by Fred Topel
“There’ll always be something new. It’s like whack-a-mole.”
– Leigh Whannell
I first met Leigh Whannell as the writer and costar of Saw. I thought it was a really cool indie movie that came out of nowhere. It had a mind-blowing surprise at the end and a theme that really spoke to me. When Whannell wrote two sequels in two years, I really got into depth with him on Jigsaw’s morality. Seven Saws later, and Whannell has written another script for his directing buddy James Wan .
Insidious again deals with themes that are bigger than the immediate story. In the film, parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) find their homes (that’s plural) haunted by spirits. So it’s a ghost story.
These ghosts are from a realm called The Further, the realm where souls live. That’s nice if Josh and Renai’s son has the power to leave his body while he sleeps. Not so nice if the evil souls of the dead come after the boy’s body while he’s out. Whannell also plays Specs, a paranormal investigator in the film.
I reunited with Whannell in Austin where his film had just premiered at the South by Southwest on opening night. He’d had one hour of sleep after the midnight premiere, which made me feel guilty for getting a whole four. Perhaps we were both a bit closer to The Further than the waking world for this discussion.
Read our exclusive interview with Leigh Whannell on SuicideGirls.com.
