On filmmaking...

@chrisblohm What's the no.1 scare-tactic guaranteed to make an audience jump out of their seats?

There are no guarantees with this. I still feel like a student of horror. But it's important to have a healthy respect for the audience. You can never know how an audience is going to react.

I do sit and watch my films with an audience. I'm always surprised how much smart the audience are.

@Robzzilla any advice to anyone taking a camera out and trying to make movies themselves?

If you want to be a film maker, show your movies to a paying audience. Even if it's just £1. Then take it away and base your changes on the reaction of a paying audience.

They'll be honest about their reactions. Then make another film and put into practice what you've learnt on the previous film.

@davidwaddington What similarities, if any, are there in creating effective horrors and big budget effects driven movies?   

They're very similar. In each case the director has to have a vision and communicate that to the technicians. The difference is how that communication happens.

On a small horror it's much more direct, intimate. On a bigger picture there are so many people - it becomes a bit like Chinese Whispers.

@ckc1ne Could you summarise the process you go through on a story from initial concept through to screen?

With Drag me to Hell it was easy. It was a 30 page story for years and Ivan thought we should expand to a screen play.  With Spiderman it was a hard process. We had to discover who the character is based on 40 years of material.
    
NafRas how come are you so fascinated with the horror/thriller genre?

I don't know if I am, but the crowd that come to horror are the most enthusiastic. They come to it with open arms.

Next: On his favourite films...