WHEN THE FIRST SAW FILM CAME OUT OF NOWHERE IN 2004 TO BECOME A MASSIVE HIT, IT SPARKED A SEVEN-FILM FRANCHISE AND HELPED KICK OFF A NEW BREED OF GORIER, NASTIER HORROR FILM. The two young Australians behind it, director/cowriter James Wan and co-writer/co-star Leigh Whannell, would join Eli Roth (Hostel, Hostel: Part II), Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects), Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent), Greg Mclean (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes remake) and Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II to IV) as part of what the media dubbed “The Splat Pack” – filmmakers pushing mainstream horror to bloodier extremes. Thing is, though, despite being so instrumental, Wan and Whannell didn’t really belong in the club.
“I’m not a gore fan,”…
