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Writer's pictureThomas Duncan
Oct 305 min read

Saw (2004) ft. Kieran B and Jaylan Salah Salman

Updated: Dec 3



Guests:


Cast:

  • James Wan, Director

  • Charlie Clouser, Music

  • Leigh Whannell as Adam/Writer

  • Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon

  • Danny Glover as Detective David Tapp

  • Ken Leung as Detective Steven Sing

  • Dina Meyer as Kerry

  • Mike Butters as Paul

  • Paul Gutrecht as Mark

  • Michael Emerson as Zep Hindle

  • Benito Martinez as Brett

  • Shawnee Smith as Amanda

  • Tobin Bell as Jigsaw


*Recognition:

  • Saw was released on October 29, 2004 after initially debuting at the Sundance Film Festival that January.

  • After topping the opening weekend box office, the film would go on to gross $103.9 million worldwide to become one of the most profitable horror films since Scream (1996).

  • Critics were mostly negative at the time, but the film caught on with a much younger crowd during its initial release.

  • Bloody Disgusting, ranked the film tenth in its list of the Top 20 Horror Films of the decade, with the article calling Saw "perhaps the most influential horror film of the decade".

  • The Daily Telegraph listed the film number 14 on their Top 100 list that defined the 2000s.

  • Saw currently holds a 50% rating among critics on RT, a 46 score on Metacritic, and a 3.6/5 on Letterboxd.


Plot Summary: Saw is a horror film that takes a grim pleasure in its own sadism, positioning itself as both a grisly thriller and a twisted morality tale. At its core, the movie revolves around two men, Adam and Dr. Lawrence Gordon, who wake up in a dingy bathroom, chained to opposite sides of the room. They soon discover they are the latest victims of a deranged figure known as Jigsaw, a serial killer with a perverse mission: he doesn’t just murder his victims—he forces them into life-or-death games where survival is determined by how far they are willing to go to save themselves.


Director James Wan revels in pushing the audience's discomfort, presenting a relentless series of traps that are as much about mental anguish as physical pain. The characters’ desperation is palpable, yet their choices feel less like genuine human decisions and more like pawns being moved by the screenwriter’s hand. The result is a film that thrives on tension and shock but leaves little room for reflection.


Did You Know:

  • In order to make the actors feel what the characters were going through, all of the bathroom scenes were shot in chronological order.

  • Director James Wan wanted the camera movements to reflect the two main characters' emotions and personality. He filmed Dr. Gordon with steady controlled shots and Adam as handheld shots to capture their emotions of the situation.

  • Director James Wan built the Jigsaw doll for the film.

  • Director James Wan and Leigh Whannell wanted to make a film after they finished film school, but they could only afford one room. However, they challenged themselves to create a film that only occurred in one room. This film was the product, and it is considered one of the most profitable and successful horror films of all time.

  • In post-production, director James Wan discovered that he did not have enough shots or takes to fill out most of his scenes, so he and editor Kevin Greutert created their own filler shots by doctoring some of them to make them look as if they were filmed through a surveillance camera.


Ask Dana Anything:

  • Eliza (from Australia - AKA the Superfan)

    • Why do you start your ratings at 7 and works your way up or down? Why not 5? Is 5 not neutral? Do you assume everything is good?

  • Jaylan Salah (film critic for In Session Film)

    • Have you ever watched an uncomfortable film that was also cathartic?

    • What's your Guilty Pleasure Film?

  • Kieran B (Host of Best Picture Cast)

    • Do you feel like a Jigsaw victim being a lifelong Brewer fan?


Best Performance: Leigh Wannell (Adam/Writer)/James Wan (Director)

Best Secondary Performance: Tobin Bell (Jigsaw)/Monica Potter (Allison)/Cary Elwes (Dr. Gordon)/Charlie Clouser (Music)

Most Charismatic Award: Cary Elwes (Dr. Gordon)/Jigsaw Puppet/Tobin Bell (Corpse)/Monica Potter (Allison)/The Bathroom

Best Scene:

  • Cold Open

  • Tape Recorders

  • Jigsaw Background

  • Shootout at Jigsaw's

  • Escape from Zep

  • Twist Ending

Favorite Scene: Escape from Zep/Tape Recorders/BearJaw Trap/Cold Open

Most Indelible Moment: Twist Ending


In Memorium:

  • Troy DeVolld, 53, American reality television producer (Dancing with the Stars, Basketball Wives, The Surreal Life)

  • Liam Payne, 31, English singer (One Direction)

  • Sherry Coben, 71, American television writer and producer (Kate & Allie, Ryan's Hope, Bailey Kipper's P.O.V.),

  • Aaron Kaufman, 51, American film director (Superpower) and producer (Machete Kills, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For)

  • Mitzi Gaynor, 93, American actress (There's No Business Like Show Business, The Birds and the Bees, South Pacific), singer and dancer.


Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

John: [to Amanda] Congratulations. You are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore.


Jigsaw: Hello, Adam.


Jigsaw: Game over.


Dr. Lawrence Gordon: He doesn't want us to cut through our chains. He wants us to cut through our feet!


Adam: I don't give a crap if you covered yourself in peanut butter and had a 15 hooker gang bang!


Adam: Face it Larry, we're both bullshiters. My camera, it doesn't know how to lie. It only shows you what's put right in front of it.


John: [on videotape] Hello Amanda. You don't know me, but I know you. I want to play a game.


Adam: My last girlfriend was a feminist, vegan punk who broke up with me because she thought I was too angry.


Dr. Lawrence Gordon: What's the last thing you remember?

Adam: Nothing! I went to bed in my shithole apartment, and I woke up in an actual shithole.


Adam: I'm having a blast! This is the most fun I've had without lubricant!


The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 6.13

Impact/Significance: 7.13

Novelty: 5

Classic-ness: 3.38

Rewatchability: 3.25

Audience Score: 8.35 (83% Google, 84% RT)

Total: 33.24


Remaining Questions:

  • If the blood was poisoned, how did Jigsaw not die in the center of the room covered in it?

  • What was the point of putting himself in the center of the room?

  • Do either Adam or Dr. Gordon survive?

  • Where's the key in the bathtub?

  • How do you lose the cell phone in that circumstance?

  • Why doesn't Mrs. Gordon just shoot Zep right away?

  • Why didn't Tapp or Sing take any backup with them?

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