We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the creative team behind the original Saw, director James Wan and writer/actor Leigh Whannell. The two were in Toronto promoting their new film Insidious, a movie that can be best described as a love letter to classic haunted house films like The Exorcist and Poltergeist. With Wan in the director’s chair and Whannell once again handling writing duties, the Australian duo hope to recapture the spirit that made Saw such a runaway hit.

We discussed Insidious, the horror genre, their film inspirations and influences, their favourite Toronto haunts and the dark secrets that their respective dork shelves undoubtedly hold.

Insidious is due in theatres on April 1st, and stars Patrick Wilson (Little Children, Watchmen) and Rose Byrne (Sunshine, Damages).

Here’s the full list courtesy of TIFF:

Bunraku - Guy Moshe, USA World Premiere

In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett), a young samurai and a bartender (Woody Harrelson) plot revenge against a ruthless leader (Ron Perlman) and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins. This visually stunning film is filled with uniquely choreographed action sequences of a new style that melds east with west and old school with new. The film also stars Demi Moore.

The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman - Wu Ershan, Hong Kong, China/USA World Premiere

A group of misfits become mixed up in the struggle to own a deadly kitchen cleaver made from the top five swords of the martial arts world in this wild and brash action comedy that is sure to have audiences running to Chinatown after the film for a late night snack.

Fire of Conscience – Dante Lam, Hong Kong, China North American Premiere

Dante Lam proves himself to be a talent to look out for in this slam bang action film where robbers and gunrunners battle with cops on the busy urban streets of Hong Kong. Starring Leon Lai, Fire of Conscience is easily one of loudest action films from Hong Kong in recent memory, with an orchestra of exploding grenades and machine gun rounds.

Fubar II – Michael Dowse, Canada World Premiere

In the sequel to the 2002 cult comedy Fubar, headbanger hosers and lifelong friends Dean (Paul Spence) and Terry (Dave Lawrence) realize they’re weary of constantly trying to “give’r” while barely scraping by and hit the road to find wealth, happiness and more beer in the oil fields of Alberta.

Insidious – James Wan, USA World Premiere

When proud parents take possession of an old house, an accident results in one of their sons falling into a coma. The tragedy doesn’t stop there when they are beset by vengeful spirits from another realm in this new chiller by the director and writer of Saw and by the producers of Paranormal Activity. The film stars Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey and Patrick Wilson.

Red Nights – Julien Carbon, Laurent Courtiaud, Hong Kong, China/France World Premiere

This shocking debut by director duo Carbon and Courtiaud is a seductive cat-and-mouse thriller set in Hong Kong, about a woman’s obsessive desire to own a rare object that hides a deadly and perverse secret.

Stake Land – Jim Mickle, USA World Premiere

In the aftermath of a vampire epidemic, a teen is taken in by a grizzled vampire hunter on a road trip through a post-apocalyptic America, battling both the bloodsuckers and a fundamentalist militia that interprets the plague as the Lord’s work.

SUPER – James Gunn, USA World Premiere

After his wife (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a drug dealer (Kevin Bacon), a frustrated husband (Rainn Wilson) decides he will win her back as Crimson Bolt, a costumed vigilante armed with a monkey wrench. His actions bring him an admirer, an overeager comic store clerk (Ellen Page) who wants to be his sidekick.

Vanishing on 7th Street – Brad Anderson, USA World Premiere

When a massive power blackout causes the population to inexplicably vanish, a small handful of survivors (Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo) band together inside a desolate tavern, struggling to survive as the darkness hones in on them. From director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Transsiberian) comes an apocalyptic thriller with a terrifying vision of our world’s end and a story that wrestles with the nature of existence itself.

The Ward – John Carpenter, USA World Premiere

Acclaimed director John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) makes his long-awaited return to the screen with a thriller about a young woman (Amber Heard) in a 1960s mental institution who becomes terrorized by malevolent unseen forces.

We’ll be posting some of our picks for the Toronto Film Fest in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
For more info and the full schedule check out the official 2010 Toronto International Film Festival website.

BloodyDisgusting broke news that James Wan, director of the original Saw film, will be directing the live action Castlevania film. Castlevania is one of Konami‘s longest running video game franchises, dating back to 1986 on the original Nintendo.

The central story thread of Castlevania deals with the Belmont clan, a family of vampire hunters who wage an eternal battle against the forces of Dracula.  I’m a huge fan of the series, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is hands down one of the best games ever made. Although the series is a big seller in North America, Castlevania was created in Japan and has a very Japanese aesthetic.  Wan had this to say about the project,

The thing I love about what Konami did with Castlevania was taking the iconic Dracula mythology and Eastern-European setting, and retelling it with a Japanese pop-cultural sensibility… That’s the East-meets-West tone I want to visually expand on for the film. I’m thrilled by the opportunity to make a highly stylized, fantasy, action film that focuses on the gothic storyline and the cool, anime-like characters.

The film adaptation which previously had Paul W.S. Anderson of Resident Evil fame attached to direct, is due out some time in 2011.  Wan’s most recent feature Death Sentence was highly entertaining.  I really liked the original Saw and actually met Wan at the Midnight Madness screening of the film.  Very cool guy, I’m happy to see Wan in the director’s seat for this; he knows how to do dark and scary and if he can bring in that unique Japanese sensibility the series had then we’re gold.

Had Anderson ended up directing the film, I’m sure it would have starred Milla Jovovich—his wife—as a female vampire hunter and feature plenty of zombies and bad wire work.  I’m right and you know it Anderson!