How Tobe Hooper & Steven Spielberg’s ‘Poltergeist’ Scared Up James Wan’s Filmmaking Passions: The Film That Lit My Fuse, Halloween Edition

The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists.

Today’s subject is James Wan. While he has stepped up to blockbuster status with Aquaman, its upcoming sequel and Furious 7, Wan’s trajectory came from being one of the most successful genre filmmakers of his era. That began with Saw, a low budget high gross film that launched a franchise. Since then, he has been at the center of The Conjuring franchise with all its spinoffs, and the Insidious series, among other fright fare. This makes him a perfect Halloween Film That Lit My Fuse, following in the footsteps of John Carpenter, Stephen King and Eli Roth. Watch here as he explains the influences that helped light his way.