman says he loves horror movies and that the genre’s his favorite, but he’s really just interested in telling interesting stories. The director admits getting pigeonholed is always a worry. “Especially for horror directors,” says Bousman. “Luckily I have a deal with Dimension and I have a great relationship over there right now and so the next movie I’m doing is very horrific but it’s not a horror film. It’s a true story. The next two movies I have lined up are both true events and so I think that that will segue out.”
Is Saw IV in Bousman’s Future?: “That’s something I would say no to. It’s like in Vegas. I got a Blackjack and I did it again, and hopefully I got another Blackjack and I don’t want to risk it again. I finished the story that I want to tell within the Saw universe. There’s many more Saws to come, I can guarantee that. I think that they have found a valuable franchise that people want to see. But the story that James, Leigh and I wanted to tell is done – our story of it. The story can continue on for years and years and years to come, but I feel that I’m leaving on a very good note with the way that I ended this movie.
The other thing I think is that the reason that Saw II was so successful and Saw I was here’s Saw I: no-name directors, no-name writer, no-name actor decide to do a movie and the studio lets them, Lionsgate allows them to do this. And then Saw II instead of going with a big director – they could have had anybody direct Saw II because it was such a hit - they go with another no-name director. I think it was fresh. It was new. I didn’t know what I was doing a lot of times, so I was making these weird edits and weird mistakes but they ended up working. I think you stand the chance, if I do another one, if these guys do another one, then it becomes you could fall into that horror trap, the horror trap like all the Michael Myers movies or whatever. I would love to see someone new and fresh come in, some young guy with a great take on it because they have so much to gain from it being a success. I think it would be really interesting to see a young, new guy that had not done anything to do another one. I think you can keep the franchise fresh instead of just rehashing the same things.”
Page 4: Darren Lynn Bousman on Director's Cuts, Remakes, and Flowers in the Attic
