James Wan

In 2004, a low-budget film made by two unknown Australians hit the theaters and launched a cultural zeitgeist in horror cinema. But director James Wan insists that he and writer Leigh Whannell never intended to create a new "torture porn" genre of horror with their debut "Saw" (2004) and its villain Jigsaw, represented iconically onscreen by a disturbing puppet named Billy. A look at Wan's body of work supports his assertion; while he went on to produce the increasingly violent sequels in the "Saw" franchise, he did not direct them; and his subsequent contributions to the horror genre, such as "Insidious" (2010) and "The Conjuring" (2013), are in a much more traditional and low-key vein dealing with familiar tropes like evil dolls, haunted houses, possession and witchcraft.