Leigh Whannell is responsible for some of the great modern horror classics. While he's returning to the screen this weekend with The Invisible Man, he's probably best known for helping to create the Saw franchise. He wrote the screenplay for the first three Saw movies, and while the franchise has continued on, with a new installment on the way later this year, everything after part three was handled by somebody else..
Considering that the success that the Saw movies have had, it seems like Leigh Whannell could have continued writing the franchise in perpetuity, but the writer and director recently revealed to our own ReelBlend podcast that he had a very simple, if slightly hilarious, reason for moving on from the franchise. Coming up with new and creative ways to murder people is tough. According to Whannell...
One of the reasons I had to step away from the Saw films I felt was that I couldn’t think up any more ways to creatively kill somebody, or dismember them. I was like ‘I’m burned out on this.’ And they kept going and making those movies, but I just had to step away.
In any sort of slasher-horror movie that's truly about some sort of killer or creature working their way through a cast of characters, creative kills are always a must, but the Saw movies took that to another level. These movies saw creative kills combined with moral dilemmas in a way that made them truly unique. Victims frequently had to seriously maim themselves or others in order to save their own lives. It was completely brutal, and when done well, fascinating as well.
But in the end, Leigh Whannell says he simply couldn't come up with anything new. It seems it was maybe a combination of both having difficulty coming up with new ideas as well as potentially not wanting to come up with new ideas. At some point, maybe you just want to think about other things.
Of course, Leigh Whannell would not go far. He would move from the Saw movies to creating the Insidious franchise. He would make his directorial debut in the third of those movies and now he's on the eve of the launch of his third film the modern take on The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss.
Checkout Leigh Whannell's complete interview with Reelblend below.
The Invisible Man is getting solid reviews, and justifiably, as it's an excellent movie that has a truly modern take on the classic material.
The Saw series is going off in an entirely different direction with Spiral: From The Book of Saw. The new film stars Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson in a film that will be connected to the larger franchise, but based on the title will also be something different.
The Invisible Man opens Friday. Spiral: From The Book of Saw opens May 15.
