113 Quotes by Mike Flanagan

I do not have the female experience. I don't, and I strive to understand it, but I'll never truly be able to. I don't think any men will, really.

People will bemoan the quality of horror but then they'll go out and support horror films that are lacking qualities that they say they want.

I hate jump scares. I really hate them. I think there's nothing special about being able to startle someone - that's an involuntary reflex, and it makes people laugh.

I like to say that Hollywood is one of the most democratic entities in the world and the reason why is every ticket is a vote.

What's so exciting and unstoppable about the horror genre is that I view it all as metaphorical exploration. It's the safe place that we, as a culture, can deal with things that upset and frighten us - the darker side of our nature.

I associate a family as the safest place in the world. So when it comes to things that scare me, introducing instability and tension into where you're supposed to be the safest really strikes a chord with me.

When you talk about people being haunted or wrestling demons, that is a rich metaphor.

In high school, I started studying movies and not reacting to them emotionally.

A viewer's imagination is a powerful storyteller, and can often come up with things way more frightening than what you can explicitly show in a horror movie... try to engage that imagination, and the results can be magical.