Come October every year, horror movie fans flood the streets to celebrate. It’s Halloween, and it’s time for spooky festivals and a feast of horror shows. This year’s main dish is none other than “Saw X”.
Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 79% after collecting reviews from over 140 different sources (media, critics), and IMDb gave it a score of 6/7.10. It has to be said that Saw X has 9 predecessors, and none of them reached 60% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes.
In the beginning, “Saw” was just a 9-minute short film. However, it was spotted by Lionsgate Pictures due to its amazing effects. The cost of shooting the first movie of the series was merely US$1.2 million. The shooting itself took only 18 days but had a stellar box office performance of over US$100 million. “Saw” cost very little yet generated massive returns. It is the representative of blockbuster thrillers and suspense films in the post-Hitchcock era. After its Chinese-American director James Wan turned the film into a blockbuster, "Saw" witnessed its rise in popularity all over the world. It has been 13 years since the series was certified by Guinness World Records as "the most successful horror movie series in the world." In today's article, let's talk about the history and secrets of “Saw”.

- In comes the Judge of life and death: Disappointments in humanity amplified time and again by its sinful nature
The story revolves around the serial killer John Kramer, also known as the infamous Jigsaw. He began as a slightly successful civil engineer with not that many friends. Kramer was not exactly someone with great social skills either; he was getting involved in real estate development and also designs human dolls from time to time. His skills in civil engineering were proven useful after he becomes a killer: Kramer would go on to create cleverly designed traps to torture the human body and mind.
A chance encounter allowed Kramer to meet Jill, and the two fell in love and got married. Jill set up a drug rehabilitation clinic with the motto "Cherish Your Life." The couples’ days were uneventful but content. Kramer got a pleasant surprise when Jill became pregnant. He was particularly happy to be able to have a son despite him being a middle-aged man. At that point in time, his life seemed all but complete. However, one day, Jill was robbed by her own patient when the latter was under drug influence. She accidentally hit her stomach with a door and suffered a miscarriage. Neither John nor Jill could get over the shock of losing their child, so the first person he took personal justice against was the drug addict who murdered his unborn child. The drug addict survived his first trap but was strangled to death eventually.
Kramer sank into depression after losing his son, and often quarreled with Jill. Their marriage was on the rocks. As the saying goes, it never rains but it pours. Kramer was diagnosed with colon cancer and frontal lobe tumors during a medical examination. He had been diagnosed with cancer before, but due to a doctor's error, his results were mixed up with those of other patients’, causing him to miss the opportune timeframe for treatment. Logically, Kramer did not transform into a vigilante killer immediately. Initially, he actively sought treatment, and took a number to become the test subject of an experimental genetic therapy. Treatment fees are expensive, and he tried to find his previous insurance company to cover it. The latter rejected John time and again, citing his age and low chance of recovery as excuses. Kramer became almost completely disillusioned with humanity. But even then, his “Saw” pointed not at others, but at himself. In his moment of absolute desperation, he thought of committing suicide. However, an unexpected car accident changed him, and he began to completely believe that he was the judge of life and death appointed by fate. Thus, the iconic killer, Jigsaw, was born into existence.
2 Frenzied Killer and Innocent Child: Designed the Games, Participated in the Games
In the Bible, there is the concept of “Original Sin”. It talks about Man’s fall into Sin due to temptation and believes that there is God, a Creator of this world. Only, and only by faith and belief in God and Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross can a person be saved. Such meanings form the religious backdrop of many horror and thriller films, with them presenting concepts such as fatalism, divine punishment, redemption etc. “Saw” is one of them as well. It holds strong religious undertones. Jigsaw is a heinous killer who ignores moral laws and tramples on the human body and dignity. The premise is that he regards himself as "God" and "child" at the same time.
Jigsaw is the maker of murder sprees, creator of said rules, as well as the builder of human-killing machines. In his dictionary, there is no such thing as the worst death, as the victims’ deaths can only get more and more horrifying. He will always tell his ’players’ to, “Live or die, make your choice”. One must sacrifice a part of their body should one seek redemption. This method of killing does not emphasize law and morality, but only emphasizes karma and retribution. It is entirely a punishment of evildoers from the perspective of “God”. The original sin of human nature is completely released during the ‘games’. It satisfies the desire to sin for the ones being spied on, as well as the desire to experience pleasure of those who watch such violence.
At the same time, Jigsaw is also a prophet. In “Saw 4”, Jigsaw dies. A police detective found a cassette from the stomach of his corpse. The detective completely dismissed the tape as unimportant and threw it aside, but the tape, which appeared again in "Saw 6", was actually Jigsaw's test for the detective.
Jigsaw fashioned himself as the “God” of human society, albeit not the traditional kind who wears a halo and does good. He is more like a messenger from hell, bloody and holding onto a set of manacles. He is dark, cruel, bloodthirsty, and controls all evil humans within his grasp.

He is a mass murderer, but a child as well. We all know that Jigsaw collects human skin. He loves to cut off a piece of skin in the shape of a jigsaw from his victims as his signature move. He is also an inventor. He loves to create grotesque traps such as a helmet that can force open a person’s jaw and an iron chain which can forcibly rip off a person’s stomach. He loves to tinker, and such tinkering usually involves human organs (his toys). That hideous puppet on a tricycle is the best representative of his twisted inner child. Like an ‘innocent’ kid asking for trick or treat, Jigsaw sticks to the rules of his games. According to his values, the rules of the games supersede all. That is why some viewers could not understand why certain bad guys who did lesser wrongs suffered terrible fates whilst other players who committed unforgivable crimes could escape unscathed. Like a child, Jigsaw is stubborn about his rules and way of doing things. He does not resemble much of an adult with societal experience. Jigsaw only recognizes the rule that “Everyone deserves another chance to turn over a new leaf”. In “Saw X”, the inner child of Jigsaw is amplified, and thus brought about the most painful and critical moment of his life.

An extremist like Jigsaw is not completely lonely as well. His ideals on judging others have their own cult of followers. Amanda, Hoffman, as well as Doctor Gordon, Brad, Ryan and Logan are all his disciples. Interestingly, Jigsaw is both the maker and a participant in his games. In “Saw” the first movie, he pretended to be a corpse in the game room, and blipped offline during the third movie of the franchise.
The judge needs to be close to the games, even participating in them. Jigsaw and Amanda concocted games in “Saw II” whilst Hoffman designed the games in “Saw IV”. Jigsaw, all in all, is the overseer of all the games. Nobody stays outside of the games. Everyone is a sinner, everyone is an evildoer. When one traverses along the edge of being judged to judging someone, when one hands over his fate and life to humanity, he is handing them over to God as well.
3 Core elements in “Saw”: Escape rooms, traps, twists, and continuity of the plot
Escape rooms: American psychologists have pointed out that a small, enclosed space can create a sense of unease for people. Furthermore, if such a space is isolated from its surrounding spaces, the feelings of unease will multiply to form a psychological abnormality.
Taking into account the above analysis, it is not difficult to understand why many horror movies designed their settings as tiny, isolated escape rooms. Additionally, the "Saw" series films are low-budget. Thus, to set all the main scenes in an abandoned escape room greatly reduces the cost.
As the room is dimly lit and damp, with oil stains, blood stains, and even corpses littered around, it indicates that "horror events will definitely happen here", stimulating the audience's curiosity and imagination under a tense psychological mood. In "Saw", the opening scene shows a stained bathtub, toilet, and washstand; a "dead body" was lying in the middle of a secret room together with two trapped men. The scene itself has begun to tell its audiences a story before the actors step in.
Traps: Torture tools are absolutely crucial in the “Saw” series. Their designs are intricate, cruel, and form part of the series’ soul and core. There is the all-familiar reverse-bear trap, the knife chair, the public execution, the pendulum trap, the rack, etc. … Take the reverse bear trap for example. It has metal pieces slotted between the player’s upper and lower jaw. The player needs to disarm the device within a specified time. Otherwise, when the time is up, the device will directly tear the player's upper and lower jaws in half. The trap’s appearance and effect are equally terrifying. Death is just a matter of seconds.


When Jigsaw designs his traps, he takes into consideration the crimes/sins the targeted player has committed. In “Saw X”, a thief has his fingers stuck in a trap. The thief has to break 5 of his fingers within 3 minutes or risk losing both his eyeballs. Someone pretended to be a nurse and drew his blood; that person then has to amputate her own leg and extract 85 grams of bone marrow to stay alive or lose her head. Someone else pretended to be a doctor and performed a craniotomy on him, so he asked the pretender to open his own head and remove a large enough piece of brain tissue before he could escape. Otherwise, the player’s whole brain will rot away. Yet another person pretended to be a patient who has recovered from cancer to deceive Jigsaw and cheat his feelings; he then let her experience the dozens or hundreds of times of radiation exposure that cancer patients receive during chemotherapy. The alternative would be to burn to death. All traps point toward the same concept: One must self-mutilate to have a chance to survive. “Pain” and “Gore” are the definitions of Jigsaw’s traps. The existence of such physical and psychological intensities has amplified the portrayal of sex and violence as well. For example, the nurse-pretender has to amputate her leg, a symbol of female attraction and sexuality.
Twists: As the series enters its tenth installment, the narratives always follow the path of flashbacks plus plot twists. The protagonist is often locked into a room at the beginning. Who are they? Why are they imprisoned? Clues are gradually handed out, and the audience begins to understand the whole story through a step-by-step revelation. Every time the plot reaches the last level, an ultimate reversal happens. As we all know, reversal is a highlight of the "Saw" series. Back then, the moment when the corpse that had been lying down in “Saw” for the entire film suddenly stood up, almost everyone was mind blown.
Judgment from God's perspective must have a plot twist, because God cannot make mistakes. The meticulous thinking and planning by Jigsaw, the judge of life and death, allows him to never miss, and the audience gradually becomes numb and lowers their expectations as round after round of traps commence. Thus, if no twist happens, the climatic viewing experience at the end of the film will be greatly reduced.

Plot Continuity: The "Saw" series focuses on sensory experience rather than the plot. In the beginning, the protagonist's background was not even explained. This has, in a way, allowed subsequent works to exercise creativity. For example, "Saw IV" revolves entirely around "Saw III", utilizing memories and parallel narratives to connect the details, and even explains how Jigsaw turned from a model husband into a murderous maniac. It elucidated his mental journey, the process of how he creates traps, how he videos, as well as the entire thrilling experience.
“Saw X” continues the series’ traditions and gave its long-time fans a slew of surprises. First, its director Kevin Greutert served as the editor of the “Saw” series for its first 5 films and directed the 6th and 7th "Saw" films. Second, and most interestingly, "Jigsaw" played by Tobin Bell returns to this series. As the character who gave the "Saw" series its soul, Jigsaw has always been the connecting thread throughout the entire series; however, Jigsaw himself has never been portrayed as the real protagonist in any of the previous films. "Saw X" however, assigned him a treasure trove of important action and drama scenes that develop the character. Media reviewers commented: "Every glance [by the actor] is dramatic". The kind of terrifying intensity from Jigsaw’s glances as well as the tone of his voice in between his breaths can only be felt as one watches the show.
Fans also treasure hunt for easter eggs throughout the film. For example, at the end of “Saw X” is a pivotal scene in “Saw”: in the bathroom; audiences saw the protagonist Adam’s corpse, leading to a flawless roundabout connection with the opening sequence of “Saw”. Also, detective Mark Hoffman appears at the end of the film. It is Costas Mandylor’s 6th appearance within the series.

"Saw X"‘s storyline happened between "Saw" and "Saw II", Kramer (Jigsaw) is deeply affected by cancer, but unexpectedly learns that there is an underground clinic in Mexico. Although illegal, it claims to be able to effectively cure cancer. Holding on to one last glimmer of hope, Kramer headed to Mexico. Of course, as everyone would have expected, the clinic was a scam. Its only purpose is to scam terminally ill patients of their money.
I have noticed that the story happens in Mexico. One of Mexico’s oldest and most important festivals, the Day of the Dead, is celebrated there. “Saw X” has certain scenes depicting elements from the festival. For example, Jigsaw overhears his driver talk about “People bringing the hearts of victims home, hanging them up as decorations”. The entire series is undoubtedly a tale of collective celebration on death, murder and corpses from the western perspective. It directly faces such concepts, as opposed to the fear and apprehension Asian cultures have towards corpses.
Octavio Paz, a famous Mexican writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, said: "Death is actually the reflection of life." In Mexico, there still exists the traditional custom of regularly digging out the bodies of loved ones and cleaning them… Heidegger also holds the view of "living towards death". Therefore, in Western funeral culture, people sing and dance all night long. Death is an end, but it is also the beginning of another life. When this custom is reflected in thriller films, it becomes a direct confrontation with the death, blood and organs of the human body. "Saw X"’s introductive gory sequence can be described as explosive and eye-opening. The film continued its excitement amputations, head drilling and digging out one’s intestines. It’s an excessive amount of gore and human organs. The movie seems to be taunting its audience: "Hey man, is this intense enough for you?" It is truly a reverse tribute to horror movie fans.
It is definitely a rare gem for Horror/Thriller IP to beget a series of 10 classic films over a span of 20 years. The “Saw” series has become something franchise horror fans can hardly afford to miss. It has always catered to Western cultural and religious sentiments and captured both the pains and pleasures of human physiology and psychology – it focuses on plasma content rather than morality, emotions and stories. The resurgence of the series’ reputation through its latest film has brought about more space for imagination and possibilities to both movie fans and filmmakers alike. We also hope that everyone can continue to enjoy this unforgettable horror series in cinemas in the future as well.
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