“Game over.” This is one of my favorite horror movie lines of all time, and it’s a big part of one of my favorite horror series: “Saw.” The franchise that has since been condemned as “torture porn” has somehow been chugging along for almost twenty years, with a 10th entry releasing later this month. The thing is that these movies are honestly not even that good. Out of the nine entries, I can only really say that three of them are actually good (the original, “II” and “VI”), and yet, these weird movies hold a special place in my heart.
Spoilers ahead for the entire “Saw” franchise.
Before discussing the series as a whole, I’d like to talk about the film that started it all: “Saw.” This low-budget feature debut of director James Wan and writer/co-lead actor Leigh Whannell follows two men (Adam and Dr. Gordon) who are trapped in a dirty bathroom and forced to kill one another before a specific time in order to escape. In spite of this film’s problems, I will always love this film for launching Wan and Whannell’s successful careers.
While the original film isn’t that violent, the sequels have since been condemned for starting the craze of the incredibly graphic “torture porn” subgenre, alongside Eli Roth’s “Hostel” and Tom Six’s “The Human Centipede” trilogy. Wan and Whannell have since stated that this was never their intention, as they weren’t all that interested in super bloody and gory violence, but, unfortunately, that’s what happened.
With that being said, I’m not entirely sure if I would love “Saw” all that much if it was only just one movie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great film with one of the best endings I’ve ever seen, but the insanity of the following films really makes this feel like the first chapter of a bizarre story that will (hopefully) never end.
For starters, the best element of “Saw” is its pretentious yet fascinating antagonist John Kramer, also known as Jigsaw. He claims to have this sense of morality that separates him from killers, but it’s such a twisted way of thinking that pretty much everybody criticizes. His whole shtick is that he puts people in traps so that they appreciate life more, which is somehow even worse in practice than it is in theory. The reasons for being trapped include self-harm, drug abuse and… being too devoted to your job?
Again, his morality is all over the place, but actor Tobin Bell gives the role everything he’s got, and it elevates every scene he’s in.
I’m also a big fan of the absolutely bizarre plot that each of these films has. Each film, aside from the standalone spin-off “Spiral,” alternates between a “trap plot” and a “cop plot.’” The former is about people in the most extreme escape room and the latter is about tracking down Jigsaw and/or his accomplices. All of these are filled to the brim with plot twists that get more and more ridiculous as they go on, even if they do get predictable over time.
“Saw II” reveals that two-time trap plot survivor Amanda has been helping Jigsaw since the events of the first movie. This is a fantastic twist, but then the franchise kept spamming it, with later films revealing that another character has secretly been working with Jigsaw the whole time.
The series also likes to play around with non-linear storytelling, employing a large number of flashbacks and flash-forwards. Whenever we are shown a big twist at the end of one film, the following ones have numerous flashbacks to recontextualize the series even further; for example, after Hoffman is revealed to be an apprentice, “Saw V” partially serves as an origin story for the character while also showing his secret involvement in the previous Jigsaw traps. These flashbacks are also used for the sake of providing twists, as “Saw IV”’s final act reveals that it is mostly set at the same time as “Saw III,” before Jigsaw’s death. Trickery like this not only works as a cheap twist, but it also ensured that Bell’s antagonist could appear in every film. Even the upcoming “Saw X” takes place in between the first two films.
As a whole, there’s a lot about “Saw” that I love. I’ll admit that it’s a mess, and most of the movies are pretty bad, but I love this series anyway, warts and all. And considering that we have “Saw X” coming out soon, I think it’s safe to say that I’m not the only one. Also, to the directors, please have one of these set in space.
