Make Your Choice pt.6

An In depth look at the Saw Series

“The Game has a new design.”

John Kramer (Saw The Final Chapter)

Each of the eight Saw movies can be described by the same basic formula: There is a Game, the police want to catch Jigsaw and there is a twist about who Jigsaw is at the end. That’s it. Every single movie has that structure at it’s base, to the point that they become predictable after Saw 3. I admit, if they aren’t something you’re interested in, they could get boring. But for me, the reasons behind the Jigsaw murders and how the traps are survivable keep me entertained enough to watch all of the movies more than once.

There is also another thing I noticed while watching the Saw movies that really fascinated me. See, when you’re watching the movies, you find yourself hoping Jigsaw escapes capture. You want the people in the traps to get out alive, but ultimately they will probably die or you will never see them again, so you don’t get too attached. The same can be said for the detectives since nearly every person who ever worked on the Jigsaw case dies. As a result, the only characters you see consistently are those such as John Kramer, Amanda Young, Detective Hoffman and Jill Tuck. All of whom could be considered to be on Jigsaw’s “team”. The viewers form a sort of attachment with these characters, because these are the characters they know the most about.

The fact that Jigsaw has a reason behind killing people also aids in the viewer’s opinion of him. For example, in Saw 4, Officer Rigg is forced to put a man (Ivan) into a Jigsaw trap. This man is a serial killer and rapist who enjoys brutally murdering women for his own pleasure. Though this may be a morbid thought, I would prefer to be killed by Jigsaw than Ivan. If Jigsaw was to put me in a trap, I would have the chance to survive and I would know that he does not relish his power over me. On the other hand, Ivan would have kidnapped me and hurt me for entirely selfish reasons and that seems like a much more unpleasant way to die to me. This distinction between senseless murder and … shall we say… murder as an unfortunate side effect …. allows the viewers to sympathize with Jigsaw’s cause and keep them invested in the movies.

While the individual movies focus on the Games and the police, the series as a whole focuses on Jigsaw and his apprentices. The series draws people in by revealing new twists relating to Jigsaw. They reveal new apprentices and different aspects of the timeline in different movies as a way to manipulate how the audience views each movie. They use time jumps to show things that have happened and that will happen in a way that makes it difficult to know where the scene you are watching fits into the timeline. This adds another layer to the movies, forcing you to watch them more than once in order to truly understand what is happening.

I am not sure whether the people who created Saw did so with the intent that the audience would sympathize with Jigsaw and his apprentices, but you do end up rooting for them. It is possible that they didn’t want you to like any of the characters, because honestly the movies are so confusing that that could be the prank they were going for and I wouldn’t be surprised. I mean, were we really supposed to like Hoffman? That guy was obnoxious and he looked exactly like Strahm so I kept getting them confused. I mean look at them, they’re practically identical and believe me when I say they have the same personality (obnoxious loud angry white guy with brown hair).

Overall I believe the Saw movies to be a roller coaster ride that everyone should take part in just once. They are perfect for anyone who wants a horror movie that’s slightly realistic, has some depth, but is also hilariously terrible at the same time. That being said, they probably aren’t for everyone. If you dislike blood, serial killers, pigs, and generally terrible horror films they probably aren’t for you. If you would still like to take part in the excellence that is Saw, you could certainly read the plots for the movies. You could also go to the Saw fan website which allows you to study Saw in as much or as little detail as you please.

“Fear. Suffering. Death. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

John Kramer (Saw The Final Chapter)