The Saw series is a horror film franchise created by director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell.
Premise
The series revolves around John Kramer, dubbed by the media the "Jigsaw Killer" (Tobin Bell), a dying 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 ending 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. Each film has been released with an R rating by the MPAA, though each was originally rated NC-17, save for Saw V, which received an instant R. Each release made to date was released in theaters in consecutive years on the Friday before Halloween. An uncut version of each installment was subsequently released on DVD the following October before the next came out, save for Saw IV.
Films
- Saw, released on October 29, 2004. - Saw II, released on October 28, 2005. - Saw III, released on October 27, 2006. - Saw IV, released on October 26, 2007. - Saw V, 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 canonization was later contradicted by events in Saw IV. - Saw, a video game based on the first film in the series, scheduled for an October 2009 release.
Future development
Tobin Bell has stated that he was signed on for a total of five sequels, and producer Oren Koules confirmed on June 22, 2007 that VI was being written at the time. The authors of the scripts include Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, as well as Thomas Fenton. Costas Mandylor has signed up for the next installment in the horror franchise along with main character, Jigsaw, portrayed by Tobin Bell. Saw VI will be directed by Kevin Greutert, the editor on all the Saw films to date.
Synopsis
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
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, trapped by his own complacency. 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. Although, he himself states that this name was given to him by the media, and that the cut piece of flesh was meant to represent that these victims were each missing something, which was their will to live.
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.
Flashbacks from Saw V depict Hoffman's roots with John, which occurred before the first film. It all starts with a man named Seth in a pendulum trap. He is told that he must crush his hands, which he used to murder, to stop a pendulum from slicing him in half. He crushes his hands, but is sliced anyway. Before he dies, he sees an eye watching him from the wall. Later in Saw V it is revealed that this trap occurred before the first movie, and the observer was Hoffman, who wanted revenge on Seth for murdering his sister.
Hoffman is later kidnapped by John. When he wakes up he is in a chair with a shotgun on a hair trigger pointed at his chin, rigged to go off if he tries to break out of the chair. John tells him that he is disgusted by Hoffman's fake Jigsaw trap, and that there was a better way. He introduces Hoffman to his style of "rehabilitation".
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 try getting help, but due to the hemorragy is almost certain he died on his way out and left 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 and Hoffman have 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 because the games have just begun.
The events of Saw V take place before the autopsy of Jigsaw (Saw IV) and after Jigsaw was killed in 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.
Meanwhile, in one of Hoffman's first solo tests, 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 work together and barely manage to escape from the series of traps. It is unclear if either survived. Meanwhile, Hoffman has set up Peter Strahm to appear as Jigsaw's accomplice, while Peter Strahm pursues Hoffman and survives his own test. Though he survives, Peter is eventually killed by two converging walls due to the inability to follow Hoffman's rules. Hoffman is left safely inside a box of glass shards.
Saw
Saw is the first installment of the Saw horror film series. Directed by James Wan and written by Wan and Leigh Whannell, Saw was filmed during only eighteen days of production. It was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2004 and saw international release later that year on October 29. Saw is essentially an expansion of Wan and Whannel's 2003 short film of the same name.
The film's story revolves around two men who are kidnapped and trapped locked in an industrial bathroom with a dead body between them and given instructions related to escaping. Meanwhile, police detectives investigate and attempt to apprehend the criminal responsible, the "Jigsaw Killer".
Originally rated NC-17 for strong, graphic violence, the film was slightly edited to achieve an R rating. The unrated version is available as the Saw: Uncut Edition, a DVD special edition that was released around the same time that Saw II was released theatrically.
Plot
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
In a disused industrial bathroom, photographer Adam Faulkner (Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) are chained by their ankles to pipes at opposite corners. Between them is a corpse holding a revolver and a micro cassette recorder. Lawrence and Adam each discover tapes in their pockets labeled "Play Me." From the tape, Adam is told that he must escape the bathroom, while Lawrence is told that he must kill Adam before six o'clock, or else his wife and daughter will be killed and he will be left to die where he sits. Hacksaws are soon discovered; neither is sufficiently sharp to cut through their chains, and Adam breaks his and throws it away in agitated frustration. Lawrence realizes that the saws are not meant for the chains, but instead for their feet.
Lawrence determines that their captor is the Jigsaw Killer, so named due to his practice of cutting pieces of skin in the shape of a jigsaw puzzle piece from his victims, though Lawrence comments that the name is a misnomer, as he never directly murders anyone and his intentions are for his victims to survive with a better appreciation of life. A series of flashbacks of his previous victims is presented, including his only known survivor up to that point, a highly traumatized heroin addict named Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith). She believes that her experience in the test, in which she risked having her jaws ripped apart, has made her a better person in the end.
As Adam and Lawrence search for alternative escape routes, Zep Hindle (Michael Emerson) breaks into the Gordon house and captures Lawrence's wife, Alison (Monica Potter), and daughter, Diana (Makenzie Vega). A flashback reveals that Zep is an orderly at Lawrence's hospital who was present when he was talking with some students about an elderly patient, John Kramer, who had terminal brain cancer. While psychologically toying with Alison and Diana, Zep monitors Adam and Lawrence through video surveillance.
Simultaneously, the house is being observed by Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover). Tapp grew unhealthily obsessed with the Jigsaw case after hearing Amanda's testimony. He and his partner, Steven Sing (Ken Leung), illegally broke into a warehouse that turned out to be one of Jigsaw's lairs. In the lair, they saved a man from being killed by drills aimed at his head. Before they could secure Jigsaw's arrest, however, Sing was killed by a shotgun booby trap, and Jigsaw escaped after slashing Tapp's throat. Tapp was later dismissed from the police force and is now stalking Lawrence, convinced from planted evidence that he is the Jigsaw Killer.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Lawrence finds a cell phone that can only receive calls. He and Adam try to stage Adam's death, but a strong electric shock through the latter's ankle chain foils this plan. Following these events, Adam and Lawrence recall their abductions; they were both ambushed and knocked unconscious by a stranger wearing a gruesome pig mask. Lawrence receives a call from Alison, who warns him that Adam knows more than he is telling. Adam explains that he had been paid by Tapp to trail and photograph Lawrence and shows him a pile of pictures that he found with the hacksaws. Lawrence begins to berate Adam, but grows defensive when Adam shows Lawrence evidence that he has been cheating on his wife. The two begin arguing, but are distracted when Adam notices a picture of Zep in Lawrence's house. They deduce that Zep is their abductor. Just as this realization is made, however, Adam points out that it is six o'clock, the deadline.
Alison frees herself from Zep, and a struggle ensues. Gunshots are fired, attracting the attention of Tapp, who distracts Zep long enough for Alison and her daughter to flee. Zep shoots Tapp fatally and races to the sewers, intent on killing Lawrence, who is only aware of the sounds of gunfire and screaming. Desperate to help his family and unable to reach the phone after throwing it aside, he saws off his foot and shoots Adam with the corpse's revolver, using a bullet that had been enclosed with the cellphone. After shooting Adam, Lawrence goes into tears, but the door to the bathroom opens, revealing to be Zep. Lawrence begins to threaten Zep saying, "You f***ing *******! I'll f***ing kill you!!!" And Lawrence grabs the gun he used to shoot Adam, but with no bullets. Zep verifies that Adam is dead, but still points the gun at Lawrence. Asked "Why?", he states "It's the rules", since Lawrence had been too late. Before Zep can kill him, however, Adam springs from the floor, as his wound was in fact nonfatal, and beats Zep to death with a toilet tank cover. Lawrence slowly crawls away, promising to get help and return for Adam.
Adam searches Zep's body for a key, but finds another microcassette player instead. As the series theme, "Hello Zepp", begins to play, Adam learns that Zep was only a pawn in Jigsaw's game, following rules laid down for him in order to get the antidote for a slow poison he had been given. With the audience springing back to the 'who is the killer?' theme again, Adam looks at the corpse, seeing it getting up to his feet and tearing off what believes to be latex on his head, giving Adam a big shock. The man tells Adam (in the same voice Jigsaw says) that the key to his chain is in the bathtub, revealing that the little blue light in the bathtub in the opening of the film was the key and going down the drain. Adam and the audience quickly realizes that the corpse is the Jigsaw Killer, his name is John, and has an inoperable frontal lobe tumor. And realizing that John has been listening to Lawrence and Adam's conversations in the bathroom for 8 full hours. Adam reaches for Zep's handgun, but John stuns him with another electrical shock from his hidden remote control. John flicks off the lights and shouts "Game Over" before slamming the door and sealing Adam in the bathroom. The movie then fades out to the sounds of Adam's screams.
Cast
Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon Leigh Whannell as Adam Faulkner Stanheight Danny Glover as Detective David Tapp Monica Potter as Alison Gordon Michael Emerson as Zep Hindle Ken Leung as Detective Steven Sing Makenzie Vega as Diana Gordon Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw Killer Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young Dina Meyer as Detective Allison Kerry Alexandra Bokyun Chun as Carla Mike Butters as Paul Stallberg Paul Gutrecht as Mark Rodriguez Ned Bellamy as Jeff Ridenbour Oren Koules as Unnamed man
Saw Trailer
Saw II
Saw II is a 2005 horror film, and the sequel to the 2004 Saw. The film (apart from external shots) was filmed in one building over the span of 25 days. It was released in most parts of the world on October 28, 2005, but not released in Australia until December 1, 2005. Darren Lynn Bousman took over directing duties, and also co-wrote the story's script with Leigh Whannell, the original film's co-writer.
The film features the Jigsaw Killer finally being apprehended, but trapping the arresting officer in one of his own games while showing another "game" of eight people in progress at the same time. It also explores the character's back story, explaining why he became "Jigsaw."
Saw II film is currently #16 on Bravo's Even Scarier Movie Moments. Following the film's opening weekend gross of $31.5 million, Lions Gate Films commissioned Saw III, released on October 27, 2006
Plot
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
The film opens with Michael, a police informant, finding himself ensnared in a deadly trap created by the Jigsaw Killer. A videotaped message informs him that a Venus flytrap-like helmet full of spikes has been locked around his neck and will close on his head unless he finds the key in time. Michael realizes, through hints left by Jigsaw, that the key has been implanted behind his right eye. He finds a scalpel nearby, but cannot bring himself to cut out his own eye; when the timer runs out, the device slams shut, killing him instantly.
After an argument with his rebellious teenage son Daniel (Erik Knudsen), Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is called to the scene of Michael's death. Following clues that have been specifically left for him, he is able to pinpoint Jigsaw's lair in an abandoned steel factory. The police raid the building and find Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) himself present, though considerably weakened by cancer. Nearby is a set of computer monitors that show eight people trapped in a crumbling house filled with deadly nerve gas, among them Daniel and Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Jigsaw's only known survivor. He reveals that the victims have 2 hours before dying from the nerve agent, but promises that Matthews will see his son in a "safe, secure state" if he can simply talk with the dying man for a while.
The story now intercuts between Jigsaw's lair as Matthews talks with him in an attempt to buy time while the video signal is traced, and the captives in the house, who are trying to secure antidotes to the nerve gas they are breathing. One of them, Gus (Tony Nappo), is killed by a booby-trapped door shortly after they begin their search. Obi (Tim Burd), an accessory to the other victims' kidnappings, is burned alive while attempting to retrieve two antidotes in a furnace. The group later finds a pit filled with thousands of used and bloody hypodermic syringes, with a key to an antidote hidden within. Xavier, the intended victim, throws Amanda into the pit rather than search for the key himself. Amanda retrieves the key, but Xavier fumbles with it and fails to unlock the door to the antidote before its timer runs out.
Meanwhile, Jigsaw explains his evolution into a killer to Matthews and reveals to him that the seven adults trapped in the house are criminals that Matthews has framed. Should Daniel's identity be discovered, he will be in great danger. Matthews, growing impatient with Jigsaw's philosophical ramblings, trashes several models and plans but fails to move Jigsaw.
Xavier, having abandoned the others, realizes that one number of the combination to the safe has been written on the back of each of the victims' necks. After killing Jonas in a fight, he begins stalking the remaining four, who have been made aware that Daniel is the son of the adults' arresting officer. Laura soon dies from gas exposure, and Addison's arms become trapped in a glass box containing razors as she tries to retrieve an antidote for herself.
Matthews, meanwhile, loses control and violently assaults Jigsaw, eventually forcing him to take him to the house at gunpoint. As they depart, the tech team pinpoints the signal, prompting the others to travel to its origin. In the house, Xavier pursues Amanda and Daniel through a hidden basement tunnel, which leads to the bathroom of the first film (including the bodies of Adam Faulkner and Zep Hindle, and the severed foot of Dr. Lawrence Gordon, all now badly decomposed), where Daniel then collapses. Amanda remarks that Xavier has no way of learning his own number, whereupon he slices off a piece of skin from the back of his neck to read it. After he threatens Amanda, Daniel, who has only feigned collapse, fatally slashes Xavier's throat with one of the hacksaws from the first movie.
The SWAT team arrives at the location of the video signal, but it is not the same house that has been shown on the monitors in Jigsaw's lair; these images were previously recorded and are being played back from videotape. Reaching the correct house, Matthews enters the bathroom (now empty except for the bodies) and is injected in the leg with a sedative by an unknown assailant. At the abandoned lair, a timer expires and a safe opens, revealing a hyperventilating Daniel inside wearing an oxygen mask.
Matthews awakens to find himself chained by the ankle to the bathroom's pipework. An audio tape lying next to him reveals that Amanda has put him there. In a montage of flashbacks, she is shown to have become Jigsaw's protégé. Amanda appears in the door and says "Game over," before closing the bathroom door as Matthews screams threats and abuse. Outside the house, a badly beaten Jigsaw slowly forms a smile.
Cast
Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Eric Matthews Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw Erik Knudsen as Daniel Matthews Emmanuelle Vaugier as Addison Corday Franky G as Xavier Chavez Dina Meyer as Detective Allison Kerry Beverley Mitchell as Laura Hunter Glenn Plummer as Jonas Seager Lyriq Bent as Sergeant Daniel Rigg Timothy Burd as Obi Gee Tony Nappo as Gus Colrand Noam Jenkins as Michael Marks
Saw II Trailer
Saw III
Saw III is the third installment in the Saw series. The film is a joint effort of both Saw's writers/directors, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, and Saw II's writer/director, Darren Lynn Bousman.
The film focuses on the resurfaced Jigsaw Killer, the antagonist of the previous films, who works with his unstable apprentice Amanda to finish his final tests before he dies. The film contains additional back-story about the two antagonists.
The film has been dedicated to Gregg Hoffman, producer of the first two movies. Hoffman died on December 4, 2005, shortly after the official Lions Gate Entertainment announcement of Saw III.
Plot
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
This film begins immediately after the end of Saw II, with Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) escaping the bathroom he was left in by breaking his foot with a toilet lid to slip out of his ankle chain (although his first thought was to amputate it after seeing the severed foot of Dr. Lawrence Gordon). Later flashbacks depict his vicious fight with Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), who eventually overcomes him and leaves him for dead. Before she leaves, Matthews shouts several angry parting comments, calling Amanda a "junkie b****" and telling her she is nothing compared to Jigsaw, causing her evident distress. What she does next is not revealed at this time. Other flashbacks show that Amanda had been working with John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell), prior to the events of the second film, and had been the one who actually carried out the abduction of Adam under Jigsaw's orders. After the events of the first film, it is revealed, she had suffocated Adam in a mercy killing.
The film's present is set six months after Matthews' capture; he has been missing this entire time. Detective Allison Kerry (Dina Meyer), Lieutenant Rigg (Lyriq Bent) and Forensic Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) are investigating the corpse of Jigsaw's latest victim Troy (J. Larose), who had to flee from a bomb by ripping out chains attached to his body. They are intrigued by the fact that his trap was inescapable (a break in Jigsaw's modus operandi). When Kerry returns home, she is kidnapped and awakens in a Jigsaw trap. She is suspended in the air and her ribs are pinned to a device that unlocks with a key dropped in a beaker of acid. When the escape method given fails and Amanda arrives, Kerry realizes this trap is also inescapable and her rib cage is fatally torn apart.
A dying Jigsaw orders the abduction of two more victims: a skilled but depressed doctor named Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) and Jeff Reinhart (Angus Macfadyen), a father obsessed with revenge against the driver who killed his son. A collar holding five loaded shotgun shell mounts, wirelessly connected to Jigsaw's heart monitor, is placed around Lynn’s neck by Amanda. The game is simple: keep John alive until Jeff completes his tests. If Jigsaw dies or if she tries to leave the area, a flatline indicator on the monitor will cause the collar device to fire.
Meanwhile, Jeff is led through an abandoned meatpacking plant where he is given the choice of rescuing three prime targets of revenge from a variety of lethal traps. Jeff's reluctant attempts are mostly unsuccessful. He fails to rescue the bystander Danica Scott who did nothing to help him after his son was hit, and she freezes to death. Although he is able to save the lenient Judge Halden (Barry Flatman) from drowning in a pit being filled with liquified pig corpses, the latter is accidentally shot as Jeff tries and fails to save his son's killer, Timothy Young (Mpho Koaho), from a device that slowly twists the victim's limbs and head until the bones shatter. Timothy Young dies when his neck is broken by the device. With his tests nonetheless complete, Jeff leaves to find Jigsaw.
Lynn succeeds in keeping John alive, but during the course of an improvised brain surgery, he semi-consciously professes his love for a woman named Jill during a dream. Amanda believes his words are directed toward Lynn. After the operation, Lynn and John talk privately and it is revealed that Lynn's ordeal has given her a new appreciation of her life and family.
Now disillusioned with John's attempts to change his victims' perspective, Amanda admits to him that she set up the inescapable traps for Troy and Kerry. She refuses to release Lynn, despite John's pleading, and instead shoots her in the back. Lynn falls into Jeff's arms as he enters the room, whereupon he shoots and fatally wounds Amanda using a gun he has picked up in the warehouse. As Amanda bleeds to death, John tells her that she has failed the test he set up for her: "Your will is being tested--your will to keep someone alive." These words, spoken as if meant for Lynn, were instead directed toward Amanda, who had not known until this point that Jeff and Lynn were married.
John now offers Jeff the chance to forgive him or take revenge, since he is responsible for the torment he caused Jeff and his wife throughout this game. If Jeff forgives him, John will call an ambulance to save Lynn. As Jeff says, "I forgive you," he picks up a circular saw and slashes John's throat, causing Lynn's collar to detonate and kill her as the door to the room closes and locks. A micro-cassette recorder in John's hand delivers the message that he himself was the final test of forgiveness; by killing him, Jeff has failed. In addition, John is the only person who knows where Jeff's daughter Corbett is hidden, and Jeff will have to play another game in order to find her before her air supply runs out. He is left screaming in despair as a montage of all the traps in the film series to date flashes by. The movie ends with a shot of John's corpse lying on the bed and a bloody stump in the place of Lynn's head.
Cast
Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young Angus Macfadyen as Jeff Reinhart Bahar Soomekh as Lynn Denlon Dina Meyer as Detective Allison Kerry Mpho Koaho as Timothy Young Barry Flatman as Judge Halden Lyriq Bent as Lieutenant Rigg J. Larose as Troy Debra Lynne McCabe as Danica Scott Costas Mandylor as Detective Hoffman Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck Stefan Georgiou as Dylan Niamh Wilson as Corbett Alan Van Sprang as Chris Kim Roberts as Nurse Deborah Leigh Whannell as Adam Faulkner (flashback) Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Eric Matthews Tim Burd as Obi Gee (flashback) Franky G as Xavier Chavez (dead) Oren Koules as Unnamed man (flashback)
Saw III Trailer
Saw IV
Saw IV is the fourth installment in the Saw series. The film was initially released on October 25, 2007, and in the United States on October 26, 2007. The film's North American release date follows the series' tradition that the films be released the Friday before or on Halloween of each year.
This installment continues the story of the Jigsaw Killer, and his obsession with teaching people the value of their own lives. Although Jigsaw died in the last installment (Saw III), this film focuses on his ability to manipulate people into continuing his work.
Saw IV was directed by Saw II and Saw III director Darren Lynn Bousman alongside with co-creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell returning as executive producers. Unlike the previous three films, Saw IV was not written by either Wan or Whannell.
Plot
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
At the autopsy of the Jigsaw Killer, a wax-coated microcassette is found in his stomach. Detective Hoffman is called in to listen to the tape, which promises that "the games have just begun" and that "perhaps you [Hoffman] will succeed where others have failed" in his test as he is "the last man standing."
The scene shifts to a mausoleum, where Trevor and Art are chained to a large device. Trevor's eyelids have been sewn together, as has Art's mouth, making communication between them impossible. When the device begins pulling them together, they panic, and Art kills Trevor to retrieve a key from the latter's collar. In a later flashback, Art finds two items waiting for him elsewhere in the mausoleum: a recorded message from Jigsaw and an envelope containing instructions.
It has been six months since the disappearance of Detective Eric Matthews, and four days since Detective Allison Kerry vanished, as noted by Hoffman. The police discover Kerry's corpse, still hanging in the harness of the inescapable trap that killed her in Saw III. After cautioning Lieutenant Rigg for barging through an unsecured door, Hoffman is introduced to FBI Agents Strahm and Perez, who deduce that Amanda Young, Jigsaw's apprentice, would need assistance with Kerry's death, indicating that there is another accomplice to the murder.
That evening, Rigg is attacked in his home and Hoffman disappears. When Rigg comes to, a videotape informs him that Matthews is in fact still alive, with ninety minutes to save himself, and that Hoffman's survival is at stake as well. He then undergoes his first test, in which he finds a woman named Brenda. Jigsaw advises Rigg to walk away--to "see what I see," as written on the wall--but Rigg's natural instinct to help those in need clouds his judgment. When Rigg removes the pig mask covering Brenda's face, he triggers a trap device that begins to slowly tear her scalp from her head. He succeeds in freeing her, but to his surprise, she comes at him with a knife; Brenda has been told that Rigg is there to arrest her and the only way to stop it is to kill him. He throws her into a mirror and leaves to find the site of his next test. Sometime later, Strahm, Perez, and the police enter the apartment and find Brenda dead.
Rigg arrives at a motel, where he is instructed to "feel what I feel," painted on the door of one room. He must abduct the manager, Ivan, revealed to be a serial rapist. Angered by seeing videos and photos of Ivan's exploits, Rigg forces Ivan into a prearranged trap, which gives him the option between having his eyes gouged out or being savagely dismembered. Rigg hands him two controllers that will drive blades into his eyes, blinding him and saving his life. When Ivan runs out of time after blinding only one eye, his limbs are ripped off his body and thrown across the room.
Rigg's next test, to "save as I save," occurs in a school where Rigg once attacked a man named Rex, whom he suspected of abusing his wife Morgan and daughter Jane. Hoffman had intervened to stave off disciplinary action against Rigg at that time. In one of the classrooms, Rigg discovers that same husband and wife impaled together back to back with several long metal rods. The rods are placed such that they pass through vital circulatory points of his body, but non-vital points of hers. If she has the courage to remove the rods, her abusive husband will bleed to death but she will survive. By the time Rigg finds the couple, she has pulled out all but one rod and gone into shock; she suddenly wakes up and Rigg tells her that she has to save herself. He hands her the key to the harness she and her husband are strapped into and sets off a fire alarm to alert emergency services to her position, then leaves.
Strahm and Perez arrive on the scene, having previously realized that they have both become targets in this latest series of games. They determine that all of the victims were defended by Art, who is also the lawyer of Jill Tuck, John Kramer's ex-wife. A gun used to insert the rods into Rex and Morgan fires a spear through a photographer and kills her on the scene. Strahm and Perez find Billy, Jigsaw's puppet, in the office; Perez is told via tape recorder that Strahm will "soon take the life of an innocent man" and that her "next step is critical." Ignoring the warning, she takes a closer look at Billy, whose face suddenly explodes and showers her with shrapnel; she is rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Furious, Strahm interrogates Jill, who recounts Jigsaw's backstory. She was once pregnant with a boy to be named Gideon (after John's first construction project), but the baby was lost when Cecil robbed the clinic at which she was employed and caused her to suffer a miscarriage. She and her husband grew apart and divorced. After learning that he had cancer and only a short while to live, John kidnapped Cecil and placed him in a trap, the first trap he ever built. Cecil had to push his face against several knives in order to release his wrists, which were slit due to razor blades in the arms of the chair. He completed the task and furiously lunges at John, who was standing in front of him watching. Cecil lunged at him but fell into a mesh of barbed wire as John moved aside at the last second. Strahm makes connections from Jill's story to the Gideon Meat Factory, the scene of Rigg's final test.
Strahm arrives but finds himself lost, accidentally trailing Jeff Reinhart - making the viewers believe Jeff is looking for his daughter. In reality, however, the events of this film and Saw III are now unfolding at the same time. Rigg, meanwhile, approaches his final test. In the next room are Art, Matthews, and Hoffman; Matthews stands on an ice block with a chain-noose cinched around his neck, while Hoffman is strapped into a chair with an electrode by his feet. They are at opposite ends of a balanced seesaw, but if Matthews slips off the ice or too much of it melts, he will be hanged and the weight shift will dump the runoff water onto Hoffman's end, electrocuting him. Art is watching over them both, with a device strapped to his back that holds a set of pincers against his neck, ready to cut through his spine. Once the ninety-minute timer for Rigg's tests runs out, he can push a button to release himself and the others. If the door is opened before time runs out, Matthews' head will be crushed between two ice blocks and Hoffman will die with him.
Seeing an approaching figure (Rigg) through the door's grimy window, Matthews attempts to warn him off without success, then shoots out through the door at him with a gun supplied by Art. The shot hits Rigg in the stomach, but he still crashes through the door with one second left on the clock, releasing the overhead ice blocks and killing Matthews. Rigg shoots and kills Art, mistaking the tape recorder in Art's hand for a gun, and plays the tape only to discover that he has failed his final test by not learning that he could not save everyone by himself. Had he allowed the time to expire and not barged through the door (something Hoffman had earlier warned him against), he would have passed and the three captives would have all survived. Hoffman releases himself from his chair unharmed, revealing himself to be another apprentice of Jigsaw, and leaves Rigg bleeding on the floor. Elsewhere in the factory, Strahm faces off with Jeff in the makeshift sickroom from Saw III. Jeff waves a gun at Strahm, believing him to be involved in the abduction of his daughter; Strahm kills Jeff in self-defense. Before he can react further, Hoffman locks him in the room with the corpses of Jigsaw, Amanda, Jeff, and Lynn Denlon.
The end of the opening autopsy scene is shown again, indicating that it took place after the events of the film.
Cast
Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw Lyriq Bent as Lieutenant Rigg Costas Mandylor as Detective Hoffman Scott Patterson as Agent Peter Strahm Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck Athena Karkanis as Agent Lindsey Perez Justin Louis as Art Blank Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Eric Matthews Billy Otis as Cecil Adams Janet Land as Morgan Ron Lea as Rex Sarain Boylan as Brenda Marty Adams as Ivan Landsness Kevin Rushton as Trevor Emmanuelle Vaugier as Addison Corday Tony Nappo as Gus Colrand Ingrid Hart as Tracy Rigg Kim Roberts as Nurse Deborah Angus Macfadyen as Jeff Reinhart Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young Dina Meyer as Detective Allison Kerry Bahar Soomekh as Lynn Denlon James Van Patten as Dr. Hefner Mike Realba as Detective Fisk Joanne Boland as Crime Scene Photographer Alison Luther as Jane Noam Jenkins as Michael Marks J. Larose as Troy Mike Butters as Paul Leahy Oren Koules as Unnamed man
Saw IV Trailer
Saw V
Saw V is the fifth installment in the Saw film series. The film was released on October 23, 2008 in Australia, and October 24 in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. Saw V was directed by David Hackl, unlike the previous three installments which were directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. Hackl was the production designer of Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV, and second-unit director for Saw III and Saw IV.
Plot
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
A man named Seth (Joris Jarsky) is in a trap which has a pendulum blade suspended above his body. Seth was a murderer released early from a life sentence on a technicality. He is told to push buttons inside of two devices, his hands will be crushed but the pendulum will be stopped. Reluctantly he does push the buttons but the pendulum descends upon him regardless and cuts him in two, meaning the trap was inescapable, and therefore not one that had been set by Jigsaw (Tobin Bell).
In a scene from the end of Saw IV Agent Strahm (Scott Paterson) enters the room where Jigsaw died and shoots Jeff Reinhart (Angus Macfadyen) dead in self-defence. Seconds later, someone locks the door on Strahm. He exits through a secret door, and finds a recorder. The recording warns him he can find salvation or die in the room, and urges him to make the right choice. He disregards it and is attacked by a figure in a pig mask. He wakes up in one of Jigsaw's traps and finds his head in a sealed box, which quickly starts to fill with water. Before he runs out of air, he performs a tracheotomy with the tube of a ballpoint pen. The police make it to the Gideon warehouse, and Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) emerges carrying Corbett Reinhart (Niamh Wilson), claiming that he saved her. Strahm is carried out on a stretcher alive but badly injured. The Chief of Police announces that the Jigsaw murders are over. Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell) is given a videotape and box from John's lawyer. The contents of the box, says John, are of grave importance to her. After looking in the box, Jill leaves without telling John's lawyer what's inside.
It is revealed that Agent Perez (Athena Karkanis) died from the wounds she sustained from a Jigsaw trap in Saw IV, and Strahm tells Hoffman that her last words were his name. Strahm returns to his office and begins to investigate all of the victims linked to Jigsaw, discovering that Seth murdered Hoffman's sister and theorizes that the trap for Seth was made by Hoffman. Strahm guesses that Jigsaw used this fact to blackmail Hoffman into helping him, and in flashback we see Hoffman help Jigsaw set up Paul Stallberg (Mike Butters) in the razor wire trap in Saw, set up the gas house in Saw II, and talk with Jigsaw before leaving him with Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) and Amanda (Shawnee Smith) in Saw III.
Five people wake up in a sewer, in a trap connecting all five to guillotine blades, the keys to free them from the blades are in glass boxes at the other end of the room. Mallick (Greg Bryk) gets anxious and runs ahead, starting the timer. Charles (Carlo Rota) pulls the cord causing Mallick to fall to the ground. One-by-one go toward the glass box to get their key. Mallick break the glass with force causin his key to fall on the ground. Mallick pulls the cable hard causing Ashley's (Laura Gordon) cable to pull her back. The timer runs out and Ashley is beheaded.
Charles, Mallick, Luba (Meagan Good) and Brit (Julie Benz) go through to the next room, which bombs are in the corners and they need to smash jars and find keys to enter bomb shelters before a bomb goes off in the sewer. Charles smashes all the jars after assaulting Mallick, he is about to enter his shelter when Luba hits him with a pole. The trio enter the shelters and Charles is blown up. Luba, Mallick, and Brit go through to the next room, they have to find a way to complete a circuit to open the door to the next test, but the cords they need to connect to a bath full of water are not long enough. Brit stabs Luba, then Mallick and Brit connect the wires and use her body to complete the circuit. The door opens to their final test.
For the final test they have to fill a beaker with ten pints of blood to open the final door. The traps have circular saws in and with no other options, Brit and Mallick begin sawing their hands in an attempt to fill the beaker with their blood. While this is happening Hoffman plants Strahm's cell phone at the house where the game is being held to frame him as Jigsaw's accomplice. As Brit and Mallick fill the beaker, Stahm's boss Erickson (Mark Rolston) makes it to the scene. Both pass out from blood loss as Erickson calls for backup.
FBI agent Erickson, having found the Jigsaw files Strahm took and his cell phone, issues an APB on Strahm, assuming him to be the other Jigsaw accomplice. Strahm follows Hoffman to the location of the current game, and enters a room with a transparent box filled with broken glass and a recording. It urges Strahm to have trust and to get into the box. He'll be hurt, but still has a chance at life. Hoffman walks into the room and Strahm ambushes him and pushes him into the glass box. The walls begins to close in on the room as the glass box lowers into the floor, safe from the enclosing walls. Strahm is slowly crushed by the walls while Hoffman watches from down below.
Cast
Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw Julie Benz as Brit Costas Mandylor as Detective Lieutenant Mark Hoffman Scott Patterson as Agent Peter Strahm Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck Mark Rolston as Dan Erickson Carlo Rota as Charles Greg Bryk as Mallick Laura Gordon as Ashley Joris Jarsky as Seth Baxter Mike Butters as Paul Leahy Meagan Good as Luba Mike Realba as Detective Fisk Lyriq Bent as Lieutenant Daniel Rigg Athena Karkanis as Agent Lindsey Perez Justin Louis as Art Blank Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Eric Matthews Danny Glover as Detective David Tapp Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young Bahar Soomekh as Lynn Denlon Niamh Wilson as Corbett Reinhart Angus Macfadyen as Jeff Reinhart Tony Nappo as Gus Colrand Tim Burd as Obi Gee Sarah Power as Angelina Hoffman
Rumor Control: Blood WILL Flow in Lionsgate's 'Saw VI'
While other websites are making assumptions (and you know what that makes...) based on the Lionsgate firings, we can confirm that Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures are currently working on the screenplay with Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton for Saw VI with plans to shoot the film for its regular October release in 2009. Anyone who thinks Lionsgate would abandon the one successful franchise that they own is out of their minds. SAW V is already close to making the same amount theatrically as the fourth, according to the Box Office Mojo. Unless things change, the plan is to have SAW VI directed by Kevin Greutert.
This post has been edited by Calvin871989: Feb 9 2010, 08:08 PM
I might have been disappointed with Lionsgate's SAW V, but it was bound to happen eventually. Hopefully some lessons were learned and the next will be better. There's not a lot of time left to plan as an official date has been announced for SAW VI, which will bring the latest Jigsaw game to the big screen on October 23, 2009. Our plea... Bring Shawnee Smith back as Amanda, she's the only name from the first SAW I'd like to see return. What do you guys think?
'Saw' Video Game in Peril? Game Over for Brash Entertainment?
Several sources have confirmed to Variety that Brash Entertainment is ceasing operations as of tomorrow. Not too surprising given its many problems, as I reported last week. In a nutshell, the few games it managed to put out sold poorly, it wasted money on some ill conceived ideas, and talented executives fled as they saw how things were going. Since co-founder Thomas Tull left the board, I understand that the investors who had committed $400 million when Brash launched last year had pulled out. So Brash was simply out of cash. Brash was developing the SAW video game with Twisted Pictures, leaving this title in a possible state of limbo. We'll make a few calls and see what we can find out.
First Official 'Saw VI' Casting Comes From New 'Scream Queen'
Congratulations to Tanedra Howard (pictured inside) as she'll be taking on a role in Lionsgate's SAW VI, which begins shooting later next year for release on October 24th, 2009. Howard won VH1's "Scream Queens," which was judged by Shawnee Smith, James Gunn and John Homa. The prize? Her role in Saw VI, which will be scripted once again by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton with Kevin Greutert taking on directing duties. No plot details have been revealed yet, but assume Jigsaw will once again make an appearance
UPDATE: Does Lionsgate Mishap Confirm Dr. Gordon's Return in 'Saw' Franchise?
Update beyond the break. We had been hearing heavy rumors that Cary Elwes would be returning as Dr. Gordon in both the Saw videogame and in Lionsgate's forthcoming Saw VI. While we learned that the studio changes the film depending on what type of news leaks, we decided to keep a safe distance from that rumor -- until now. This evening Xbox Live featured Saw V on their platform for download, only the plot description wasn't for the fifth film by David Hackl. Read on for the interesting synopsis.
Update: We're being told this is for the game (if not a complete farce that both Xbox and iTunes used) and not the movie -- although we're also hearing Elwes could make an appearance in the sixth Saw film (although that's supposed to be top secret and it's being denied left and right), which goes along with reports that the game will tie into the film's release in October.
B-D reader 'JayKah' writes into Bloody-Disgusting. "Today on Xbox Live Saw V was featured, but for the description of the movie it said:
'One man. One plan. One foot. Yes, the doctor is in! With a strange twist of fate and a revengeful plot, get ready for the most anticipated event of Saw. Face your fears at his operating table. Know that no one is safe from his sickness. Chills and screams are his true pleasure. on...and Blood? You'll be drenched in it.' "
Who else could they be talking about? It's obviously the return of Dr. Lawrence Gordon. The question remains, did Lionsgate accidently send out the synopsis for the game, or for Saw VI? We'll dig and try and find out more, but until then, check out the video below as evidence.
This post has been edited by Calvin871989: Feb 19 2009, 10:12 AM
SAW Finally Comes To An End. Screenwriter Patrick Melton Reveals ENDGAME
“I think it’s going to end with Saw VII. I have a very strong feeling its going to end with Saw VII. That’s something we’re debating now. You saw in previous interviews or discussions where we thought Saw VIII would be the last one where we had the first trilogy and the second trilogy and then sort of a grand finale wrapped up in two films. But frankly because Saw VI hasn’t performed as well as we anticipated, the idea is well why make two movies when we can make one really excellent movie that wraps up as best we can? And it’s going to be in 3-D which sort of adds to the spectacle. So if you had to ask me, I don’t own the franchise, nor do I run the studio, but I have a feeling, a strong feeling that it’s going to be Saw VII which will be also known as Endgame. And nothing’s official yet, but that’s where we’re hoping things will go. “
Although the cast and crew is talking about -- and treating -- "Saw 3D" as the final installment in the most successful horror franchise of all time, actress Betsy Russell reveals that much like the serial killer they've immortalized, the writers have one more trick up their sleeve.
"Before we thought it was ending [with 'Saw 7'], the writers came up with an unbelievable idea [for 'Saw 8']," Betsy revealed to PopWrap. "It's an amazing story that I would love to see."
When pressed for details Betsy (who plays Jigsaw's ex-wife Jill) remained mum since any hints could potentially ruin the "Saw 3D" twists that lie in wait -- like whether Jill picks up her husband's murderous mantle or ends up in a death trap (as the trailer implies).
But she did add that if fans turn out in droves for on October 29, "Saw 8" might not be that far off! "We want to end near the top, with our integrity in tact and not letting the characters die a slow death, so to speak. But I believe in my heart that someday, somehow, ['Saw 8'] will happen."
felt sorry for john/jigsaw wife. the movie was alright i guess. still, at the ending, it never ends does it ?
its been a fun ride from 1-7 but it got into a mess and should've just ended it after john/jigsaw was gone. even though him being dead, the game will keep continuing. there's really no end to this.
Nov 13 2008, 03:30 AM, updated 15y ago
Quote
im waiting for the DVD rip from some one you know who la 
0.0238sec
0.79
6 queries
GZIP Disabled