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Saw (franchise)

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Saw film series
Directed byJames Wan
Darren Lynn Bousman
David Hackl
Kevin Greutert
Written byDarren Lynn Bousman
Marcus Dunstan
Thomas Fenton
Patrick Melton
James Wan
Leigh Whannell
Produced byMark Burg
Daniel Heffner
Gregg Hoffman
Oren Koules
James Wan
Leigh Whannell
StarringTobin Bell
Shawnee Smith
Leigh Whannell
Cary Elwes
Donnie Wahlberg
Dina Meyer
Lyriq Bent
Bahar Soomekh
Angus MacFadyen
Costas Mandylor
Scott Patterson
Michael Emerson
CinematographyDavid Armstrong
Edited byKevin Greutert
Music byCharlie Clouser
Distributed byLions Gate
Release date
2004 — present
Running time
411 min. (total)
CountriesUSA
UK
LanguageEnglish
Budget$38 million (combined total of I-V)
Box officeDomestic (as of June 4, 2008)
$285,763,829
Worldwide
$548,874,868

The Saw series is a horror film franchise created by director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell.

Premise

The series revolves around the Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell), a dying, later dead, man who kidnaps a series of victims and places them in deadly, elaborate traps designed to test them and give them an opportunity to repent their former lifestyles, in which Jigsaw feels that they took their lives for granted. Each concludes with a twist that wraps things up, but also creates more questions to be answered in the following film.

Media

There have been five Saw movies to date, with the latest being released on October 24, 2008.[1] Each film has been released with an R rating by the MPAA, though each was originally rated NC-17, save for Saw V, which got an instant R.[citation needed] Each release made to date was released in theaters in consecutive years on the Friday before Halloween. An uncut version was released on DVD the following October, save for Saw IV.

Films

  • Saw, released on October 29, 2004.
  • Saw II, the first sequel, released on October 28, 2005.
  • Saw III, the second sequel, released on October 27, 2006.
  • Saw IV, the third sequel, released on October 26, 2007.
  • Saw V, the fourth sequel, released on October 24, 2008.

Other media

  • Saw, a 2003 short film that served as a promotional tool in pitching the film's potential to Lions Gate, included on the DVD release of Saw.
  • Saw: Rebirth, a comic book prequel to the original film released to promote Saw II. Its continuity was later contradicted by events in Saw IV.
  • Saw, a video game based on the series, set for an October 2009 release.[2][3][4]

Future development

Tobin Bell has stated that he was signed on for a total of five sequels,[5] and producer Oren Koules confirmed on June 22, 2007 that both Saw V and VI were being written at the time. The authors of the scripts include Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, as well as Thomas Fenton. The name Brennan Nold was mentioned by Lions Gate founder Jon Feltheimer in an interview, however he ended up having no involvement in the film.[6][7] Costas Mandylor has signed up for the next installment in the horror franchise along with main character, Jigsaw, portrayed by Tobin Bell.[8] Saw VI will be directed by Kevin Greutert, the editor on all the Saw films to date.[9]

Prominent characters

Main article: List of Saw characters

List indicator(s)

  • Italics indicate a cameo.
  • A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
Character Film
Saw Saw II Saw III Saw IV Saw V
John Kramer/Jigsaw Tobin Bell
Amanda Young Shawnee Smith
Detective Allison Kerry Dina Meyer
Detective Eric Matthews Donnie Wahlberg
Lieutenant Rigg Lyriq Bent
Adam Faulkner Leigh Whannell Leigh Whannell
Jeff Reinhart Angus Macfadyen
Doctor Lynn Denlon Bahar Soomekh
Doctor Lawrence Gordon Cary Elwes
Mark Hoffman Costas Mandylor
Jill Tuck Betsy Russell

Synopsis

Flashbacks from Saw IV reveal the earliest roots of the series, presenting John Kramer (the future Jigsaw) as a successful civil engineer and devoted husband to his wife Jill, who opened a rehab clinic for drug addicts. Jill lost her baby due to the unwitting actions of a drug addict named Cecil, who fled the scene. John grieved over the loss of his child and distanced himself from his friends and his wife.

John and Jill eventually drifted apart and divorced. After this turn of events, John found himself in a rut that he was too complacent to rise out of. This lifestyle continued for some time, until John became sick and was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Extremely bitter over his squandered life, John began observing the lives of others, and became even more depressed as he saw those around him squandering the gift of life that he had just been denied. After surviving a suicide attempt where he drove his car off a cliff, John became "reborn", and nurtured the idea that the only way for someone to change is for them to change themselves. He designed a test for Cecil and decided to use the rest of his existence to design more of these traps, changing the world "one person at a time", thus assuming the identity of the "Jigsaw Killer", so named because he removed a puzzle piece shaped chunk of flesh from those who do not escape his traps.

Few of John's victims are able to survive his brutal tests, which are often ironically symbolic representations of the problems in the victim's life and require them to undergo severe physical or psychological torture to escape. The first surviving victim, Amanda Young, views Jigsaw as a hero who ultimately changed her life for the better. Amanda, upon Jigsaw's request, agrees to become his protégé.

In the first film, Jigsaw has chained Dr. Lawrence Gordon, who diagnosed him with cancer, in a dilapidated industrial washroom with Adam Faulkner, the photographer who has been tailing the doctor, taking pictures that prove he has been cheating on his wife. Lawrence has instructions to kill Adam in eight hours, or else his wife and daughter will be killed. Meanwhile, detectives David Tapp and Steven Sing, who suspect Lawrence of being the Jigsaw killer, follow a trail of clues from his other traps. Eventually, Lawrence saws his own foot off in order to escape and leaves Adam to die alone. Flashbacks from later films show that Amanda later returned and suffocated Adam as a mercy killing. It would be the first time she deliberately intervened during a test and killed someone.

Saw II begins with the police tracking a severely weakened Jigsaw to his latest lair. However, another test is in place, as he has kidnapped the son of Detective Eric Matthews and trapped him and a group of seven convicts previously framed by Matthews in a house that is slowly being filled with sarin gas, Amanda among them. He will trade Daniel Matthews' life for Detective Matthews' time, conversing with him until the game is concluded. Matthews loses his patience and assaults Jigsaw, forcing him to take him to the house, only to discover that the video feed from inside the house had been pre-recorded, the events actually taking place much earlier; Matthews' son was safe all along. Matthews is knocked unconscious by a masked figure and wakes up imprisoned in the bathroom from the first film, which is part of the foundation of the house. Amanda reveals herself to Eric as Jigsaw's protege before leaving him to die. Matthews manages to escape the bathroom by breaking his foot. He confronts and beats Amanda, demanding to know where his son is. Amanda defeats him and leaves him for dead. An unknown figure later drags Eric to a prison cell, keeping him for a future game.

The events of Saw III and IV occur concurrently. Saw III begins with Jigsaw, weakened and near death, confined to a makeshift hospital bed and his protege Amanda taking over his work, designing traps of her own. However, these traps are inescapable, as Amanda is convinced that Jigsaw's traps have no effect and that people don't change. During this time Detective Allison Kerry is kidnapped and placed in one of Amanda's traps, and despite solving the test she is presented with, she is unable to escape and discovers Amanda to be Jigsaw's apprentice before the trap activates and kills her. Meanwhile, a kidnapped doctor is forced to keep Jigsaw alive while another test is performed on Jeff, a man obsessed with vengeance against the drunk driver who killed his son. Jigsaw, unwilling to allow "a murderer" to continue his legacy, designs a large, complex test for Amanda, which she ultimately fails, resulting in the deaths of both Jigsaw and Amanda. Saw IV, meanwhile, revolves around tests meant for Officer Rigg, which are overseen by Forensic Officer Hoffman, another of Jigsaw's accomplices. Rigg fails his test, resulting in the death of Eric Matthews. Rigg is left in the factory to bleed to death by Hoffman, who later discovers the bodies of Jigsaw and Amanda.

Saw IV ends on a cliffhanger when an autopsy is performed on Jigsaw and a cassette tape coated in wax is found in his stomach. The tape informs Hoffman that he is wrong to think that it is all over just because Jigsaw is dead, and he should not expect to go untested, and that the games have just begun.

Saw V resumes at the end of Saw II/Saw III. Detective Mark Hoffman's roots and ties with John are revealed and it becomes clear Hoffman began as a blackmailed first-time killer who eventually became John's willing apprentice.

Five people, all connected together by different roles in a disastrous fire, are put into four interconnected tests of teamwork. killing off one person in each trap, the two remaining test subjects realize at the final trap that each previous trap was meant to be completed by each of the five people doing a small part, rather than killing one person per trap. With this, the two people work together and barely manage to escape from the series of traps. It is unclear if either lived or bled out. Meanwhile, Peter Strahm pursues Hoffman and survives a test to eventually be killed by two walls moving together due to the inability to follow Hoffman's rules. Hoffman is left safely inside a box of glass shards to continue Jigsaws legacy.

Reception

Although the Saw films have typically performed very poorly with critics, they have consistently remained box office successes. One of the major criticisms of the Saw films is that they represent an unashamed celebration of brutal sadism.[10] For example, the "incessant and unbearable sadism" of the third Saw film led the government of France to bring special regulations against it, permitting only those over the age of eighteen to view the film.[11] More generally, the Saw series has been repeatedly singled out by film and cultural critics as "torture porn."[12][13][14][15]

Box office performance

Film Release date Box office revenue Box office ranking Budget Reference
Worldwide United States United States Outside US Worldwide All time US All time worldwide
Saw October 29, 2004 October 29, 2004 $55,185,045 $47,911,300 $103,096,345 #872 - $1,200,000 [16]
Saw II October 28, 2005 October 28, 2005 $87,039,965 $60,700,000 $147,739,965 #447 - $4,000,000 [17]
Saw III October 27, 2006 October 27, 2006 $80,238,724 $84,635,551 $164,874,275 #514 - $10,000,000 [18]
Saw IV October 26, 2007 October 26, 2007 $63,300,095 $76,052,538 $139,352,633 #736 - $10,000,000 [19]
Saw V October 24, 2008 October 24, 2008 $14,100,000 $10,800,000 [20]
Saw film series $285,763,829 $269,299,389 $555,063,218 $25,200,000

Critical reaction

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic Yahoo! Movies
Overall Cream of the Crop
Saw 46% (153 reviews)[21] 29% (7 reviews)[22] 46% (32 reviews)[23] B+ [24]
Saw II 35% (109 reviews)[25] 23% (6 reviews)[26] 40% (28 reviews)[27] B- [28]
Saw III 27% (79 reviews)[29] 6% (7 reviews)[30] 48% (16 reviews)[31] C+ [32]
Saw IV 19% (63 reviews)[33] 0% (6 reviews)[34] 36% (16 reviews)[35]

Records

  • If Saw V grosses around more than 62.8 million dollars in its theatrical run, not only will it beat the Friday The 13th series, but it will also become the top-grossing horror franchise of all time.[36]
  • With each year bringing a new Saw, Saw IV marked Hollywood record for the most films to be released consecutively - one per year - in a movie franchise.[37] Saw V, with a release date of October 24, 2008, extends that run to five years.
  • Saw III gave Lions Gate its highest-grossing weekend in history, outdoing the previous record set by Saw II of $31.7 million to a bettering $33.6 million.[38]
  • Both Saw II and III broke records when they were released in the holiday period of Halloween. Both movies managed to top the "Halloween Weekend Openers" Saw II premiered with $31.7 mil in 2005, and Saw III, which bowed to a slightly higher $33.6 mil in 2006. Saw IV premiered at $32.1 million, making it number one at the box office on Halloween weekend 2007.[39][40]
  • All the movies in the Saw series have managed to gross over $50 million, putting them in the top 10 all-time highest total gross for Lions Gate.[41]
  • On IGN's list of the top twenty-five movie franchises of all time, the Saw series ranks as number twenty-five. [42]

References

  1. ^ Saw News. The Official Saw Website and Fan Club. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
  2. ^ James and Leigh to consult on Saw videogame
  3. ^ Wingfield, Nick (2007-06-04). "A Start Up's Risky Niche: Movie-Based Videogames". The Wall Street Journal. {{cite news}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  4. ^ "Saw announced". 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  5. ^ "Lionsgate Thinks Ahead... Preps 'Saw 4'". Bloody Disgusting. 2006-10-18.
  6. ^ Scott Collura & Eric Moro (2007-06-22). "Getting Jiggy with Saw IV". IGN. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
  7. ^ Riley, Jenelle (2007-06-10). "Interview with the Makers of Saw". UGO. Retrieved 2007-06-29. {{cite news}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  8. ^ Actor Signs for more Saws
  9. ^ JoBlo.com: Saw VI news
  10. ^ "Torture Porn: The Sadistic Movie Trend (2006)". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  11. ^ "France Bans Sadism for Minors (2006)". Time Out London. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  12. ^ "Torture Porn: The Sadistic Movie Trend (2006)". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  13. ^ "After Virginia Tech, Testing Limits of Movie Violence (2007)". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  14. ^ "Moralistic Torture Porn Ideas for Saw V (2008)". VH1. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  15. ^ "The Right Snuff (2007)". MSN Movies. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  16. ^ "Saw (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  17. ^ "Saw II (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  18. ^ "Saw III (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  19. ^ "Saw IV (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  20. ^ Saw V (2008)
  21. ^ "Saw". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  22. ^ "Saw (Cream of the Crop)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  23. ^ "Saw (2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  24. ^ "Saw - Critics Reviews". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  25. ^ "Saw II". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  26. ^ "Saw II (Cream of the Crop)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  27. ^ "Saw II (2005): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  28. ^ "Saw II - Critics Reviews". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  29. ^ "Saw III". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  30. ^ "Saw III (Cream of the Crop)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  31. ^ "Saw III (2006): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  32. ^ "Saw III - Critics Reviews". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  33. ^ "Saw IV". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  34. ^ "Saw IV (Cream of the Crop)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  35. ^ "Saw IV (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  36. ^ "Saw': The Most Successful Franchise in Horror History?"
  37. ^ One year release patterns set to break records
  38. ^ Saw III breaks previous Saw II record for Lions Gate
  39. ^ Halloween Openers - Saw II and III highest gross
  40. ^ Rich, Joshua (2007-10-28). "'Saw' Conquers". Entertainment Weekly. {{cite news}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  41. ^ All Saw films reach Lions Gate top 5
  42. ^ IGN: Top 25 Movie Franchises of All Time: #25
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