Saw
Every
decade or so, there seems to be a movie that comes along that has a
lasting impact. It could be a new twist on an old classic, or go one
step higher and create a whole new genre.
Psychological
thrillers were nothing new in 2004, and the last great one was “Seven”,
released almost a decade earlier. But no one expected a little film
made for about $1 Million primarily in one location to go global, and
launch a decade long franchise in it’s wake. But that’s exactly what
“Saw” did.
The
film had its fair share of early buzz that year, and early previews
suggested it was a dark, twisted but ultimately compelling new take on
the serial killer story. You probably know all about Saw, and it’s many
sequels, and like most people do, you probably sit in the camps of
either “I loved it” or “I hated it”. I’m somewhere in between,
especially with the sub-par quality sequels. And as debatable as they
are in terms of quality, you can’t deny that the Saw franchise has a
unique edge when it comes to the psychological game it plays with the
audience.
You
have a serial killer, called Jigsaw. But the twist is, he’s never
actually killed anybody. He finds ways for his victims to kill
themselves. Rigging up deadly and intricate traps, devices, and games,
he forces his chosen ones into a choice of Life vs. Death. Selecting his
test subjects carefully, Jigsaw finds people who have lived a life that
is of question. In some form or another, they have not shown
appreciation for their life, or the life of others. As the victim
awakens in their predicament, they are usually greeted by either a tape
recording or a video – featuring a creepy doll with a raspy voice –
explaining the situation they’re in, and reminding them of the sins they
have committed. Jigsaw taunts that escape will be difficult, but not
impossible. But the cost of saving their life at the expense of losing
something personal, or having to sacrifice someone else in the process,
will test their wits, and reveal how much they truly do value their own
life.
This
is a very clever and convincing way of playing with people’s minds.
Essentially, all the victims Jigsaw chooses are either criminals or bad
people in some way or another. You will either feel something for them,
or you won’t. And when you are witnessing their impending doom,
wondering if you think they deserve to be there or not, you are drawn
into the front seat view of their torture trap unable to look away, but
also squeaming in your seat at the unrelenting blood and gore on
display. While watching these scenes unfold, you can’t help but ask
yourself “What would I do in that situation? Could I do what I was
instructed to in order to survive?” The fear runs rampant through the
characters, as they race against the lock to outwit their captor and try
to survive the game. And that’s exactly what Jigsaw sees it as – a
game, but also an exercise in morals and judgement. He poses the
question, “Who ultimately deserves life and death? And who gets to
decide the fate of others?”
Pretty
deep stuff for a horror film, and if you can sit through the
never-ending series of traps, devices and twisted tests of pain,
torture, and death you can see past the gore and violence, to the
underlying themes of the Saw franchise. In spite of its sadistic nature
and physical brutality, it does touch on some important subjects, and
reminds the victim, and we the viewer, that no matter what situation
we’re in or the problem we face, we always have the power of choice.
Jigsaw likes to mess with this balance, by initially taking the victims
power away by trapping them in the first place, but giving them power
back in having to make a choice. The choice will have its circumstances,
whether they lose a limb, a vital organ, or the life of the person
forced into the trap with them, but it drives home the harsh truth of
humanity - when faced with danger, we will also revert to our basic
instinct, which is the need to survive, whatever the cost.
Seeing this film at the movies in 2004, quite by accident, was not the experience I was expecting. It was a Friday night,
and a bunch of mates and I were out for dinner. Two of us had a few
drinks, and as the dinner winded down, we decided the night was still
young. The group started heading off, but the local cinema was not too
far away, so off we went. Saw had just opened, so we attended the late
night session. The drinks had settled in, and we were both on the merry
side. Concentrating on the movie proved a little trying, as you will
know the Saw franchise likes to use a non-linear timelines to tell its
story. It jumped from one location to another, showed flashbacks of the
characters, and sub plots that all revolved around the central act – two
guys who wake up in a derelict bathroom, with their feet chained to a
pipe. In the middle of the floor, is the body of a man, lying in a pool
of blood, a hole in his head, a gun in one hand and a tape player in the
other. Our two test subjects – Adam and Dr. Lawrence Gordon – soon find
the clues left behind. Each of them has a tape of their own to play,
where the killer addresses them personally, talking in metaphors and
mixed messages about the sins of their life and why he has chosen them
for his game.
Both
men have more than their life to lose, and will be tested both
physically and psychologically to the edge, all before the clock hits 6pm. While
they try it put together the pieces of the puzzle, the film jumps back
and forth to two homicide detectives working the Jigsaw case. In their
search for the culprit, we witness some of the maniac’s other creations
where seemingly ordinary and innocent people are pitted against extremes
pain and punishment. There is the guy who was looked in a room, with a
slow working poison in his system. The antidote lies in a safe with a
combination lock, and the number is written on the wall somewhere
amongst thousands of other numbers. His only light in the darkened room
is a candle, but he must be careful how he holds it, as his naked body
is covered in a flammable substance. Then there’s the guy who wakes up
in a cage made of barbwire. Jigsaw taunts him from a video recording,
citing the many times this man has attempted to end his own life by
cutting his wrists. In order to get out of the room before it’s sealed
shut forever, he must climb through the tunnel of sharply, serrated
steel, ultimately cutting himself multiple times if he wants to get out.
Clearly,
Jigsaw has done his homework on each of his victims, and imagines
horrible and macabre ways to test them. Seeing this film for the first
time was a mixed bag of feeling scared, shocked, disgusted, but also
having a few laughs along the way. As the characters are tested, we the
audience are tested, feeling their pain mentally and emotionally, as we
bare witness to acts of torture that are both cruel and plain evil.
Whoever though of this franchise liked to play in the dark corners of
their imagination, and as painful as the film is to watch, it is also a
remarkable achievement in filmmaking. So blown away by it all my mate
and I were, we gave the film a standing ovation at the end, as it’s
capped off by a brilliant twist ending and fantastic music that just
heightens the whole intensity of the viewing experience.
Made
for only a million bucks by some Melbourne film students, the original
Saw went on to make about $100 million bucks, so the studio sent the
sequel into production quickly. Once a year, every Halloween for the
next six years, we were treated to another Saw movie. Part’s 2 and 3
were reasonably good, showing more background of the characters and new
traps and devices that were even more unbearable than the ones before.
The franchise hit a bit of a low point with films 4 and 5, as it all
started to feel a bit routine. The standard twist ending would come,
just like the first film, but it was either terribly predictable or
didn’t pay off the way it should have. Then part 6 was an improvement,
and surely, no more films could have come after that right? Wrong.
Saw:
The Final Chapter, also known as Saw VII or Saw 3D cashed in on the 3D
gimmick phase of 2009/2010 and the whole story came full circle.
Although I found many of the sequels detestable and routine, I still
rocked up to the cinema every year to watch them. It was fun sitting
with a packed theatre of people going “ooh” and “aah” as each new trap
pushed pain to the limits. The convoluted story of Jigsaw and his
amazing attention to detail, was engrossing, and even after dying in the
third film, he continued to show up in a series of flashbacks in each
sequel. It seemed his legacy was farther reaching that just himself and
one bathroom from the first film. He had accomplices, owned warehouses,
and was able to create any kind of torture tool he wanted to. His
character was a compelling one, and despite his killer instinct, he
actually made some good points about Life and Death, right and wrong,
justice and crime, and so on.
And
the imitations weren’t far behind, with notable franchises like
“Hostel” going down a similar path, and most horror films pushing the
blood, gore, and violence to boiling point. But audiences lapped it up,
and even if the Saw films are less substance and more shock, they still
manage to reel you in with its unique premise and original concept.
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