Things I Love [Saw: the Franchise]

So by now every horror nerd has had something to say about SAW. The possible devolution into gore porn, which I don’t dispute. The production values of the original, which for what it was were terrific. I love the franchise. It is one of the ones I have followed pretty religiously from its beginning in 2004. For years, SAW movies came out at Halloween, whetting the appetite of its fans with new traps and and even more convoluted story.

The story is perhaps my absolute favorite part. It is dripped out in dollops over the course of the 8 movies. Yes, I include Jigsaw as number 8 even though it really ought to be considered 0 since it is practically the first. I’m a little fuzzy on the whole thing truthfully, perhaps one of my horror family can enlighten me as to the actual timeline of the movies, even though I’m sure I could look it up somewhere.

My second favorite part of the story is the eccentricity of the whole thing. The whole point is that John Kramer, Jigsaw as he is dubbed, is punishing those he regards as immoral and unworthy of the life they have been blessed with. After so many killers who kill mostly for the sake of killing, a killer with a message is different. Almost groundbreaking in a way. I attribute that difference to some of the success the franchise has had over time. There isn’t a single person who hasn’t wanted to see someone else get their comeuppance at some point. Rather than the mindless death and dismemberment which seems to underly a number of the greatest horror franchises, SAW is refreshing.

Third are the accomplices. At first, one has to ask how a cancer patient, John Kramer, manages to do so many of the things he does to so many people. Jigsaw, if you’re paying attention to the background in the movies, is a bit of a vigilante phenom. He kidnaps and devises elaborate games for those who need their lives changed. However, as becomes clear, he cannot do all of it alone. His accomplices, such as the junkie Amanda Young, are absolutely necessary to his ability to do these things. In truth, if you look at him right and squint just a little Kramer develops a cult of personality around himself. Amanda is in love with him and he knows it. Hoffman, the detective, is arrogant enough to think he is Jigsaw’s true heir, but that turns out to be wrong in SAW VII. Given his arrogance, it was hard to believe he was going to be John’s replacement to keep the Jigsaw name alive. I’ll be talking about the accomplices more in later posts, but they fascinate me. John himself draws me in, but those who are drawn to him make me even more caught. I wonder if I, as a free thinking human, would have been caught by Kramer if I came into contact with him.