James Wan is a Malaysian-Australian director best known for his work in horror and thriller films like Saw and The Conjuring, especially in combination with his writing partner, Leigh Whannell. His defining feature is his ability to wield tension across a film’s narrative and build an effective atmosphere of dread throughout a movie, making him highly successful at directing horror.
James Wan’s rise to success began with his work on Saw, but prior to making that film, he made his first feature-length film, Stygian, with Shannon Young. Though the film has only been released in Australia, it won Best Guerrilla Film at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2000.
In addition to his work as a director, Wan has also dipped his toe into the creative realms of screenwriting, film production, and comic books and wants to continue to do more. But, as his filmography continues to grow, how do all his movies compare to one another and which are worth checking out?
9. Death Sentence (2007)
Billed as an action movie, Death Sentence actually incorporates a lot of violent, horror elements. The vigilante action film is hyper-violent, following Kevin Bacon as Nick Hume, a father taking justice into his own hands after his son is murdered as part of a gang initiation.
While the film certainly has its fans and is effectively made to offer the intended experience, it doesn’t offer much substance for the audience to engage with. As film critic Roger Ebert said, “basically this is a movie about a lot of people shooting at each other.“
8. Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
Insidious: Chapter 2 follows the events of the first film as the Lamberts are ready to settle back down after their dealings with the supernatural. But they find that something is still very off with the family as it becomes clear that Josh is possessed. To save her son and his family, Josh’s mother, Lorraine, joins paranormal investigators in digging up their past in a desperate attempt to free the family from peril.
Despite this sequel offering similar filmography, scares, and direction to the first film, it failed to create the same level of tension and terror. That being said, it’s not a bad film. It’s just painfully average, especially in comparison to some of Wan’s other works.
7. Aquaman (2018)
James Wan’s addition to the DCEU, Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as the titular character battling his half-brother Orm, the king of Atlantis who wants to conquer the oceanic people and the world. In order to save the world, Aquaman must retrieve the legendary Trident of Atlan and embrace his destiny as the true protector of the deep. Receiving mostly positive reviews, Aquaman may have been too silly for some, but it brought the fun back into an otherwise gloomy DCEU and delivered an entertaining film experience for audiences.
6. Dead Silence (2007)
Dead Silence follows Jamie Ashen in his return to his hometown after the mysterious death of his wife. While there, he begins to unravel a strange legend about a murdered ventriloquist and how it might connect to the strange curse that took his wife’s life and is now after him.
Definitely James Wan’s most underrated film, Dead Silence is the sillier version of Annabelle—it’s spooky, weird, and fun while still delivering a great atmosphere and creative plot line. It’s definitely not a cinematic masterpiece, but it is a seriously entertaining watch.
5. Furious 7 (2015)
The seventh film in the Fast & Furious action movie franchise, Furious 7 is an action thriller that follows Dominic Toretto, Brian O’Conner, and the rest of their team, who have returned to the US to try and live normal lives after they’ve defeated Owen Shaw and received amnesty for their past crimes. Unfortunately, Shaw’s brother Deckard, a rogue special forces agent, puts them all in danger when he comes to avenge his brother.
Furious 7 received mostly positive reviews, delivering great action sequences and entertaining set pieces while still offering a strong continuation of the series along with a poignant tribute to Paul Walker. It offers a strong action movie experience with a lot of heart for an overall satisfying film.
4. The Conjuring 2 (2016)
The sequel to one of Wan’s most popular films, The Conjuring 2 sees Ed and Lorraine Warren as they investigate the Enfield Poltergeist. Peggy Hodgson, an overwhelmed single mother of four, meets with the couple and several other paranormal investigators as she tries to explain what has been happening to her family, especially her youngest daughter, Janet.
The Conjuring 2 delivers the same level of tension as the first movie, while offering some interesting deviations from the standard haunted house movie plot. With solid scares and atmosphere, it does suffer a bit from the audience’s familiarity with the first film, and ultimately gets a little too sappy to be as terrifying as its predecessor.
3. The Conjuring (2013)
James Wan’s The Conjuring quickly became a modern haunted house classic, following the Perron family through their battle with the supernatural in their new Rhode Island home in another of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s paranormal investigations. Though the paranormal activity is relatively benign at first, events soon escalate after the Warrens arrive and start to uncover the house’s macabre history.
While the beats of The Conjuring follow the same basic premise of every other haunted house or possession movie of the modern era, it offers solid scares and tension. It delivers an effective horror experience almost exclusively through acting and character portrayals with very little reliance on digital effects.
2. Insidious (2010)
Offering a fresh and interesting look at hauntings, Insidious follows parents Josh and Renai Lambert as they discover that their new home is haunted. Beyond that, their comatose son soon becomes possessed by a malevolent entity. Willing to do whatever’s necessary to save their son, the Lamberts find the psychic Elise Rainier, who brings along her team of paranormal investigators to help call back the boy’s spirit from the ghost realm.
Delivering a truly terrifying experience with exquisite control of tension, Wan crafts a modern take on the classic haunting story with a creative and engaging plot. The ability of this film to gradually build dread creates a truly memorable and terrifying movie that feels fresh and thoroughly enjoyable.
1. Saw (2004)
By far James Wan’s most beloved and successful film is his breakout feature, Saw is the story of two men who find themselves chained inside a dilapidated bathroom with a corpse in the center of the floor. Soon it seems that their captor is playing a bizarre game with their lives as he orders one man to kill the other or his family will die.
Highly inspired by the twists, turns, and tension of David Fincher’s Se7en, Saw is the first in a highly successful series of hyper-violent torture movies, but this original film doesn’t follow in that same style. Offering more psychological than body horror, it provides significantly more nuance and intrigue than any of its sequels, and delivers a thoroughly satisfying horror story.
Despite poor reception from critics initially, audiences loved Saw when it was first released. It continues to be highly successful, spawning a franchise of nine feature films along with a variety of additional media. Bloody Disgusting ranked the film tenth in its list of the Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade in 2009, calling Saw “perhaps the most influential horror film of the decade”. Saw endures as James Wan’s best work as it remains a film made for horror fans, by horror fans.
