“What the fuck is going on? Where am I?”
Those words, uttered two minutes into 2004’s SAW, express the primal emotions – the hopeless confusion, the awful sense of powerlessness and sheer, panic-stricken terror – that lie at the heart of Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures’ SAW franchise; emotions that are a key to its phenomenal success. The SAW films follow the machinations of Jigsaw, a terminally ill cancer patient with an exacting moral agenda and a genius for gruesome games of survival, “played” with those he believes have ceased to value and appreciate the gift of life. Ratcheting up tension and invention with each successive film, the SAW franchise has touched a chord while jangling millions of nerves worldwide. It has picked up the baton from classic horror series such as HALLOWEEN and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET to become a cultural touchstone, as well as the most profitable horror franchise, both theatrically and on DVD, in movie history. To date, the five SAW titles have taken in over $665 million in worldwide theatrical box office and DVD sales have exceeded 28 million units. The franchise has helped make Lionsgate the leading studio for horror today, with #1 rankings in box office and DVD consumer spending.
SAW made its world premiere at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival as part of the Festival’s popular “Park City at Midnight” program. Festival Director Geoffrey Gilmore, who programs the annual event, recalls that he was impressed by the first-time filmmakers’ command of both form and theme. “SAW grabbed the viewer from the first frame; it was bold, cleverly constructed and flat-out terrifying,” he comments. “But what really set SAW apart was its moral seriousness. This movie didn’t just want to scare you, it wanted to make you think about what you would do to stay alive. In today’s world, that is not a trivial thing to contemplate — either as an individual or as a member of society.”
As the SAW series has continued, the films have tunneled further into Jigsaw’s beliefs and worldview. Says Leigh Whannell, who created the original story with director James Wan and wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for SAW, SAW II and SAW III, “Jigsaw’s cancer has led him to think very hard about what it means to be alive and how close we are to death at any given time. But he’s not someone who stops with a simple ‘carpe diem’ and a trip to Europe. The concept of life’s value becomes a springboard to look at other personal moral choices, like forgiveness versus retribution. Jigsaw keeps digging into these issues, which become grist for his games. And as twisted as the games are, his intention is to help people. Between his philosophical bent and his sick take on altruism, I like to think Jigsaw is somewhat unique in the horror universe.”
The SAW franchise has been part of a wave of horror films that have drawn favorable comparisons to the independent horror cinema of the 1970s, a connection highlighted in a Summer 2007 series at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image, entitled “It’s Only a Movie: Horror Films from the 1970s and Today.” The six-weekend retrospective drew a thru-line between films like Wes Craven’s LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) and Tobe Hooper’s TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974), which shocked audiences of their day with envelope-pushing gore and disturbing explorations of human behavior; and the films of the SAW age, including Darren Lynn Bousman’s SAW II, which contain images and stories that have left today’s viewers just as stunned and terrified — and eager for more — as the moviegoers of the 1970s. “It’s Only a Movie” presented double features that paired films from each era, with SAW II sharing a bill with Stanley Kubrick’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.
Announcing the series in June 2007, the Museum’s Chief Curator, David Schwartz said, “These movies are of considerable aesthetic and cultural interest, clearly reflecting the fears of contemporary lives…. Of course we are aware that these films contain disturbing, often shocking images, but they are powerful precisely because they tap into our deepest anxieties.”
Assistant Curator Livia Bloom also weighed in. “The filmmakers in this series use the horror genre as a commercial framework to make smart, often subversive films. Their work examines deep psychological concerns, and comments on social and political issues of the day.” Bloom noted that in SAW’s “startling scenes of torture,” she found “reflections of a life during a time of war and turmoil.”
The thematic and stylistic consistency of the SAW series owes much to the stewardship and participation of a core team, including SAW originators James Wan and Leigh Whannell; writer/director Darren Lynn Bousman, who joined the team with SAW II; producers Oren Koules, Mark Burg and the late Gregg Hoffman; and executive producers Stacey Testro, Peter Block and Jason Constantine. The key creative team has been with the series from the start, and includes director of photography David A. Armstrong; production designer David Hackl; editor and current director Kevin Greutert; and composer Charlie Clouser, a onetime member of the band Nine Inch Nails.
Another critical member of the SAW team is actor Tobin Bell, who has portrayed Jigsaw throughout the franchise. In his September 7, 2007 essay on contemporary horror movies in the L.A. Weekly, critic Luke Thomson wrote, “Tobin Bell’s performance as Jigsaw is a wonder; he’s the best ‘real-world’ horror antihero since Anthony Hopkins first played Hannibal Lecter.”
As intricate as one of Jigsaw’s games, the SAW films reveal their twisting plots gradually. The series itself resembles an even larger jigsaw puzzle, with each new film linking up in some way with its predecessor. With SAW VI arriving in theatres for Halloween 2009, let’s take a look at the pieces thus far. To paraphrase Jigsaw’s victims: where are we?
SAW
Director: James Wan
Screenwriter: Leigh Whannell
Story by James Wan and Leigh Whannell
SAW’s opening scene immediately plunges the audience into the unknown, along with the two unfortunate men, Adam (Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), who wake to find themselves chained up in a fetid subterranean bathroom. The captives are the most recent targets of a psychopathic genius known as Jigsaw, who constructs elaborate games that force his victims to make impossible choices between life and death. As Adam and Dr. Gordon struggle to unravel the elaborate puzzle of their fate, Detective Tapp (Danny Glover) and his colleague Kerry (Dina Meyer) work furiously to determine Jigsaw’s identity before he can claim yet more victims. But Jigsaw has accomplices – whose willingness is not entirely clear – and his meticulous planning enables him to escape.
SAW opened nationwide on Friday, October 29, 2004. The film stunned industry observers by debuting at #3 with a weekend take of $18.3 million and it remained in the Top 10 for 4 weeks. Produced for just $1.2 million, SAW went on to worldwide box office earnings of over $103 million ($55.2M domestic, $47.7M international). It won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2004 San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival; the Special Jury Prize and Youth Jury Prize (both to James Wan) at the 2005 Gérardmer (France) Film Festival (a/k/a Festival de Gérardmer – Fantastic Arts); and the Pegasus Audience Award (also to James Wan) at the 2005 Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film. SAW was released on DVD/home video on February 15, 2005; it debuted at #1 on the home entertainment charts and sold 2.2 million units in its first week. It was the top-selling horror DVD of 2005.
SAW II
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Screenplay: Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman
SAW II finds Jigsaw playing two games simultaneously: one involving eight victims who wake up in a crumbling house and must solve their mastermind’s riddle before their insides are destroyed by poison; and the other with Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), whose rebellious son is among the eight captives. Also among the abducted is Amanda (Shawnee Smith), who was introduced in SAW as the only victim to have survived Jigsaw’s tests. Desperate to save his son, Detective Matthews resorts, not for the first time, to brutality and trickery. It’s a decision that leads him right into a trap designed by Jigsaw in collaboration with his new apprentice: Amanda.
SAW II opened nationwide on Friday, October 28, 2005. The film’s opening day gross of $12.1 million was Lionsgate’s biggest Friday gross to that point (this would be surpassed by SAW III). It was the weekend’s #1 film with a box office tally of $31.7 million, outperforming SAW’s opening weekend by $12 million, an increase of approximately 60%. The debut marked the widest release and the biggest opening weekend in Lionsgate box office history. SAW II spent 7 weeks in the U.S. Top Ten, and was the top grossing horror film of 2005, with domestic theatrical box office receipts of $87 million. Internationally, SAW II opened at #1 in Australia, Brazil, Germany and Austria; its combined international box office was $65.9 million. The film’s UK opening was Lionsgate’s biggest international opening weekend for a film to date, and the opening weekend box office in Japan more than doubled from the release of SAW. SAW II was released on DVD/home video on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2006; it debuted at #1 on the home entertainment charts, selling 2.8 million units on its first day and 3.3 million units in its first week. The title was the fastest-selling theatrical DVD in company history. It was nominated for the 2006 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA; star Tobin Bell was nominated for the 2006 MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Villain.
SAW III
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Screenplay: Leigh Whannell
Story: Leigh Whannell and James Wan
As SAW III begins, Jigsaw’s health is failing and he is preparing his adoring acolyte, Amanda, to carry on his work. Amanda has designed numerous games herself, building various horrendous contraptions to test the survival instincts of her victims. A very important game involves a brain surgeon, Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), who is forced to operate on the dying man. Meanwhile, in another section of Jigsaw’s lair, a grieving father, Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) is given the barbed opportunity to fulfill his dreams of revenge. Like so many before him, Jeff lives down to Jigsaw’s expectations … with dire consequences for the people he loves.
SAW III opened nationwide on Friday, October 27, 2006. It was the weekend’s #1 film with a box office tally of $33.6 million, the biggest opening in Lionsgate history, surpassing that of SAW II by 5.94%. Its Friday opening of $14.4M marked the highest single-day box office gross to date in company history. The film was the widest release in Lionsgate history, besting its predecessor SAW II. It spent 4 weeks in the U.S. Top Ten, and was the top grossing theatrical horror film of 2006, with domestic theatrical box office receipts of $80.2 million. SAW III’s international box office receipts totaled $82 million, and it marked the first Lionsgate film to open at #1 in Great Britain, where it took in $4.9 million in its first weekend. SAW III was released on DVD/home video on January 23, 2007, debuting at #1 on the charts, selling 2.9 million units in the U.S. its first day. It was the best-selling horror DVD of 2007, having sold 4.1 million units. SAW III was nominated for the 2007 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA; star Tobin Bell was nominated for the 2007 MTV Movie Award for Best Villain; Bell and Shawnee Smith received a joint Spike TV Scream Award nomination for Most Vile Villain.
SAW IV
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Screenplay: Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan
Story by Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton
Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda are dead, and Detective Kerry has been murdered. Two seasoned FBI profilers, Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Agent Perez (Athena Karkanis), arrive at the depleted police precinct and help veteran Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) sift through Jigsaw’s latest grizzly game of victims and piece together the puzzle. But then SWAT Commander Rigg (Lyriq Bent), the last officer untouched by Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), is suddenly abducted. Thrust into the madman’s harrowing game, the officer has but ninety minutes to overcome a series of interconnected traps…or face the deadly consequences.
Rigg’s citywide pursuit leaves a wake of dead bodies, and Detective Hoffman and the FBI uncover long-hidden clues that lead them back to Jigsaw’s ex-wife Jill (Betsy Russell). The genesis of Jigsaw’s evil is unveiled, exposing the puppet master’s true intentions and the sinister plan for his past, present and future victims.
SAW IV opened nationwide on October 26, 2007. It was the weekend’s #1 film with a box office tally of $31.8 million. It has since earned total domestic theatrical box office receipts of $63.3 million; the film’s international box office receipts have totaled over $73.5 million. SAW IV was released on DVD/home video on January 22, 2008, debuting at #2 on the charts and selling 2.6 million units in the U.S. and Canada. It is one of the top two best-selling horror DVDs of 2008. SAW IV was nominated for three 2008 Spike TV Scream Awards (Best Sequel, Best Villain, Most Memorable Mutilation), handed out October 18, 2008.
SAW V
Director: David Hackl
Screenplay: Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan
In the fifth installment of the SAW franchise, Hoffman is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw legacy. But when his secret is threatened, Hoffman must go on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends.
SAW V opened nationwide on October 24, 2008, and was the #2 film that weekend with a box office tally of $30 million. Its domestic theatrical box office receipts totaled over $56.7 million; the film’s international box office receipts have totaled over $55.2 million. SAW V was released on DVD/home video on January 20, 2009, debuting at #2 on the charts; it has sold 1.6 million units to date. The film’s iconic Pendulum trap was nominated in the Most Memorable Mutilation category at Spike TV’s Scream Awards 2009, to be handed out on October 17, 2009.
SAW VI
Director: Kevin Greutert
Screenplay: Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan
Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw’s legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw’s grand scheme is finally understood.
Making his feature film directorial debut is longtime SAW franchise editor Kevin Greutert. Says Greutert, “Coming on board for the first time as director, I really wanted SAW VI to be one man’s journey, and I thought the best approach to that end would be to introduce a new character into the series. I love all of our other characters but we know their stories intimately. Plus it’s hard to surprise the audience at this point. They are a savvy bunch. So what I want is for the film to be an emotional journey that the audience will be compelled to follow independently as a story rather than ‘what’s the next trap going to be?’ And I think when SAW works best: when it’s about a person going through a series of life challenges. That’s absolutely William’s story…with Jigsaw playing a number of mind games. He was saving the best for last.”
