"The state of mainstream American cinema is so deplorable that it's more important than ever for cinephiles to appreciate and celebrate the few remaining pop auteurs we have left; the filmmakers who can bridge the gap between the personal and popular, the fun and the artistically valuable.
James Wan is a great example of this dying breed, an artist with great personal style who can imprint his own idiosyncratic vision both on original movies and in huge studio fare – whether he's making a superhero epic or a gonzo horror flick, Wan's name is a guarantee of visual inventiveness and sturdy old-fashioned craft.
In that spirit, let's rank Wan's first 10 movies, from worst to best, a career trajectory that proves this guy only gets better as he goes along – so, hopefully, he's still got many more movies in him."
