Hello Zepp

"Hello Zepp" is the original name of a piece of incidental music that was composed by Charlie Clouser for the first installation in the Saw film series. The piece's appearance in the first film was timed to bring a dramatic tone to the major plot twist in the end of the film, where the primary antagonist named Zep is revealed to actually be a victim of the real antagonist the Jigsaw Killer. As the series continues, the piece is re-used in all the films, often being renamed and remixed to accommodate the changing situations and characters in each film.

It was also used in the trailer for the upcoming Tom Cruise movie, Valkyrie.

In the Saw series

The tune was used in Saw when the identity of the Jigsaw Killer was finally revealed to be John Kramer, the cancer patient, rather than Zepp Hindle, who was participating in the abduction of Dr. Gordon's family as a part of his own test. The tune played when Adam Faulkner began to play Zepp's tape, which the first words of were "Hello, Mr. Hindle. Or as they called you around the hospital: Zepp."

When Darren Lynn Bousman was signed on to direct Saw II, Leigh Whannell, the original screenwriter for Saw who played Adam Faulkner, rewrote Bousman's original script, and included another major plot twist that Bousman and Wan decided "Hello Zepp" should be applied to. The tune was also remixed under the new title of "Don't Forget the Rules". The tune actually appears twice in Saw II. The original version of the tune played when Xavier cornered Amanda Young and Daniel Matthews in the bathroom from the original movie, and began to cut the back of his neck off for part of the combination to the safe upstairs. The remix played when Amanda revealed to Detective Eric Matthews that she had become Jigsaw's apprentice.

In Saw III, it played four times. The first occurrence plays over a flashback sequence which sheds more light on the design of the bathroom trap from the first film. The tune was named "The Shithole Theme" after a line in the original film. The second time it is played is actually the first remix of the piece, "Don't Forget the Rules", and is played as Amanda is wheeling Dr. Lynn into Jigsaw's room in the warehouse. The third occurrence is entitled "Your Test" and is a remix of the "Don't Forget The Rules" theme, playing as Jigsaw explains his test design to Amanda. The last occurrence is at the very end of the film, and plays over the tape that Jigsaw has prepared for Jeff Reinhart. This remix is entitled "The Final Test".

In Saw IV, it played three times. The first was when Hoffman plays the wax tape. The second tune occurs 3 times during the film, entitled "Help Them". It plays the first when Eric Matthews remembers how he survived he and Amanda's attack, the second when Jill has her miscarriage, the final when Strahm confronts Jill with various pictures, yelling "what is with the tricycle?" The final version of Zepp is the twist finale. Entitled "Let Go", it plays to a tape Art played for Rigg, telling him he failed his test. Hoffman then reveals himself to be another Jigsaw apprentice.

In Saw V, This version of Hello Zepp in the twist finale was Entitled "Choice", it plays when Strahm is trapped in the compactor room. It in fact sounds very similar to "Let Go" from Saw IV, featuring the same horn ensemble mixed into the "climax" of the track, as heard in Saw IV. However, the overall sound of the mix is actually more foreboding, implying the impending doom of Strahm, The Remix is 2 minutes long.

The mixes

In the film series, 23 versions or mixes of "Hello Zepp" have been heard so far.

• Saw (2003): "Zepp Overture"

• Saw: "Hello Zepp", "Zepp Overture"

• Saw II: "I`ve Played Before", "Cut Necks", "Conscious", "Hello, Eric"

• Saw III: "Amanda" "Hello Lynn" , "Tin Box", "Surprised", "Shithole Theme" , "Fix Me" ,"Your Test", "Final Test"

• Saw IV: "Just Begun-Mix1", "Just Begun-Mix2", "Just Begun-Mix3", "Just Begun-Mix4", "Help Them-Mix1", "Help Them-Mix2", "Lesson", "Let Go"

• Saw V': "Choice"