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.
Every installment asks the same five questions. Today’s subject is Darren Lynn Bousman, the writer/director who directed all but the first film in the Saw franchise, and returned to helm the nation’s top grossing film, Spiral. Bousman came on the scene pitching a movie called The Desperate, and was told by most it was too violent. That made it a candidate to be the sequel for Saw, the low cost and wildly profitable genre film. Two more sequels followed, and then Repo! The Genetic Opera, a gory musical that initially flopped but achieved cult status on the midnight movie circuit. Bousman then turned his attention toward creating immersive experience horror shows. There were five of them, covering Tension, Lust, Theatre Macabre, among others. In one of the most colorful interviews featured on The Film That Lit My Fuse, Bousman tells some marvelous stories on the films that inspired all of his work, and the crazy things that have happened to him along the way.