Every James Wan Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Rounding up James Wan's movies from Saw to Malignant.

By Jack Pooley /

Over the last two decades, James Wan has proven himself to be one of the most reliable genre filmmakers working today.

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His 2004 debut Saw lit the world on fire and immediately made him a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood, though rather than simply taking the most obvious creative path, he sought to branch out with numerous left-field projects of admittedly varying quality.

With the release of Wan's 10th feature film Malignant, he continues to cement himself as a daring and ambitious filmmaker, keen not to simply deliver warmed-over genre fare, even if his hard swings for the fences haven't always fully paid off.

Outside of horror, though, Wan has also tackled the revenge thriller, the high-octane action blockbuster, and most surprisingly of all, a DC superhero movie. It's nothing if not a surprisingly dynamic career for a director who could so easily have made Saw sequels for the rest of his life.

But how exactly do Wan's movies, including Malignant, stack up from worst to best? From his most ridiculous failures to his most jaw-dropping successes, here's every James Wan movie - excluding his 2000 debut Stygian, which isn't available anywhere - from worst to best...

10. Dead Silence

Rather than return to direct Saw II, Wan ventured off to make his own original horror film with Saw writer Leigh Whannell.

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Dead Silence follows a young widower (Ryan Kwanten) returning to his hometown in pursuit of answers about his wife's mysterious, grotesque death, and how it all relates to a ventriloquist dummy called Billy.

Though certainly Wan's worst film, this has had an army of defenders ever since it was released back in 2007, with its cheerleaders praising its slick style, spooky atmosphere, and campy tone.

True as all that may be, Dead Silence falls down hard in the story and character departments, and feels far more like a hired-gun project than something wrought from a place of real creativity.

It does get credit, though, for its absolutely bonkers final plot twist, which won't be spoiled here because it's absolutely worth watching the movie for.

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