Yes, James Wan has made quite the name for himself in the horror genre, but since the release of 2004’s Saw, it’s been an utter thrill watching him pinpoint his assets, hone his style and bring that authorial expressivity to a variety of genres and franchises, while also using his experience and clout to bring newer filmmakers into the fold as well. But Wan’s work as a producer is a conversation for another day; right now we’re ranking all of the films that Wan directed.

Before we began, I must point out, the title that’s technically Wan’s feature directorial debut, Stygian, isn’t on the list. Despite a good deal of searching, I failed to find a copy. (If you manage to track one down yourself, do let me know and I’d be happy to add it to the list!) But even without Stygian, that still leaves us with nine features and almost every single one of the highlights why I love Wan’s work so much - his clever and often very well earned scares, his visual style and also his successful worldbuilding that encourages a need to explore every corner of his stories.

It always feel necessary to mention that this is my list of Wan’s films. You don’t need to agree or disagree with my ranking as taste is certainly a factor here, and we all can be drawn to different stories for a variety of reasons. That being said, I hope I justify my personal rankings below, and also encourage you to drop your own list in the comments section of this article.

9. Dead Silence

Welp, this list had to start somewhere but on the bright side, Dead Silence is the only James Wan-directed film that falls below a passable quality level. This one stars Ryan Kwanten as Jamie Ashen, a guy from Raven's Fair, a curious town with quite the history. But now, Jamie lives elsewhere with his wife Lisa (Laura Regan). When Lisa is brutally murdered, Jamie suspects it’s got something to do with a hometown legend, the story of ventriloquist Mary Shaw. Dead Silence is just one big misfire across the board. Even though the film does show early signs of elements that would wind up distinguishing Wan’s style for the better, here they just don’t come together. Wan is a world-building pro, but the Dead Silence mythology is predictable and stale. There’s also minimal character development beyond the Raven’s Fair exposition, which really obliterates any chance the movie has at making Jamie a compelling hero. The washed out color palate reads as drab, not atmospheric, and while the production design is one of the more impressive components of the film, Wan and his go-to cinematographer, John R. Leonetti, fail to breathe much life into it. And whoof, that ending.

8. Aquaman

As I prepare to get ripped to shreds for not putting Aquaman higher on the list, hear me out; if you’re a big fan of the film, I 100% respect your opinion. There are no doubt impressive elements of the production and the fantasy action-adventure appeal is there but on the whole, the movie just doesn’t appeal to me quite like some of the other DC movies out there, or like Wan’s other films for that matter. In pitch-perfect casting, Jason Momoa leads the film as Arthur, the son of of a lighthouse keeper (Temuera Morrison) and the queen of Atlantis (Nicole Kidman). Years later, Arthur finds himself right smack in the middle of a battle between the seven underwater kingdoms that could ultimately threaten the fate of the surface world. There’s no denying that Wan had his work cut out for him with this one. Not only was it a massive production with a huge ensemble and a significant amount of mythology to establish, but it’s also a story that called for a ton of material to take place underwater. Wan made it work well enough, but given my favorite sequences of the film are the opening with Atlanna and Tom, the fight in Sicily and the boat battle near The Trench, you can probably tell that I much prefer the look of the film above sea level. As for the Aquaman script, it’s a lot. David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall do manage to successfully convey all the necessary details to paint a picture of the rift amongst the seven kingdoms and the surface world, but with so many underwater factions in play plus the Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) storyline, very few characters get the screen time and development needed to create that deeper level of investment. Instead, the film winds up being a wacky visual spectacle and that just couldn’t sustain a 2 hour, 23 minute running time for me.

7. Death Sentence

This early James Wan release doesn’t get the credit it deserves. It’s a revenge thriller starring Kevin Bacon as Nick Hume, a family man living the good life. He does quite well at work, he’s got a loving wife (RIP Kelly Preston) and two kids with very bright futures ahead of them. However, their idyllic existence comes to a screeching halt when Nick’s eldest son is brutally killed at the hands of a local gang. Pair that synopsis with the descriptor “revenge thriller” and you probably know where the story goes from there. The first half of Death Sentence plays especially well with Wan very quickly setting up a believable family dynamic. That portion of the movie also features a very believable retaliation from Nick who often scrambles to get the better of each gang member, one by one. The fight sequences are scrappy, visceral and exceptionally well shot, particularly the showdown that takes place in a parking structure. Things do go off the rails a bit as the story rolls into the third act and Nick starts to come across as a trained assassin rather than your average father hellbent on vengeance, but the more unfortunate lapse at that point is the script’s failure to really dig into the idea that no one really wins by resorting to violent retaliation. But still, between the well established family foundation, the stellar cinematography from Leonetti, and Charlie Clouser’s spot-on score, Death Sentence still manages to stumble across the finish line as a thin but riveting thriller.

6. Insidious: Chapter 2

You’ll see soon enough, I’m a very big fan of the first Insidious movie. It’s a tight script with a fantastic premise that’s packed to the brim with some of the best sounds design out there. I wanted more and I was most certainly satisfied with what I got in Insidious: Chapter 2, but does that satisfaction mean the narrative is as refined? Not at all. There’s a good deal going on in Chapter 2. We wind up with a split narrative of sorts with Renai (Rose Byrne) stuck at home with a possessed Josh (Patrick Wilson) while his mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), is with Tucker (Angus Sampson), Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Carl (Steve Coulter) trying to figure out the source of the entity controlling Josh. There’s no denying that some of the scares are a tad stale, and jumping back and forth between the groups of characters hurts the film’s momentum, but for anyone who’s a diehard fan of the Insidious mythology, Wan and Leigh Whannell do come up with some intriguing new layers and actually manage to bring all of Chapter 2’s twists and turns together in a pretty clever manner. 

5. Furious 7

Yes, Wan had some experience working with cars and heavy-duty action sequences in Death Sentence, but taking on a Fast and Furious movie is something entirely different. As one of the highest grossing film franchises of all time, Fast and Furious became quite well known for two things - family and delivering increasingly wild set pieces. For Wan, that meant dropping cars out of a plane and jumping a $3 million supercar from one Etihad Tower to another. On top of that, Wan also had one hefty storyline to juggle. This time around, Dom (Vin Diesel) and co. are busy protecting a hacker (Nathalie Emmanuel) and trying to make sure her God’s Eye program doesn’t land in the wrong hands, a mission that takes them to a number of locations, involves a multitude of cars, a drone and then some. That mission is also entangled with Dom’s ongoing feud with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a showdown that further intensifies every fight with Mose Jakande’s (Djimon Hounsou) team, the private military company hired to retrieve God’s Eye. On top of that, Wan and the Furious 7 crew also had to overcome an especially devastating challenge, the passing of Paul Walker. With the help of Weta Digital, they managed to restructure Brian’s arc and give the character a conclusion that was hugely heartening for the franchise, and also honored Walker’s legacy in the process.

4. The Conjuring 2

Wan set a pretty high bar for himself with the first Conjuring movie. While The Conjuring 2 script isn’t as refined as the first, the film still excels thanks to strong atmosphere, creative scares and some very well developed new characters. This time around, the focus is on the Hodgson family in the London Borough of Enfield, and specifically what starts happening to young Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe) after bringing home a Ouija board. Back in the states, the Warrens are dealing with an evil presence of their own but ultimately, they’re encouraged to head to Enfield to see if there’s anything they can do for the Hodgsons. While I do admire the attempt to add layers to the Warrens’ story, the messiest part of the movie is how their history overlaps with what’s happening at the Hodgson house. However, this is Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson we’re talking about here. Not only did they establish an exceptional foundation for the Warrens and their relationship in the first film, but here, their chemistry and deep devotion to each other and to helping others is the beating heart of the movie. On top of that, similar to the Perron family, the cast chemistry here is through the roof with the Hodgsons spark a significant amount of investment in their predicament in a flash. And again, like The Conjuring, that predicament becomes far more than a repeat haunting courtesy of exceptional shot design and some very striking chills, personal favorites being the oner on Janet and Bill during the interrogation and anything involving The Crooked Man. And bonus points for Wilson’s rendition of Elvis’ “Can't Help Falling in Love.”

3. Saw

Saw was a genre game-changer. Just look at the list of iconic slashers we have now; very few of them come from films released post-90s, but Jigsaw is in the mix. Not only did Wan and Whannell deliver a film loaded with nail-biting moments and eerie scares, but they also managed to do so with a villain who had real drive and purpose. The Jigsaw Killer isn’t hacking up victims for his own amusement; he’s trying to teach them a lesson - test their will to live. In the case of this first movie, his two main targets are Adam (Whannell) and Lawrence (Cary Elwes). At the beginning of the film, they wake up in rundown bathroom chained to pipes. Using the clues Jigsaw leaves behind, they need to figure out why they’re there and how to get out before six o’clock. Future Saw films went a little too far into senseless torture porn territory and wound up mucking up John Kramer’s (Tobin Bell) original intentions in the process, but this first installment is a lean, mean mash-up of death traps and enigmatic whodunit. There is a messy onslaught of flashbacks and Wan’s visual style isn’t as refined just yet, but you really can’t stop a core concept like this, especially when it’s backed by impeccable practical effects.

2. Insidious

[Insert the Insidious title card sound stinger here.] Someone’s lucky to come up with one killer concept that spawns a franchise; Insidious marked franchise #2 for Wan and Whannell. The movie puts the spotlight on the Lambert family. Soon after moving into their new home, Josh (Wilson) and Renai’s (Byrne) eldest son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) falls into a coma. Not only are they dealing with the frustration of doctors not being able to find a cause and cure, but then strange bumps in the night start to occur, and the Lamberts come to realize that they’ve got something to do with Dalton’s coma. Insidious is an example of Wan firing on all cylinders. You’ve got an especially tight script with the Lamberts serving as a strong emotional core. And then, of course, there’s a kick-ass hero in Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) who also opens the door to a downright fascinating mythology tied to an ability many claim to really experience, astral projecting. On top of that, toss in some of the best sound design in genre history, an unforgettable creature in the Red Face Demon (played by Joseph Bishara who’s also responsible for that score), and more stellar camerawork from Leonetti that well supports Wan’s deliberate pacing that’s loaded with restraint until hitting the optimal moment to chill you to the bone. Put it all together and you wind up with a feature (and franchise-starter) that sears certain sounds, visuals and ideas into your brain forever. [Cue “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” which you’ll never hear the same way again.]

1. The Conjuring

The Conjuring was my favorite film of 2013 and it’s also one of my favorite films of all time. It’s a brilliant adaptation of one of the Warren’s paranormal cases that puts character before scares, and winds up being far more terrifying for it. Soon after moving into their new home, the Perron family starts to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. When those incidents become increasingly violent, they call in demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (Wilson and Farmiga). The Conjuring isn’t just about the demonologists saving the day for a helpless family; screenwriters Chad and Carey W. Hayes take the time to let you live with both families and fully feel the force of the societal and emotional pressures that come with taking action. (Why don’t the Perrons just leave the house? It’s not that simple. And the Warrens don’t really have the support of those around them either.) The movie also features some of Leonetti’s best work; most noticeably the atmosphere of the film, the oner that introduces the Perron family as they set up their new home and also, a personal favorite, the panic-inducing bannister camera flip in the third act of the film. There’s also a slew of examples of scares that credit their effectiveness to performance and shot design, rather than the all-too-familiar jump scare. The best of the bunch? There’s stiff competition, but that honor might have to go to the scene featuring some A+ work from Joey King when her character, Christine Perron, sees something hiding in the corner of her room. While I understand not everyone wants to eat, sleep and breathe horror like I do, The Conjuring is an especially exciting accomplishment that isn’t just a winner for horror diehards, but also for fans of powerful storytelling, period.