Exposition always feels like exposition. The best exposition is when you learn something important about a character on page 90.

[Describing his state of mind before making 1982's "Alone in the Dark"] At that point I was getting into my early thirties, and when 25 came and passed and I hadn't made Citizen Kane yet, I was getting worried. I was really starting to wonder if I was ever going to get to make my feature. I'd worked as a film editor but I never really approached it as seriously as other people because I always felt I was going to direct a movie.

[Talking about working with Robert Englund on "A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge"] One of the most brilliant things Wes did was cast Robert Englund because people always cast some lunk to play the killer ... whereas Robert Englund is not a big scary guy. He's a guy with an interesting, almost funny face, but he's a terrific actor. And Wes made that choice; it was a brilliant choice.

I've always had a cynical outlook on life. Odd things strike me as funny. I'm the sort of person who'd laugh at a funeral under the right circumstances.

[Talking about his attitude towards violence in horror movies] I was never a hard-core slasher kind of guy...I never wanted to humiliate people or inflict pain just for the sake of inflicting pain, or do horrible effects just to see how gross I could possibly be. That never really interested me that much.

(speaking about his film-making influences) I never set out to be Wes Craven, I set out to be Jean Renoir.