Spiral Director Darren Lynn Bousman On The Horror Franchise He Wants To Revive - Exclusive

Director Darren Lynn Bousman is no stranger to horror. The 43-year-old filmmaker has been leaving his mark on genre for over 16 years. After making a splash with 2005's "Saw II," Bousman would go on to shepherd the series, shooting two more sequels back-to-back. After 2007's "Saw IV," he would graciously pass the torch and part ways with Jigsaw and go on to deliver us some strange, and sometimes downright experimental, horror outings.

Some of those include the very outside-of-the-box "Repo!: The Genetic Opera" — an operatic horror musical which sported an eclectic cast including Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman, Paris Hilton and Bill Moseley. While it's not strictly horror, he'd go on to explore this unusual genre mashup again with the campy "Alleluia!: The Devil's Carnival." And of course, there's his brutal 2010 home-invasion thriller "Mother's Day," starring Rebecca De Mornay and Frank Grillo. Last year, Bousman brought us the horror-thriller "Death of Me" starring Maggie Q and Luke Hemsworth.

Now, Bousman has returned to the franchise that kickstarted his career — the seemingly undying "Saw" saga. After a 12-year hiatus, he's back at the helm for "Spiral: From the Book of Saw," a spin-off set in the Jigsaw universe that aims to reignite the franchise. But there's one other dormant horror franchise that Bousman would love to get his bloody hands on. During a recent exclusive interview with Looper, he revealed a horror icon he'd love to resurrect for the silver screen.

"Well, I'll tell you, there's one that I constantly joke about, and I'll give it to you in two answers. I would love to go back in to do 'Leprechaun' with Warwick Davis, make a new Warwick Davis-based 'Leprechaun,'" Darren Lynn Bousman told Looper when asked to reveal his biggest horror dream projects. "And that's owned by Lionsgate. And I've been saying that since f***ing 'Saw II,' and no one will let me do it."

"Leprechaun" is a 1993 cult classic horror-comedy film that starred Warwick Davis ("Willow") as the titular menace who kills anyone who lays hands on his gold. It went on to spawn a total of seven sequels — Davis would only star in the first six. The first two were released theatrically before it devolved into a direct-to-video franchise with a noticeable drop in quality. The Leprechaun himself was embraced by the horror community and remains a beloved yet obscure mini-horror icon; Davis' final bow as the murderous sprite was in 2003's "Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood." Years later, Lionsgate attempted to reboot the franchise twice; there was a more serious approach with 2014's "Leprechaun Origins", a dreadful Leprechaun-by-name-only entry that has 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. And then there's 2018's "Leprechaun Returns", which served as a direct sequel to the 1993 original, but Davis declined to reprise his role, so it's no wonder Bousman wants to return the franchise to it's former glory. Davis isn't the only one on his wish list either. It seems he also wants to conjure up more nightmares with yet another horror legend.

"I would love to go back and do 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' with Robert Englund," says Bousman. "Not the Jack Earle Haley redo, but go back into the original, and what made those great. There's a couple of books that I really love, and I don't want to mention them because I've been trying to get the rights forever. But the 'Leprechaun' franchise is something that, I don't understand what I have to f***ing do to get the 'Leprechaun' franchise."

"Spiral: From the Book of Saw" is currently in theaters