F E A T U R E S | Darren Lynn Bousman

Saw II

To this day, people continually ask me how I got started. Let's rewind: I'm 25 years old, broke, and somehow get the task of directing SAW II.

Saw III

Months after wrapping my first film, I was back in Toronto, and back behind the camera with SAW III. This one was bigger, badder, with a lot higher stakes.

Saw IV

By far the most complicated, and hardest entry from my time with SAW. I was tired, I was overwhelmed, I was running out of ways to kill people.

Repo!

The Genetic Opera

I directed the REPO! stage play the year after I arrived in Los Angeles from film school... On our closing night I told the two creators, "If I ever make it as a director, I'm turning this into a movie..."

Mother's Day

I remember sitting in the offices of Twisted Pictures after shooting SAW IV and seeing a script sitting on a table entitled WICHITA. "Whats that?" I asked. Mark Burg, the producer of the SAW films responded, "...An unfilmable movie." Challenge accepted .

11-11-11

I had a lunch with a producer who started off our meeting by asking me, "Want to shoot a movie in Barcelona, Spain?" "What's the movie," I asked. He responded, "Go write one. Just make it about the numbers '11-11.' We leave in two months."

The Barrens

I have always been fascinated with The Jersey Devil. I remember sitting on the set of SAW II and pitching this idea I had for a movie set in The Pine Barrens. It took a few years - and a lot of sacrifices - but eventually we saw this movie realized.

The

Devil's Carnival

Ever since REPO! ended, I wanted back in. However the reality was a REPO! sequel was never in the cards. So instead of a sequel we decided to take the best parts of what made REPO! special and try for lightning in a bottle twice. Hail Satan!

Abattoir

If I were ever to write a book on one particular movie, this would be the film, and the book would be called, "The Joy of Failing." ABATTOIR was met with real life heart attacks, deaths, fist fights... That said, I love what we created.

Alleluia!

The Devil's Carnival

I grew up watching musicals... JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, RENT... They, in a way, defined my adolescence. Imagine my glee when all three stars of my favorite musicals signed onto the sequel to THE DEVIL'S CARNIVAL?

Tales

Of Halloween

Halloween has always, and will always, hold a very special place in my heart. When the phone rang and I was asked to collaborate on a movie celebrating the holiday with a group of my friends, how could I say no?

Crow's Blood

One aspect of being a director I still have not come to grips with is the uncertainty… I never know where I will be from day to day… One day you are jobless in Los Angeles, the next, you are on a plane heading to Tokyo about to produce a TV show for the biggest J-Pop group ever.

St. Agatha

Every movie is a struggle. There is never enough time or money (regardless of how much time and money you have). ST. AGATHA seemed like an uphill battle from day one. Limited budget, and even less time to construct the narrative we were trying to tell.

Death Of Me

Making any movie is difficult. Making a movie outside of the country, where you do not speak the language can be near impossible. Couple that with an infected root canal, and a horrible parasite, and you truly have The Death of me.