Bloody Disgusting Interviews Darren Bousman

From Here

Saw II: Co-Writer/Director Darren Lynn Bousman
By: Elaine Lamkin

First-time feature film director, Darren Lynn Bousman, couldn’t have been handed a more challenging film to do: the sequel to the horrifying “Saw”. But for those who saw it in the theater as well as those who WILL see it when it is released on DVD on Valentine’s Day (how appropriate), Bousman was more than up to the challenge of continuing the crimes of Jigsaw. He was adept at developing even more brutal means of dispatching the many characters in “Saw II” due to his love of “disturbing” horror. Things look good for horror fans when “Saw III’ comes out this October.

BD: Hello Darren and thank you for taking time to talk with Bloody-Disgusting. I have read that you are originally from Overland Park, Kansas. How did a “nice” Mid-Western boy end up directing one of the horrific films of 2005?

DLB: Growing up, I always wanted to be an actor and after high school, I went to Kansas University and studied acting. But a friend of mine went to Full Sail, the film school in Orlando, Florida and when I went to visit him, I was hooked. So I transferred there and received my film degree in 2001.

BD: How did you transfer from student to short films to music videos to “Saw II”?

DLB: I had a group of friends and we were determined to go to LA. I did a couple of short films: “Butterfly Dreams” (2000) and “Identity Lost” (2001) but on both shorts, we ran out of money. But for “Identity Lost”, a friend of mine suddenly inherited a large trust and literally wrote a check for $60,000. And on “Butterfly Dreams”, my friend, editor Hunter Via, financed the rest of the film with money he and his fiancee had saved for their wedding. Both guys were paid back!!

We headed out to LA from Florida and the first job I got was on “The X Files”. That didn’t last too long, about 7 or 8 episodes, as one I was assigned to keep track of one of the actors and I thought he was in the honey wagon so I waited outside, working on a script of my own. When someone came looking for the actor and discovered that not only was he not the person in the honey wagon but that I was not doing my job, I was asked to leave. But I did get to meet Gillian Anderson and Robert Patrick – here’s an interesting bit of…synchronicity. Robert Patrick’s brother Richard used to be in Nine Inch Nails with the composer for “Saw” and “Saw II”, Charlie Clouser.

BD: How did you come to be involved in “Saw II”?

DLB: Well, when I was “asked to leave” “The X Files”, one of the things I was doing that they didn’t appreciate was that I was working on a script of my own. And I decided to write THE most disturbing story I could. Something that when people read it, they would be so upset. That script was “The Desperate” and after tons of rejections by “upset people”, I finally met an agent who loved it and that got me a lawyer. “The Desperate” is similar in structure to “Saw II” and when I met Leigh Whannell – well, let’s just say we’re both interesting but disturbed. I wish someone had recorded the conversations I had with him as well as with him AND Eli Roth! We probably would have all been arrested.

Between Leigh and myself, “Saw II” came into being – quite a few of the elements of “The Desperate” were kept in the “Saw II” script: the characters, the traps, ALL of the deaths.

BD: How much preproduction time did you have for “Saw II”?

DLB: We had two months to get ready.

BD: Did the script’s twists and turns at the end exist early on in rewrites and are there seed of “Saw III” in “Saw II” that we may or may not know about?

DLB: Yes, those twists and turns were there early and yes also to there being the seeds of “Saw III” in the current film. Actually, “Saw III” is set to be released this October but that’s all I will say about that. Except that James, Leigh and I will all be involved in some capacity.

BD: How would you compare your directing style to that of James Wan?

DLB: We both had similar influences and there are definitely hints of “Saw” in “Saw II”. I would say the styling and editing are different but David Armstrong DP’d both films so that dirty, grimy, gritty look is still there.

BD: How did the untimely death of producer Gregg Hoffman in December 2005 affect you?

DLB: I owe my career to Gregg. He was truly on of the “good guys” in Hollywood. I was so disheartened by the business until I met Gregg and he sold me on Twisted Pictures. He had nothing to gain by taking a risk on me but he did. I will never forget him

BD: How has the success of “Saw II” changed your life?

DLB: It has made me realize that anything is possible. The world opens up, people are paying attention and I can now “pollute” the world with MY vision (laughs).

BD: What new projects are you working on now?

DLB: I have two pictures with Dimension Films – one is entitled “Threshold”, based on the French-Canadian film “Evil Words”, and will be written by Stephen Susco who wrote the remake of “The Grudge”. The other is still called “The Untitled Horror Project”.

BD: What is your opinion on the state of horror today? Particularly the PG-13 versus R rated films that are being released, many to dismal box office.

DLB: I think the studios want to appease everyone and some films, like “The Grudge”, should be PG-13. But in order to appease everyone, the studios HAVE to also release R rated movies, like “Hostel”, “Saw” or “The Devil’s Rejects”. But THEN you get religious groups attacking the movie business.

BD: What advice would you give to up-and-coming filmmakers?

DLB: Well, I am a classic example that anything can happen. It’s what you make out of it – I wouldn’t and won’t do anything outside of the entertainment industry. If I had taken a job as a bartender in LA, I might as well have moved back to Kansas.

BD: What would be your “dream project” as a filmmaker, in any genre?

DLB: Making any movie that challenges people is one “dream” but also, as I am a huge “Rocky Horror” fan, I would love to make a horror rock opera film

BD: What are some of your favorite horror movies?

DLB: Wow, that’s a tough one! I would have to say “Audition”, “Ichi the Killer”, “The Last House on the Left” and early Polanski.

BD: Do you have any favorite horror authors?

DLB: I love Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” as well as a book called “Dirty White Boys” by Stephen Hunter. A great thriller! And I also love to read true crime.

BD: What is one thing no one knows about Darren Lynn Bousman that you think they should know?

DLB: Well, my middle name is my dad’s name and I use it professionally to honor him. I have seen every single episode of “Law and Order: SVU”, I have a black belt in Tai Kwan Do and I’m addicted to coffee. I can’t go to sleep unless I have some coffee!