Scott Derrickson Quotes

Powerful Scott Derrickson for Daily Growth

About Scott Derrickson

Scott Derrickson, born on June 15, 1966, in Birmingham, Alabama, is an acclaimed American film director, screenwriter, and comic book artist known for his unique blend of horror, fantasy, and spiritual themes in his work. Raised in a Christian family, Derrickson's early interest in art and storytelling led him to study film at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. However, it was his love for comics that initially steered him towards a career as a comic book artist. He worked on various titles for Marvel Comics, including 'Doctor Strange,' which would later become instrumental in his transition to filmmaking. Derrickson's directorial debut came with the independent horror film 'Messengers' (2007), followed by 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' (2005), a supernatural thriller that gained critical acclaim and commercial success. His breakthrough work, however, was directing the Marvel Cinematic Universe film 'Doctor Strange' (2016), starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The film was praised for its visual effects, storytelling, and Derrickson's exploration of spirituality and mysticism. In 2018, Derrickson directed the highly anticipated sequel to the horror classic 'Hellboy,' which, despite mixed reviews, showcased his continued interest in the genre. His latest work includes co-writing and directing the Marvel film 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' (2022). Throughout his career, Scott Derrickson has proven himself as a versatile storyteller, blending his love for horror, spirituality, and comic book aesthetics to create unique and captivating narratives. His works continue to resonate with audiences and critics alike.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Faith and fear are twin emotions, sisters who share not just a common ancestry but also a common face."

This quote suggests that faith and fear, despite being distinct emotional states, possess similarities in their nature or appearance. The "common ancestry" refers to the shared origin or root from which both emotions derive. The "common face" implies that they may manifest or be perceived in a comparable way, though they ultimately lead to different outcomes – one leading towards hope and belief (faith) and the other towards anxiety and doubt (fear). This highlights the fine line between the two emotions and how they can sometimes overlap or be confused.

"Belief is not a cold logic, it's a fire in your heart."

This quote by Scott Derrickson suggests that belief is not solely an intellectual exercise or a matter of rational thought, but rather a deeply emotional experience, analogous to the warmth and passion of a fire. In other words, true belief comes from the heart, stirring feelings that ignite our souls, guiding us, motivating us, and giving us a sense of purpose. This perspective emphasizes the importance of not just understanding something intellectually, but also feeling it deeply in our emotional core.

"Horror can be a very spiritual genre, if you look at it from the right angle."

This quote suggests that horror films, often viewed as entertainment or merely scary stories, can also be deeply spiritual. If one perceives them in a particular way, they can provide insights into human fears, emotions, and existential concerns – all aspects that intertwine with the concept of the spiritual. By exploring the unknown and confronting our deepest anxieties, horror movies can encourage introspection and help viewers question their beliefs, values, and purpose, thereby touching upon spiritual themes.

"The most terrifying thing is the unknown. Horror films are about exploring that unknown."

This quote emphasizes that the greatest fear lies in the unknown, a theme often explored in horror movies. The genre uses mystery and suspense to provoke feelings of apprehension and dread by delving into the uncertain or unseen aspects of reality. It suggests that we are most unsettled when confronted with things beyond our understanding or experience, which adds a layer of psychological terror to the storylines. Essentially, horror films allow us to confront our deepest fears in a controlled environment, providing a catharsis for our anxieties about the unknown.

"I think every film, every story, should have some kind of moral or ethical component to it."

Scott Derrickson's quote suggests that a good story or film should not only be entertaining but also carry a deeper meaning or lesson that reflects on ethics or morals. This implies that the work should spark thought and contemplation, making viewers question their own beliefs and values. In essence, it underlines the importance of using storytelling as a medium for exploration, learning, and growth.

In my horror movies, I was always trying to deal with real characters and real character drama played by good actors... Laura Linney, Ethan Hawke, Eric Bana, and Tom Wilkinson, people who don't do horror normally.

- Scott Derrickson

Good, Deal, Real Characters, Tom

For something to be completely evil is to be nothing. Satan has good attributes - intelligence, for instance - but they are corrupted. I cannot reconcile myself emotionally to alternative understandings of evil.

- Scott Derrickson

Myself, Nothing, Instance, Corrupted

There's a clean simplicity to the plotting of 'Sinister,' whether you like it or not. And the scares are deliberate and even heavy-handed in a way. There's not a lot of sophistication or nuance in the plotting and not much restraint in the scares - and that's a part of what makes the movie accessible.

- Scott Derrickson

Movie, Like, Accessible, Plotting

I became a Christian within a fundamentalist church. I saw 'A Thief in the Night' on a 16 mm. print when I was in the eighth grade, and I got the whole scare speech from our pastors. 'Do you want to be left here, left behind, for the Tribulation? If not, then come forward.'

- Scott Derrickson

Behind, Here, Became, Eighth

Some of the most intelligent people I've met in my life are priests and pastors; now, a lot of them aren't that, though. Some of the most sanctimonious and hypocritical people I've met are priests and pastors, also.

- Scott Derrickson

My Life, Some, Though, Hypocritical

You know, 'Top Gun' was the movie I saw in high school that made me want to be a filmmaker. I remember very specifically coming out of the Century 21 Theater in Colorado from seeing it, and my friend saying, 'What did you think of the movie?' And I said, 'I think I know what I want to do for a living.' That's a true story.

- Scott Derrickson

Gun, I Remember, Very, True Story

I'm not a dispensationalist - I don't believe in the Rapture. I think it's an unbiblical doctrine, and in North American Christianity, at least, it is the teaching that is the root of much of our subculturalism.

- Scott Derrickson

Think, I Think, North, North American

If we're not compelled to gain a deeper understanding of good and evil, how can we make the world a better place? How can we find ourselves at the end of our lives and know that our lives were significant? Those things would be impossibilities.

- Scott Derrickson

Good, Ourselves, Our, Impossibilities

Screenplays are the currency of Hollywood.

- Scott Derrickson

Hollywood, Currency, Screenplays

I love the comics so much, and I grew up reading Marvel Comics. And Doctor Strange is my favorite comic book character - probably, I think honestly, the only comic book I would feel personally suited to work on.

- Scott Derrickson

Love, I Think, Comics, Suited

I grew up reading comics - mostly Marvel - Doctor Strange was my favourite comic book and has remained my favourite as an adult. It's the only comic book movie property I've ever gone after. I felt uniquely suited to it.

- Scott Derrickson

Movie, Mostly, Comics, Suited

Priests and pastors are probably the most stereotyped characters in film and television, and the reason why, I think, is that most people don't know one. Most writers who work in Hollywood don't know any.

- Scott Derrickson

Think, Reason, I Think, Pastors

I always liked the idea in 'Potter' that you don't choose the wand, the wand chooses you, and that relics decide when you're ready to handle them. I'm a cinephile first and a filmmaker second, and it's all swimming in the subconscious.

- Scott Derrickson

Choose, Decide, Idea, Chooses

I went to a fundamentalist Christian high school and went to a fundamentalist church, and they were the greatest people; there was an amazing sense of community. The problem is when the messiness of real life enters, and the inflexibility of a moral code cannot cope with the realities of moral relativism.

- Scott Derrickson

Church, Code, Fundamentalist, Cope

I'm an orthodox Christian. When people ask me if I'm a Christian, I always want to qualify and know what they mean by that. I'm not a Republican, and I'm not right wing. I'm not a dispensationalist. I don't think the world's about to end.

- Scott Derrickson

Think, Always, Right Wing, Wing

When I was hired to write and direct a movie, my Christian duty suddenly became quite clear: My primary duty as a Christian in Hollywood is to do my job well.

- Scott Derrickson

Hollywood, Movie, Became, Primary

I'm not standing above the audience trying to manipulate them as a puppet master or a trickster; I'm inside the story I'm writing and making and thinking about things very seriously and feeling very deeply at times, and trying to translate that into a narrative.

- Scott Derrickson

Inside, Very, About, Puppet

I think that Christians who have an interest in filmmaking need to deepen their love for cinema. To be honest, that's what I think has been missing historically from the Christians who want to succeed in the Hollywood industry.

- Scott Derrickson

Love, Think, Been, Deepen

In a science fiction film, you're uniquely responsible to pay respect to the science represented in the movie.

- Scott Derrickson

Science, Movie, Fiction, Science Fiction

I came in with a very specific idea about what a Doctor Strange movie should be, which was rooted in the comics, and I thought it should be as weird and as visually ambitious compared to modern comic book movies as the comic was when it showed up in the '60s compared to other comic books at the time.

- Scott Derrickson

Other, Very, Comic Books, Comic Book

I spent a lot of my adult life overcoming fear. It was a subject I knew a lot about, and it's one of the most important and most powerful human emotions. Fear is one of the greatest driving forces in the world. So I thought I could go into the horror genre and do things differently and contribute a different point of view.

- Scott Derrickson

Thought, Point Of View, Overcoming

I have friends who are scientists, strict materialists, who don't think science and religion are compatible, but I just think most of us - unless you're a strict atheist materialist, which there aren't many of - most of us believe in something outside the material world. And if you do believe that, I don't know how you're not obsessed with it.

- Scott Derrickson

Believe, How, Materialist, Strict

I've never been a materialist; I've never been somebody who believes in only what we can see and measure. I continue to be a student of religious philosophy, and I continue to take those ideas very seriously.

- Scott Derrickson

Been, Religious, Very, Materialist

I can't help but view the world mystically. It's how I see it. I'm not a strict materialist. I think there's much more to the world than what we see with our five senses.

- Scott Derrickson

Think, Senses, I Think, Materialist

I wasn't born into a religious home, but I was just not a materialist. I didn't believe the material world was all there was or, even, most of what there was. I always felt that I was part of a reality of which the majority was unseen.

- Scott Derrickson

Always, Religious, Which, Materialist

'Orthodoxy' is the seminal book of ideas in my life. That book I've read more than any other book. It's the spinal column that leads up to my brain and informs the way I think. Flannery O'Connor is my favorite American writer.

- Scott Derrickson

My Life, Other, I Think, Spinal

I really love horror novels, horror films, that are pointing at deeper ideas and thematic meaning. It's a way of thinking about films differently; that's what I think I like the most about it. I love the fact that's it's pointing at a more mysterious world - that the world is more of a mysterious place than we tend to let ourselves believe.

- Scott Derrickson

Love, Fact, I Think, Novels

When I went to Europe a few years ago, I felt very at home there, and I loved standing in Notre Dame and looking at all the gargoyles on the outside of that building and realizing that, as scary and frightening as they were, what I was looking at was something that was built to the glory of God.

- Scott Derrickson

Building, Years, Very, Dame

I'm married to a nurse, and she is really, really ardent that - in screenplays or movies that I've worked on, that all the medical aspects be properly presented. I think that filmmakers ought to be respectful of all fields and not just be lazy and put nonsense in movies because most people won't know the difference.

- Scott Derrickson

Medical, I Think, Ardent, Respectful

I think that the secular work environment in general is a place that's challenging for Christians to thrive in without getting caught up in materialism or in competitiveness or in things that are really not important.

- Scott Derrickson

Think, Caught, I Think, Thrive

Kurosawa is my hero, and I've taught courses on his films, and I love what he does, and 'Rashomon' is, I think, his second greatest film after 'Ikiru.'

- Scott Derrickson

Love, Courses, Films, Kurosawa

My faith sometimes burdens me with the responsibility to think very deeply and long and hard about the choices I make creatively. There are projects I turn down because the material is too much a violation of what I believe. But that's true of anybody.

- Scott Derrickson

Anybody, Very, Projects, Burdens

If you look at life with any honesty and intelligence, it's clear that human nature is dark, vile, selfish, and despondent. But I also see a force in human nature, namely grace, that sometimes works against our natural moral entropy.

- Scott Derrickson

Sometimes, Against, Works, Vile

There are some people who shouldn't watch horror films, and I'm all right with that.

- Scott Derrickson

Some, Horror, Films, Horror Films

I would be concerned if one of my children were constantly watching nothing but horror films or indulging in gothic literature without the balance of other types of art and entertainment. I do think that's a danger.

- Scott Derrickson

Other, Concerned, Constantly, Horror Films

Interestingly enough, there is a really different dynamic when you're directing something that somebody else has written compared to when you're directing something that you've written. And there's a good and a bad side to it. I think the bad side is that you never feel the same level of connection to the material - you just don't.

- Scott Derrickson

Bad, Feel, I Think, Same Level

Corporate America limits the world to consumerism. Science can limit it to the material world. Even religion limits it to a lot of theories that can explain everything. I think we need cinema to break that apart and remind us that we're not in control, and we don't understand as much as we think do.

- Scott Derrickson

America, Explain, I Think, Limits

I always liked 'The Outer Limits' as a kid. More than 'The Twilight Zone.'

- Scott Derrickson

More, Zone, Always, Limits

The role that blood plays in Christian iconography is huge - the washing of the blood, the shedding of blood, the blood of the cross, the crucifixion, the violence of that imagery. These are horrific, and yet they are at the center of the Christian faith. There is a place where beauty and terror merge, and it's at the cross.

- Scott Derrickson

Beauty, Faith, Role, Imagery

Catholicism is so steeped in imagery. It's one of the many reasons Catholicism has given birth to so many great filmmakers compared to the Protestant tradition - even in America, where we're primarily Protestant.

- Scott Derrickson

Birth, Reasons, Given, Imagery

I think the single most important, fascinating, and complex aspect of human nature is that we all know, deep down, that we are not what we ought to be - or as John Doe says in 'Seven,' 'We are not what was intended.'

- Scott Derrickson

Deep, Think, I Think, Ought

My interest in the comic goes back a long time, because I grew up reading comics, mostly Marvel Comics, and I always loved 'Doctor Strange' uniquely. It was the presence of the fantastical, the presence of the supernatural that was in it. The idea of magic.

- Scott Derrickson

Magic, Idea, Mostly, Presence

I don't fear pain or failure anymore because I'm too grateful for the pains and failures of my past - they have made me who I am, and most of the good things in my life are a direct result of them in some way.

- Scott Derrickson

My Life, Some, Direct, Good Things

Work on your writing skills. Realize that Hollywood is an industry built to keep you out, and once you're in, it's designed to cycle you out - so you have to get up every day and work all day long to give Hollywood a reason to let you in, and then to keep you in.

- Scott Derrickson

Every Day, Reason, Hollywood, Designed

For me, there is a basic recognition of horror as the most open doorway where the intersection of philosophical and religious ideas can come tighter.

- Scott Derrickson

Ideas, Horror, Religious, Intersection

If you really look hard at the evidence, the most rational conclusion is to believe that the demonic is real.

- Scott Derrickson

Conclusion, Evidence, Most, Demonic

I think a lot of my appreciation for the Doors' music, which I love, originates with my discovery of them through seeing 'Apocalypse Now.' It's my second favorite film of all time.

- Scott Derrickson

Love, Through, I Think, Apocalypse

To me, the horror genre is the genre of non-denial. It's about admitting that there is evil in the world and recognizing that there is evil within us and that we're not in control and that the things that we are afraid of must be confronted in order for us to relinquish that fear.

- Scott Derrickson

Horror, Within, About, Relinquish

'Emily Rose' was based on a real story, and the real girl died, and there were surviving members of the family, so I took the concerns of that very seriously.

- Scott Derrickson

Very, Based, Took, Emily

I think after 'The Day The Earth Stood Still,' I really stopped thinking strategically about my career. I just did. At that point, it became crystal clear to me that you can strategise your career all you want, but it's so difficult to get a movie made, and creativity shouldn't be subjected to that kind of strategic thinking.

- Scott Derrickson

Career, I Think, Became, Strategically

The evil within the fantasy genre tends to be threatening to the heroes within the story, but not to the reader - or not to the viewer, in the case of cinema - and that's why I think it's more palatable and something that is more easily embraced for a lot of people.

- Scott Derrickson

I Think, Viewer, Reader, Tends

I think that Hollywood is a very liberal community, and the great thing about that is that it tends to be relatively open to letting people think and believe what they want to think and believe.

- Scott Derrickson

Think, I Think, Very, Tends

Flannery O'Connor is my creative hero. I think she's the greatest American writer. Her book, 'Mystery and Manners,' is my creative bible.

- Scott Derrickson

Bible, Think, I Think, Manners

The momentum of my creative life and intellectual growth is still the momentum of breaking out of fundamentalism. Because of that, I'm very grateful for it. But I'm also grateful that at the center of it was something that I still believe to be true - those fundamentals of faith.

- Scott Derrickson

Faith, Fundamentals, Very, Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is rooted in fear, and it's another reason I'm interested in the horror genre, because I know the fear that fundamentalism is built upon.

- Scott Derrickson

Reason, Horror, Built, Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is such a pejorative word and immediately evokes images of angry extremism. In my experience, that's not usually what it looks like. I was a fundamentalist in high school.

- Scott Derrickson

Like, Extremism, Images, Fundamentalism

I think it's difficult to be a Christian anywhere, at least to be a committed Christian - I think that demands a lot from a person no matter their field of work, and certainly working in Hollywood is no exception.

- Scott Derrickson

Think, Exception, Certainly, Demands

In my opinion, the horror genre is a perfect genre for Christians to be involved with. I think the more compelling question is, Why do so many Christians find it odd that a Christian would be working in this genre?

- Scott Derrickson

Think, Horror, I Think, Odd

The more frightening and sort of dark and oppressive a movie is, the more free you are to explore the supernatural and explore faith. The two just somehow go hand-in-hand really nicely.

- Scott Derrickson

Movie, Oppressive, Nicely, Frightening

People always complain that superhero movies end with a big fight scene where they're tearing up a city, and there's a portal opening up, and they have to close it... I wanted to have a climactic scene that subverted those familiar ideas.

- Scott Derrickson

City, Superhero, Big, Opening

I'm not interested in gothic storytelling or the horrific for its own sake. I'm always interested in it as a way of getting at larger ideas or important meaning. And you don't see that as much as you'd think in the history of horror cinema. A lot of times, it's scariness for scariness' own sake.

- Scott Derrickson

Storytelling, Own, Larger, Not Interested

We've all watched hundreds of movies from characters' points of view that are not our own. That's part of the gift movies give us.

- Scott Derrickson

Gift, Give, Own, Hundreds

I think it's important for anyone who takes cinema seriously not to limit yourself to just optimistic or happy movies. I think that's a problem. You've got to be willing to let the art of cinema take you into some darker places if you're going to make full use of it.

- Scott Derrickson

Some, I Think, Willing, Cinema

My understanding of religion and science is that they're both arrogant schools of thought, and whether they acknowledge it or not they continually broadcast the idea that they have the world figured out. And what they don't know, they have a theory for which is probably correct. It feels like that shrinks the world, rather than expands it.

- Scott Derrickson

Thought, Feels, Broadcast, Shrinks

I think religion is as flawed an enterprise as any other human endeavor, but the interests and ambitions of religion are the right interests and ambitions.

- Scott Derrickson

Think, Other, I Think, Interests

In my personal life, dark material is kind of an emptying out - it leaves more room for light. If I'm writing a particularly awful scene, something is released in the process.

- Scott Derrickson

Process, Kind, Particularly, Released

We're all capable of being more than we presently are, and the effort that it takes and the will that it takes and sometimes the trauma and tragedy that it takes to force us into that kind of growth is the story of our lives.

- Scott Derrickson

Will, Trauma, Lives, Our Lives

I think the Christ-myth stories make great stories, whether it's 'The Matrix' or 'Braveheart,' they all are tapping into some kind of deep myth in our DNA, and by myth I don't necessarily mean false.

- Scott Derrickson

Deep, Some, I Think, Matrix

I can't imagine making something that is made only to be scary. For me, the darkness and scary material has to have meaning attached to it, or I can't invest the time and energy it takes to write and script or make a movie. It has to mean something.

- Scott Derrickson

Movie, Making, Imagine, Attached

I love the horror genre for how cinematic it is. I gravitated, I think, initially, toward the horror genre because, of all the genres, I think it is the genre that is most friendly to the subject matter of faith and belief in religion.

- Scott Derrickson

Love, Think, I Think, Initially

I think more than comedy, probably more than straight drama, I like horror. And horror I think I'm particularly good at. It's a mistake a lot of directors make, especially young directors. They always want to make the kind of movies that they most admire and aren't necessarily sensitive to what they have the best skill set for.

- Scott Derrickson

Young, I Think, Directors, Skill

The marketing of my movies is something I have no control over! I usually am shown things to give input beforehand. Some directors get really involved with that, but it's not what I do. I don't know anything about marketing; it's not my skill set!

- Scott Derrickson

Some, Directors, About, Skill

Real Super 8 is creepy. If you went into your grandmother's attic and found her Super 8 films and watched them, I don't care what was on them, there would be something a little creepy feeling about it.

- Scott Derrickson

Grandmother, About, Films, Attic

I'm not going to work outside of genre. It's going to be horror, action, or sci-fi. I don't ever really see myself being interested in movies outside of that.

- Scott Derrickson

Work, Horror, Going, Genre

I certainly hope they let me make another 'Doctor Strange.' I would do it in a second. I love this character. It's been the best filmmaking experience of my career; I work really well with these guys. It was a rewarding, collaborative process that I would do again in a second.

- Scott Derrickson

Love, Career, Been, Collaborative

In my films, I either want the music to be very subtle and very buried or just put it right out in front and be super blunt with it.

- Scott Derrickson

Want, Very, Films, Blunt

There are certainly better writers and directors than me, but I have worked very hard to earn credibility within the business as a quality writer and a good director.

- Scott Derrickson

Business, Very, Certainly, Credibility

Trauma and pain and suffering can be the very thing that dislodges a person from themselves both in awful ways and larger ways that force one to reckon with one's own life.

- Scott Derrickson

Pain, Very, Larger, Trauma

The world is a more mysterious place than we admit sometimes - there is more to the world than just human evil.

- Scott Derrickson

World, Admit, More, Mysterious

What I desire most in my life is to become a better person. I genuinely want to be good.

- Scott Derrickson

My Life, Desire, Genuinely

I think the first 'Hellraiser' is a work of genius.

- Scott Derrickson

Work, Think, I Think, Genius

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