With a dead body laying between them, two men wake up in the secure lair of a serial killer who’s been nicknamed “Jigsaw”. The men must follow various rules and objectives if they wish to survive and win the deadly game set for them.
The year is 2004 and the Horror genre isn’t in the best state and to be perfectly honest I was starting to get bored of it, then one night I saw a trailer for a film called “SAW”. It didn’t excite me at first as I thought it was going to be another film full of the same old. A friend of mine invited me to go and watch it, he was paying so I thought why not. That’s when everything changed……….
For the next 100 minutes I saw a truly great and original idea unfold in-front of my very eyes, what I was seeing on screen was what I had been waiting for. Something that excited me, grossed me out and made me think all at the same time. As people were leaving the cinema, not being able to handle what they were watching, and hearing people scream and see them squirm, I could see that the Horror genre was finally being given the kick up the ass that it needed.
With a budget of just $1million, James Wan gave us a masterpiece, showing you don’t need to spend $100million’s to make a good movie. We also saw the truly talented Tobin Bell being given a role that would shove him into the public eye, I couldn’t imagine another actor playing Jigsaw.
I also remember seeing Cary Elwes on screen and wondering “Where do I know him from” only to realise it’s the annoying guy from “Liar, Liar” but as with all actors I gave him a chance and the guy gave us a performance of a lifetime. We also can’t forget the great Danny Glover, playing another cop, but this time he’s a more twisted individual. What a performance he gave us though, If I wasn’t such a big fan of the “Lethal Weapon” films I’d say this was his best role.
I left that cinema with hopes again, could this finally be the start of something new, something fresh, something original. My friend was very quiet after the film, he later said that a certain foot scene had traumatised him into shock. I’ll be honest, when he said that, I smiled. To me it was a sign that Horror was giving us scares again instead of laughs.
If you’re one of the few people out there that hasn’t seen this film, I highly suggest you do. It may seem old to some but it was only 8 years ago this masterpiece came out. With a great plot, fantastic acting, mesmerizing effects and an amazing atmosphere this film truly did it’s job and more. Another thing I remember saying to my friend as we left the cinema was “I bet there’s a sequel”, I also thought to myself “James Wan is going to be huge”.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
The MPAA originally rated the film NC-17, due to the film’s tone; director James Wan had to remove some content to secure an R rating.
The scene in which Gordon turns off the lights and whispers to Adam was written differently in the script. The characters were to cut open opposite ends of a long pipe with their hacksaws and speak through it. This sequence was actually shot, but later cut because director James Wan decided that the characters being able to cut through a pipe made no sense if they couldn’t cut through their chains.
Film’s pre-production was only five days; it was shot and cut at the same time in 18 days (all of the bathroom scenes were shot in six days). The actors had absolutely no rehearsals. The rehearsal takes were actual footage for the film.
Filmed in 18 days.
The car chase was filmed in the garage of the warehouse by turning off the lights, adding some fog, and shaking the cars while filming from the front.
Principal photography was done in a converted warehouse. The bathroom set was built while the other locations were existing rooms redressed.
Originally intended for a straight-to-video release. After positive screenings, it was given the nod to become a premier movie.
Director James Wan took a gamble and took no “up front” salary for the movie and opted for a percentage instead.
Contains many references to the films of Italian horror/giallo director Dario Argento. The creepy painted puppet is a reference to Argento’s Deep Red, while the unseen killer’s black gloves are one of Argento’s trademarks and can be seen in almost all of his films.
Shots cut in the R-rated version, according to director James Wan and screen-writer/actor Leigh Whannell, included ones of Amanda sifting through the intestines, the fat guy struggle through the barb wire just to shorten the scene, and some forensic ones. The color was made more even and the sound was altered because the MPAA had problems with the tone of the original cut shown in Sundance.
James Wan and Leigh Whannell wrote the script and submitted it to their manager. The manager then sent it to an agent in L.A. who summoned the two of them for a meeting. They were encouraged to shoot a scene from the script as a short film which they started passing around to studios.
Casting agent Amy Lippens asked director James Wan who he wanted to play the character of Amanda. On a whim, Wan suggested actress Shawnee Smith, on whom he had had a crush since his teen years. He was surprised when Lippens came back a few days later and told him that they had secured her for the role.
The detectives track down a fire alarm to a warehouse in “Stygian Street”. “Stygian” is the name of director James Wan’s first film, which also stars “Saw” co-writer/actor Leigh Whannell.
According to the DVD commentary director James Wan points out that many of the scare scenes in the film were nightmares he and Leigh Whannell had as kids.
All of the bathroom scenes were shot in chronological order in order to make the actors feel more what the characters were going through.
To help sell his concept for the film, Leigh Whannell shot a scene in which he appears to be ensnared in a bear trap. There were no special effects involved, he actually had to place the teeth of the rusty bear trap in his mouth to make it seem real.
Casting director Amy Lippens chose her ex-husband in the role of Mark, the man who burns himself alive.
James Wan and Leigh Whannell had tried to sell their script to studios in Melbourne before Hollywood bought and produced the movie.
Leigh Whannel performed his own stunt underwater during the opening scene in the bathtub. He stayed underwater by having a crew member stand on his chest.
All the black and white and forensic photos shown in the film were taken by the production still photographer. And were used as a last minute resort while editing the film.
James Wan and the editor had trouble editing the film as they did not have enough shots they wanted and had difficulties editing some scenes including Dr. Gordon listening to his tape and The detectives in Dr. Gordon’s office the first time they meet
James Wan built the Jigsaw doll from scratch for the film.
Shawnee Smith shot all her scenes in one day.
The surveillance camera footage of Adam and Dr. Gordon was shot separately and spliced together during post production, which is the reason for the strange angle of the two characters in the footage.
Charlie Clouser had just 3 weeks to compose the score for the film.
The cloak Jigsaw wears in the film is actually turned inside out.
The glow in the dark X painted on the wall in the scene when they lights turned out, was in fact a light projection of an X shape.
‘Leigh Whannel’ accidentally punched Michael Emerson in their fight scene in the final scene.
Shawnee Smith originally turned the role of Amanda down. After it was offered to her a second time she watched the original short film by Leigh Whannell and James Wan and accepted the role.
Producers Oren Koules and Mark Burg stated actress Shawnee Smith was battling a terrible case of the flu, complete with a fever of 104 degrees, while shooting her scenes.
Leigh Whannell and James Wan confirm that when Adam begins to smash Zepp with the toilet lid, Leigh Whannell is actually hitting a garbage bag full of fake blood.
