- [on his character, Ryan, in Perversion] I really don't think there's much of Ryan in me. I've never been through anything like what he's been through. I do think the character has a big heart, though. I admire that. He really loves his brother and his friends so much. I guess I can relate to that.
- [on his love for horror films] My late father and I would watch these films every Friday and Saturday night together. Looking back, it's some of the best memories I have of my Dad. He'd lead me into darkness, we'd face my fears together, and discuss them the next morning over breakfast at Waffle House.
- [on growing up terrified of scary movies] I was not a fan of scary things. I remember going to see The Swan Princess at my local multiplex and almost having a panic attack when I discovered Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was playing right next door. Somewhere in my tiny little mind, I thought my parents might get confused and walk into that auditorium instead.
- [on where his love for horror started] I think the love of horror really came from my love of fairy tales back in the day. I was never a fan of the glossy, sugary Disney versions, although I did enjoy them an awful lot. What I remember most are the countless volumes of these stories that I'd check out at my local library. The REAL versions! The Grimm brothers versions! I just loved the villains. They were so much more dimensional than the heroes and heroines. Even before I knew what real horror was, I was drawn to stories like that.
- [on his first scary movie experience] The first horror films I can remember seeing all the way through were Psycho and House of Wax when I was around 5 or 6 years old. Before then, if I saw a poster, video tape, or a TV spot for a horror film, I'd rush out of the room, terrified, and then have nightmares about it for weeks.
- As for working in the horror genre, I love it because it allows you to do films about important issues that no one would want to see a straight drama about.
- I'm just fascinated with people, their voices, mannerisms, and what makes them tick.
- Just make it. Stop waiting for someone to tell you that you can. And definitely stop waiting for people to give you money to do it.
- Sometimes, we had the most fun allowing our characters to say and do the most outrageously offensive and awful things and then finding a way that the audience could relate to them again and understand why they were the way they were. I think that's a theme in most of my work. I love to expose the humanity underneath the evil, wicked, or bizarre.
- Those who wait for someone to throw them 20 mil to make their first movie will be waiting until they die. That doesn't happen unless you're related to some Hollywood power player. You have to prove that you can make something out of nothing. For your first movie, make something that you can actually pull off.
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