Saw co-creator Leigh Whannell goes it alone for Insidious 3 Go behind the scenes of the terrifying horror-thriller INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 with director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell, the Australian masters of scare behind "Saw," "Insidious" and "The Conjuring." Angus Sampson (right) and Leigh Whannell in Insidious Chapter 2. TEN years after they "inadvertently" kickstarted the torture porn movement, Saw creators Leigh Whannell and James Wan have decided to part ways. But since the scare pair's most recent collaboration, Insidious: Chapter 2, took more than $40 million and the No. 1 spot at the US box office in its opening weekend, they are ending their relationship on an unusually high note. "It's the end of an era," says Whannell, who met Wan when they were fellow students at RMIT University. James has gone off to direct the The Fast and the Furious (7), which is what he has always wanted. I am so proud of him. He really is like an A-list director now. It's so cool. He's making this $250 million film and telling me hilarious stories about trying to convince some actor that he doesn't look stupid holding a bazooka. For his own, part, however, Whannell admits to experiencing an "interesting" mix of melancholy, reflection and nostalgia at what is clearly shaping up to be a turning point in his career. James knows what the next stage is - unless he does something spectacularly wrong he is going to be making these huge films from now on. I need to discover who I am without him. The actor-writer has signed on to write the third chapter in the micro-budgeted Insidious franchise, which follows the story of the unfortunate Lambert family (Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson and matriarch Barbara Hershey) as they wrestle with the dark supernatural forces that have zeroed in on them from the other side. But Wan is unlikely to direct. Whannell has been in this position once before - he wrote two more Saw films after his creative partner had moved on to other projects. In a blog describing his early experiences in Hollywood, Whannell described that feeling as a bit like staying around after the party was over. "Sometimes when you are still the person who is working on these films when everybody else is moving on, it can feel a bit like that," he says now. Particularly because James and I have essentially been a team. It's almost like being at high school with somebody and then he graduates and goes off to university and you stay back and repeat year 12 with all the people below you. It does sting a little bit. Such comments, however, aren't meant to give the impression that Whannell is feeling the least bit sorry for himself - being the creator of two hugely-successful horror franchises is hardly something to apologise for. Anybody who has read the beautifully-crafted essays that appear irregularly on his blog will be keenly aware that self-examination and self-depreciation are an integral part of Whannell's personal and creative process. He sees Insidious 3 as a nice piece of screenwriting symmetry. I really felt like the three Saw films I wrote were a trilogy. The main character even died. I look at (the franchise) as two separate trilogies," he says. I almost feel the same about Insidious. Doing this third film will give me that same closure. Then I can walk away and do other stuff. I feel like I would be messing up the cleanness of it all if I didn't (write the third film). I really want to go out with a truly scary film. Once Insidious has been exorcised from his system, however, Whannell is contemplating a change in jobs. I a way I feel like I am rewound back to that point 10 years ago, which is to say I feel like I am going to have to go back and do Saw all over again - not so much in terms of plot, more the size and the scope of the film - only this time it will be me directing. While Whannell has penned everything from children's entertainment to comedies, there's a good chance his directorial debut will continue in the thriller/horror vein. "That's naturally what my hands write," he says. I really like these puzzle-box movies where there is a mystery you have to solve. Films like Memento and The Usual Suspects. The screenwriter says he isn't worried about repeating himself - because he couldn't do that even if he wanted to. It is interesting to look back now, with the benefit of hindsight, and to see how a whole trend was created by a film James and I made - although I must stress that it wasn't by design. James and I had no idea people would focus on the (torture porn) aspect of (Saw) so I guess we inadvertently created a golden age of gory horror films. Insidious: Chapter 2 opens today