It’s rare for a film to have as much instant iconography as Saw. It starts with a Once Upon A Time, (“I want to play a game.”) and ends with a Happily Ever After, (“Live or die, make your choice.”) In between, there are the sterile rooms lit with either bright fluorescents or a sickly green, the voice of Tobin Bell on the recorder, the clown doll on a tricycle, the philosophy that “most people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not you. Not anymore,” and the traps. Crude, ingenious and vicious, the traps are both a riddle and a test of human endurance. Just when you think you understand the game, the rules change into something more sinister, right up to the shock twist ending.
This is the introduction of director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell. It’s based on their short film, which works as an extended preview for this film. The franchise that followed – starting with six sequels released annually – is one of the more interesting Horror rabbit holes to go down. Not a marathon of greatness like Evil Dead, but not a disaster like Texas Chainsaw or Friday the 13th. Saw X is my personal favorite, and if you’re curious about the franchise I recommend the “Saw Super Draft” episode of Screen Drafts Podcast where they discuss the first ten films and get into the weeds on why everyone has slightly different rankings.
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