Grading Each of the Saw Franchise’s Death Traps
The Saw franchise’s plot is surprisingly involved, but it's safe to say that the revolving door of Jigsaw heirs and the lawmen trying to take them down, with a boatload of hammy performances to boot, isn't what kept audiences coming back, making it the most successful horror franchise of all time. It's the traps, the delightfully twisted machinations designed to kill (or "save") in as flashy a fashion as possible. They are usually hefty and overly complicated, the brain child of John Kramer aka Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), a middle-aged man who, with his life slipping away due to a cancer diagnosis, decided to put a carefully selected few to the ultimate test to decide if they are truly worthy of life. Some of Jigsaw's traps are more interesting than others, and I'm here to give you a guide to each one of them, breaking down their strengths and weaknesses.
Saw
Saw
Appearances: Saw, Saw II, Saw III, Saw VI
The one that started it all. Two men (Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell) wake up chained to opposite sides of a strange room. A bloody, dead body is in the room with them. They must work together to figure out why they’re there through series of clues. Unlike most traps in the series, there are multiple ways of making it out of this one alive. There’s a key attached to one of them that goes down the drain as soon as they wake up. One of them can kill the other. Finally, there are two hacksaws that can be used to saw through their chained legs.
Deadliness: One dead, one survivor.
Effectiveness: There is a real sense of hopelessness here and the drama that is created between the two men caught in this nightmare situation is intense. The scene where Cary Elwes finally gives in and saws through his leg is gruesome, a true high point in horror history.
Grade: A
Barbed Wire Maze
Appearances: Saw, Saw V
A man wakes up trapped in a cage filled with barbed wire. He has 60 seconds to find a path out before the door closes and he bleeds.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: In the first movie, you are shown just enough to let your brain develop the gory details, but later on in the series we are shown this scene again from a more exploitative angle. The added insight ends up taking something away from this one, which is rather crude anyway.
Grade: C-
Broken Glass
Appearance: Saw
A naked man wakes up covered in a flammable substance in a candlelit room littered with broken glass. Written on the walls are numbers, within these numbers is a code to a safe containing the antidote to the poison running through his veins. The man has a small amount of time to walk around the room and find the right numbers while keeping the flame far enough away from his body.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: The thought of walking across broken glass barefoot is certainly squirm-inducing, but there are just one too many elements at play here. Candlelight, the safe, the numbers, poison, broken glass, the weird flammable jelly smeared on the man's body; it's overly complicated. On top of this, there is no explanation as to how he was supposed to figure out which numbers were correct.
Grade: C+
The Reverse Beartrap
Appearances: Saw, Saw II, Saw III, Saw VI, Saw VII
A large contraption that sits on the victim's head, connected to the jaw. The person wearing the mask has 90 seconds to figure out how to remove it, the solution varies. In the first movie, Amanda (Shawnee Smith) finds the key by cutting open the stomach of a man also in the room.
Deadliness: Two survivors, one dead.
Effectiveness: There's a reason this trap has become so iconic. It captures the imagination. It's disturbing, it's impossible to watch without imagining it wrapped around your own head. It's simple, maybe not from an engineering standpoint, but at its core it's simply a lock and key with gory consequences for failure. The series shows this trap multiple times, creating a fun guessing game. Until the final entry in the series, we only see this trap snap open on its own on a dummy, each time teasing what is sure to be a glorious payoff, and it eventually was glorious.
Grade: A
Drills
Appearance: Saw
This one was clearly only half thought out. When we see it in the first film, a man is seated with two drills on either side of his head quickly advancing towards him in the warehouse where Jigsaw has been planning all of his games. Jigsaw claims it's merely a test, and it's ultimately not up to the victim to free himself and unclear whether there is a way for him to do so. The keys that could do free him are out of his reach and the detectives that discover him end up shooting at the machine until it breaks.
Deadliness: One survivor, but not in the intended way.
Effectiveness: As a means of building tension in the already tense warehouse discovery scene, sure. But on its own, there is just not enough to even call it a complete trap, let alone call it successful.
Grade: D+
Hello, Zepp
Appearance: Saw
Zep Hindle (Michael Emerson) must take out Lawrence Gordon's (Cary Elwes) family if Lawrence fails to escape the room within the established time limit. He has been poisoned and the only way to get the antidote is to either kill Lawrence's family or for Lawrence to complete the test successfully.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: Zep's game is a frame for the events of the first movie and a plausible red herring to distract from the real identity of Jigsaw. In that regard, it is a success, but looking back it is a little silly.
Grade: B
Saw II
Venus Fly Trap
Appearances: Saw II
A trap wrapped around the neck that will snap shut like an iron maiden around the face of its wearer if he can't find the key that is hidden behind his own eyeball in 60 seconds.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: It feels more like a lateral move compared to the first film's Reverse Beartrap, but it's a hell of a way to kick off the second film. Hiding the key behind the subject's own eyeball and demanding he dig it out is positively gruesome.
Grade: B+
Jigsaw's House of Horrors
Appearance: Saw II
Eight strangers find themselves trapped in a house full of deadly tests. They are told that they have one hour before a slow working poison kills them. The antidote for this poison can be obtained by completing the tests found in various rooms around the house. The strangers must work together to complete each test and figure out how they are all connected in order to escape.
Deadliness: Six dead, two survivors.
Effectiveness: While it is a compelling setup, Saw II has a major problem. The hokey drama is the star, not Jigsaw's games. Poor performances, pointless twists, and unbelievable character actions bring down what could have been a harrowing experience. I'll detail the traps later, but most of them are half-baked and lazy. Thankfully, we do get another entry in the series with nearly the same setup, better traps, and a more interesting twist with Saw V.
Grade: D
Revolving Door
Appearance: Saw II
The first test given after the inhabitants of the house realize what's happening. They have a key to use on the door, giving them access to the rest of the house. A note pressures them not to use it, but that doesn't stop them from opening the door while one of them stares directly into the keyhole. The lock is connected to a revolver hiding behind the keyhole which fires.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: It's tough to even call this one a trap. It's so simple and unsatisfying, yet it immediately takes out one of the already limited number of competitors. This one takes away more than it adds.
Grade: F
Furnace
Appearance: Saw II
A chamber with two syringes of the antidote. When a man crawls inside and grabs one, the door slams shut and a powerful fire starts burning him alive.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: It's the series' first fire trap, so I can give it a pass for being a little unoriginal, but there are a few issues. For one, there were plenty of ways to assure this one was easy to overcome. Look at the trap for just a little bit and realize that there are two points of entry, one not even requiring you to get inside of it; it’s a half-baked trap, for sure.
Grade: C-
Finding a Key in a Needle Stack
Appearance: Saw II
A large pit of empty needles. Somewhere in the pit is a key opening a box with an antidote inside.
Deadliness: One survivor.
Effectiveness: It's not all that creative, but it is definitely gross and hard to watch.
Grade: B-
Wrists
Appearance: Saw II
A clear box hanging overhead that contains the antidote. There are two holes for arms that are fit with razors, preventing you from pulling your arm back out. The antidote is also glued in place, so you have to be extra deft.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: It's my personal favorite trap from Saw II. Viscerally unpleasant and painful to watch. Among the cruelest games in the series.
Grade: A-
Matthews’ Test
Appearance: Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV
Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is assigned to the case when it is revealed that his son is one of the people trapped in the house. He can follow their progress through monitors which are eventually revealed to be tapes from an earlier time. As Jigsaw lets him if he wants to see his son again, he will simply have to "follow the rules," something corrupt cop Matthews has trouble with.
Deadliness: One left for dead.
Effectiveness: The drama surrounding Matthews and his corrupt ways is more interesting than what is happening inside of the house. The twists in this series have a habit of being surprising while also non-substantial, but when we learn what "follow the rules," means, it is a great barbaric moment.
Grade: B
Saw III
Chained
Appearance: Saw III
A man wakes up in a classroom with multiple chains inserted in choice spots around his body, including through the Achilles' tendons, shoulders, hands, and jaw. He has 60 seconds to rip all of the chains out before a bomb blows up.
Deadliness: One dead because there was no way to survive.
Effectiveness: I'm going to start by pointing out the clear issues here. One, there are chains in each Achilles’ tendon. If they were both ripped out, the guy simply wouldn't be able to stand. Also, once his hand restraints are ripped out, his hands would be nearly useless, yet he still has to deal with the jaw. Ripping a giant metal ring through your jaw is something I can't imagine a perfectly healthy person being able to do, let alone a confused man with a ticking clock and two destroyed hands. This is also Amanda's first game without Jigsaw. She made an already unwinnable game completely impossible by welding the door shut, preventing the man from escaping the bomb even if he were able to free himself. Now, with reality out of the way, I can only praise this one for its brutality. Once again, the best traps are the simplest.
Grade: B-
Acid Cage
Appearance: Saw III
Detective Kerry (Dina Meyer) finds herself stuck in an elaborate spring trap that's hooked into her rib cage. She has a limited amount of time to free herself by grabbing a key that is quickly dissolving in a jar of acid positioned above her.
Deadliness: One dead because there was no way to survive.
Effectiveness: One of Saw III's gnarliest deaths and one of the series' most elaborate, grimly beautiful machines is slightly undercut by the Amanda storyline getting in the way and making this trap impossible to survive.
Grade: B+
Jeff's Test
Appearances: Saw III, Saw IV
After the death of his young son, Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) has become a depressed shell, neglecting his health and the rest of his family. Jigsaw's test for Jeff involves a series of trials that allow him to face those who he has blamed for his son's death and the killer's light sentencing, possibly redeem both them and himself.
Deadliness: Five dead.
Effectiveness: The emotional drama is genuinely wrenching, and the traps that Jigsaw has lain out are a creative step up from Saw II.
Grade: A-
Lynn's Test
Appearances: Saw III, Saw IV
As her husband, Jeff, is making her way through his trials, Lynn (Bahar Soomekh) must work with what little she has in a makeshift hospital room to keep ailing cancer patient Jigsaw alive long enough for Jeff to finish his tests and for her and Jeff's daughter to be released. If Jigsaw dies or Lynn attempts to escape, a collar of shotgun shells will go off in her face.
Deadliness: Lynn succeeds in keeping Jigsaw alive, yet can’t stop her husband from killing him. One dead.
Effectiveness: This is a perfect companion piece to Jeff's trials. The scenes with Lynn are intense and claustrophobic, and her drama with Amanda works surprisingly well, largely in part to Soomekh's great performance. This also contains one of the series' biggest highlights, the brain surgery scene, which is a fully realized, gloriously filmed, and impossible-to-watch spectacle.
Grade: A
Jeff's First Trial: Face Your Fears
Appearance: Saw III
The only person who witnessed firsthand the death of Jeff's son is tied naked in a freezing room. Every few seconds she is sprayed with a freezing liquid. In order to save her, Jeff must reach past a number of scalding pipes to grab a key.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: It's pretty gross, and Jeff having the skin on his face peel away from the frozen pipe is more than a little uncomfortable, but when we see the woman encased in a thick layer of ice after being sprayed with some liquid for more than a minute, it's more than a little silly.
Grade: C+
Jeff's Second Trial: Time to Let Go
Appearance: Saw III
The judge that let Jeff's son's killer go with a light sentence is chained by the neck in a pit. Every few seconds, a dead pig is fed through spinning blades and the remains are thrown on the judge. In order to get the key to free him, Jeff must press a button to burn what's left of his son's possessions.
Deadliness: One survivor.
Effectiveness: This one's on another level. The grey sludge that slowly fills up the pit is absolutely revolting, and watching Jeff decide to burn the only tangible reminder of his son's life is gut-wrenching. The reaction to this one is completely involuntary.
Grade: A
Jeff's Third Trial: Here's Your Chance
Appearance: Saw III
Jeff finally is face-to-face with his son's killer. The man's arms, legs, and head are in a device that slowly twists them until they have been turned a full 360 degrees. The key for Jeff to free the man is deep inside a box with a shotgun pointed out, pulling the key will fire a shot, forcing Jeff to take a bullet in order to help the man who took his son away from him.
Deadliness: Not just one, but two dead.
Effectiveness: A massive beast that is equal parts squirm-inducing and horrifying. The way Jeff gets around the shotgun is by daintily untying the key rather than pulling on it; despite this, the gun goes off, killing the judge from earlier. None of these events are buyable, but damn is this trap a feast for the eyes.
Grade: B+
Amanda's Test
Appearance: Saw, Saw II, Saw III
Amanda has been helping Jigsaw plan and execute his games as far back as the Saw trap in the first movie. Jigsaw knew he was dying and planned on making her his successor, but she has an even more nihilistic worldview than Jigsaw and makes her games either too difficult to complete or actually impossible.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: The drama that plays out between Amanda and Lynn is intriguing, and the reveal is a gut punch. This one does fall into the realm of being way too complicated for Jigsaw to ever have the foresight to prepare for.
Grade: B
Jeff's Final Trial
Appearance: Saw III, Saw IV
Once Jeff has happened upon the bloody scene involving Jigsaw, Amanda, and his wife, he is given one final choice. Get revenge on the man that just put him through hell, or stow his rage. He is not told the consequences of his decision.
Deadliness: Three dead, really.
Effectiveness: An unnecessarily cruel addendum that leads to the deaths of Jeff's wife and the main antagonist of this series, as well as damning his child to he abandoned in a container somewhere (luckily, she is found alive later on).
Grade: C
Saw IV
See No Evil, Speak No Evil
Appearance: Saw IV
Two men are attached by the neck to a chain fed through a large device between them. The device slowly pulls the men towards the spinning blades in the middle. One man has his eyes sewn shut, the other his mouth. There is a key to their collars located on the blinded man's back, but, unable to communicate, the men resort to killing each other.
Deadliness: One survivor, one dead.
Effectiveness: This one is more than a little confusing. Of all the times I've seen this movie, my most recent watch is the first time I've been able to understand what the goal was and what even happened. Now that I know, it's very blah.
Grade: C
Rigg's Obsession
Appearance: Saw IV
SWAT Team Leader Rigg (Lyriq Bent) has 90 minutes to save the lives of detectives Matthews and Hoffman (Costas Mandylor). There are a number of trials laid out for him across the city, but in the end, it is revealed that all he had to do to actually save them was let go and do nothing.
Deadliness: Five dead.
Effectiveness: Riggs' journey is full of extra gory traps that don't really stand up to further analysis, but work well nonetheless. The twist is a scowl that works as well on a story level as it does on a pointlessly cruel level. I've always appreciated that side characters in this series who eventually become the protagonists as the others are killed off.
Grade: B+
Scalper
Appearance: Saw IV
A woman is tied to a chair with a bag over her head and her hair wrapped around a bar. Once Rigg pulls the bag off her head, the bar starts winding her hair and Rigg has to find a way to cut her hair before it rips her scalp off.
Deadliness: One survivor is freed, then killed.
Effectiveness: This one's sadistic and sure to get under your skin. The effects bring it to life in an eerily realistic way. The effectiveness is only strengthened on a second watch. The woman knew where a knife was, but she wouldn't tell Rigg because she was told the man who would come to save her would actually kill her, a truth considering that if Rigg hadn't come at all she'd have been released.
Grade: A-
Rapist Eyes
Appearance: Saw IV
Officer Rigg is given the rundown on an apartment manager, a sexual predator who photographs his assaults. Rigg can leave the man be or kidnap him and take him up to one of the rooms which has a trap designed especially for him. Rigg plays a part in assembling the trap; the apartment manager is tied to a bed and given a button to hold in each hand. When a button is pressed, it sends a blade hurtling towards an eye. He has 60 seconds (less thanks to Rigg taking so long to strap him in) to gouge out his eyes or his body will be ripped apart by chains.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: Shameless and makeshift, there's not much to admire about this one. After being told how awful this guy is, the tension is gone. We know this one's outcome as soon as it's set up.
Grade: D+
A Wife's Revenge
Appearance: Saw IV
A wife and her abusive husband are suspended back to back with a handful of long spikes stuck through both of them. The spikes are placed in such a way that they will only kill the wife if she is to leave them there, but if she can pull them out, the wounds will kill her husband and allow her to live.
Deadliness: One survivor, one dead (plus another dead—a police photographer who was impaled by a metal spike in the ensuing crime scene).
Effectiveness: This one's satisfying. I don't know if it's actually possible to position the spikes in such a way as to only effect one person or the other, but it's a very clever idea either way.
Grade: B+
Dead Silence
Appearances: Saw IV, Saw V
Detectives Perez (Athena Karkaniz) and Strahm (Scott Patterson) arrive to the scene of the ‘Wife's Revenge’ trap and discover a room with one of Jigsaw's puppets sitting on a chair. A message warns them to back off, but they don't listen. Perez leans in close and the puppet explodes, sending shrapnel flying into her face.
Deadliness: The test is failed but there is one survivor.
Effectiveness: Another nothing trap. Good for the little shock value it has, but it lasts about 30 seconds and is immediately forgotten.
Grade: C
The First One
Appearance: Saw IV
The very first trap that Jigsaw ever tested. He locks a man to a chair, facing a row of knives. To free himself, the man will have to press his face into the knives, releasing the locks.
Deadliness: The man passes the test but dies when he tries to kill Jigsaw right after.
Effectiveness: This is one of my favorites. The message is simple: to free himself, the man will have to make himself look as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside. It's grueling to watch and brought to life with some incredible effects work.
Grade: A
Art's Test
Appearance: Saw IV
Art (Louis Ferreira), the man who lived through the trap that kicked off the movie, has to oversee the game that includes detectives Matthews and Hoffman. All he has to do is stay in the room, keep them alive, and hope that Officer Rigg doesn't manage to get to them before the timer is up, or else he will be killed by a device that will sever his spine.
Deadliness: Art dies, not by the trap, but by Rigg.
Effectiveness: Throughout the movie you assume that Art is just another Jigsaw groupie. The reveal that he's just another cog in the machine that is Rigg's game doesn't carry as much weight as it should. His death also leaves something to be desired, being killed by a bullet rather than the device strapped to his back.
Grade: B-
Not So Ice To See You
Appearance: Saw IV
Detective Matthews has been kidnapped and placed in a noose hanging above a gigantic block of ice slowly melting by the minute. The block of ice is acting as a weight connected to Detective Hoffman, who’s sitting in a chair in an increasing pool of water near some electrical equipment. If the ice gets low enough to hang Matthews, Hoffman will be electrocuted (not really, he is in on it after all). The two can only wait; if Rigg leaves them alone they will be set free by Art, but if Rigg shows up, two more blocks of ice will be released, smashing Matthews' head.
Deadliness: One dead, but through not fault of his own.
Effectiveness: It’s tough to look at Wahlberg hanging there because he sells it so well. You’re left in the dark as to exactly how they are supposed to live through this, and when it finally clicks, it is a pretty great moment. Rigg attempts to come in the room, and Matthews shoots him. When he still manages to come in the door and trigger the ice blocks, it’s a fun shock as Matthews is pancaked.
Grade: B+
Saw V
The Pendulum
Appearance: Saw V
A gigantic axe is attached to a pendulum hanging above a man tied to a table. The axe will completely cut through him in 60 seconds unless he can put both of his hands in mechanisms that will crush them to dust.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: Watching the pendulum slowly inch towards the man's bare stomach is nerve-wracking, and watching him try to crush his hands is somehow even worse. A hell of a way to kick off Saw V.
Grade: A
Cricothyroidotomy
Appearance: Saw V
Detective Strahm finds himself with a small box filling with water around his head. The only way to not drown is for Strahm to take the pen out of his pocket and push it into his neck, opening up the airway.
Deadliness: One survivor, surprisingly.
Effectiveness: It seems like a pretty boring trap that presents a hopeless situation, and then Strahm jabs a fucking pen into his neck and it's suddenly awesome. It's dumb as hell but exciting and theoretically possible, I guess.
Grade: B+
Redux
Appearance: Saw V
Five people must get through a series of deadly trials to escape. All of the games set up for them are at least decent. This one's twist is that if the group worked together from the beginning instead of immediately fighting just for themselves, they would have all lived with minor injury.
Deadliness: Two survivors, three dead.
Effectiveness: I was pleasantly surprised that the plot of Saw II was reworked and put into a better movie. In Saw II, the plot was merely there as set-dressing for poorly written and overacted drama between the victims. Here, we actually get to see the games explained and played out, but they are generally of lower quality.
Grade: B
Sideways Guillotines
Appearance: Saw V
The five victims wake up wearing collars that are connected to a wire. The keys to their collars are in glass cases on the other side of the room, but one person going forward results in the rest being pulled back towards guillotines. They have fifteen minutes to free themselves before nail bombs go off. This one's twist is that any one of the keys would have worked for all of the collars
Deadliness: Four survivors, one dead.
Effectiveness: The traps that the five have to go through are not that impressive on their own, but when seen as part of a whole, they are serviceable, if safe. This one leads to a good decapitation, at least.
Grade: B-
Keys in Jars
Appearance: Saw V
The four left alive are in a room with more nail bombs. This time, they only have 60 seconds to find the keys to chambers that will shield them from the blast. The keys are above them, hidden in jars full of broken glass and decoy keys.
Deadliness: Three survivors, one dead.
Effectiveness: This one gets drowned out by the selfishness of the players. The series is full of conveniently ignored time limits, but even this one is stretching it. In 60 seconds, the group somehow manages to get into a big argument, beat up one of their own, and find the three keys that work amongst the 16 there.
Grade: C-
Power Surge
Appearance: Saw V
The three remaining members come to a room with a bathtub and are told they must feed electricity through their bodies by stabbing themselves with power conducting needles in order to open the door before nail bombs go off.
Deadliness: Two survivors, one dead.
Effectiveness: Once again, a very basic trap. There's not much here to remark upon.
Grade: C
Bloodletting
Appearance: Saw V
Whoever is still alive is met with a table full of buzz saws and a tank that needs to be filled with ten pints of blood in order to release the lock, letting the survivors escape. They have fifteen minutes to fill the tank before (shocker) nail bombs go off.
Deadliness: Two survivors!
Effectiveness: This one finally satisfies some bloodlust, and since it's the first time the survivors realize that they could have all lived. It's coupled with the fun realization moment that the Saw series is known for.
Grade: B
Glass Coffin
Appearances: Saw IV, Saw V, Saw IV
Detective Strahm has finally come to realize that Detective Hoffman has been working for Jigsaw this entire time. He confronts Hoffman in a room with a cage full of broken glass and pushes him into it. The box is then lowered into the ground as the walls of the room slowly close in on Strahm.
Deadliness: Strahm is killed.
Effectivenss: This one's claustrophobic and excruciatingly brutal. We watch the one good guy in this movie struggle to get out and eventually get crushed as the bad guy lies in safety, his glass box getting covered with blood. This contains maybe the most agonizing effect of the whole series, when Strahm's bone sticks out of his arm and gets snapped in half.
Grade: A
Saw VI
Meat
Appearance: Saw VI, Saw VII
A man and a woman wake up in a room and are told they must cut off pieces of themselves to place on a scale. Whoever sacrifices the most of their body gets to live.
Deadliness: One survivor, one dead.
Effectiveness: Amateurish, but it does fit the themes of the film quite well. At this point in the series, it takes more than this to make one squirm.
Grade: D-
Eat the Rich
Appearance: Saw VI
William (Peter Outerbridge) is a high-ranking insurance salesman for a company that has screwed over countless numbers of sick people, effectively giving them death sentences. He is put to the test by being forced to face the arbitrary choices of who lives and dies, in person. If he completes the trials in under 60 minutes, he will save his wife.
Deadliness: Eight dead.
Effectiveness: I've never been a fan of Saw VI; I’m annoyed by the wet blanket protagonist while being caught up in my head about what a Saw trap should or shouldn't be. But, on this latest watch, I really responded to the anarchic themes of the film, most likely due to the current political landscape. William is the faceless, rich, white drone who finally has to account for his actions, and watching him do so is satisfying. For sure, the strongest statement made by the Saw series.
Grade: A-
Don't Breathe
Appearance: Saw VI
William wakes up across from a man. They are connected to breathing apparatuses that crushes their abdomens whenever they take a breath. The only way for one to live is to hold their breath longer than the other.
Deadliness: One survivor, one dead.
Effectiveness: This is merely the start. It doesn’t have to do anything besides set the stakes. These aren't your typical Saw traps. Somebody is going to die in all of these games, while somebody lives, and it's basically all up to chance.
Grade: B-
Choices
Appearance: Saw VI
William grabs on to two handholds that are connected to the barbed wire nooses, holding up two of William's coworkers. William must choose one to be hanged or they both will be.
Deadliness: One survivor, one dead.
Effectiveness: William's choice is painfully obvious before it's made, but watching the two hanging there with a tight, barbed wire wrapped around their neck is enough to get a reaction.
Grade: B-
Through the Fire and Flames
Appearance: Saw VI
William's next challenge awaits him in a massive room full of pipes blowing scorching steam. On the lower level of the room is another coworker of William's who has 90 seconds to get through a maze of steam to reach him before a device on her neck punches through her head. In order to progress in certain spots, William must pull levers that scald him but stop the steam down below. At the end there are pictures indicating that the key to the device on her neck is located inside William, and she's given a saw to cut it out.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: An intimidating gauntlet and a better fire trap than the one in Saw II. The twist at the end is nice, and I appreciated that this trap is the most Saw-like one of the film.
Grade: B+
Carousel
Appearance: Saw VI
Six of William's underlings are tied to a rotating carousel. It stops occasionally, positioning a new victim in front of a shotgun that will fire unless William diverts it by pressing a button that will dig into his hand, which can only be used twice.
Deadliness: Two survivors, four dead.
Effectiveness: This one's a beast. Watching the coworkers come to terms with what is happening and try to sell themselves while ratting out the others as the carousel slowly spins is nauseating and uncomfortable. The goopy blood that sprays out when the gun goes off made me sick.
Grade: A
Reverse Bear Trap: Part Deux
Appearance: Saw VI
Jigsaw's apprentice, Detective Hoffman, has the Reverse Bear Trap stuck on his head by Jigsaw's wife Jill (Betsy Russell). This time around, there's no key, as Jill intended this just to kill Hoffman, but he sticks the jaws between the bars of the door to the room to stop it from opening fully and he slips his head out.
Deadliness: Yes.
Effectiveness: Hoffman's such a hateable character that it only makes sense that the most iconic trap of the series would go off on his head, but then it doesn't. This scene only served to make an already intimidating machine more so and make the eventual successful use of it all the sweeter.
Grade: B
Be Good
Appearance: Saw VI
William has reached his last test, a true test of character. He completed the previous trials in enough time to save his wife in one cell, but in the opposite cell he is face-to-face with the wife and son of a man who William personally denied coverage for a treatable cancer that eventually killed him. This time, the family is presented the choice; kill William or let him live. They choose the former, and a large contraption falls from the ceiling, impales William, and injects him with acid that turns him into a pile of mush.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: William sealed his fate long ago, and although I was stuck with him throughout the film, that doesn’t mean I wanted him to live. The opposite, in fact, and wow, what a way to take him out. William's a gross pile of viscera in seconds.
Grade: A-
Saw VII: The Final Chapter aka Saw 3D
Love Triangle
Appearance: Saw VII
Two guys are attached to a machine with two big buzz saws spinning in front of them, with a third aimed at the girl they have both been dating hanging overhead. Jigsaw informs them that if one of them isn't dead in 60 seconds then they all die. The men push the saws towards each other and fight before they decide to turn the saw on the woman.
Deadliness: Two survivors, one dead.
Effectiveness: The setting of this trap is its best quality. Rather than the dark, nondescript basements that most traps have taken place in, this one is right in the middle of a street, filled with voyeurs. The tongue-in-cheek nature of this one is interesting and sets a markedly different tone, even if the rest of the film isn't quite as fun.
Grade: B+
Nazi Auto
Appearance: Saw VII
A bunch of skinheads are trapped in a junkyard. One of them is glued into the seat of a suspended car, one is laying down underneath it, another is attached to the back of it, and a fourth is tied up directly in front of it. The glued one has 30 seconds to reach forward, pulling all of his back skin off, to reach a lever that will prevent the car from driving off, killing all four.
Deadliness: Four dead.
Effectiveness: This trap already gives us the most instantly hateable victims of the whole series. Watching them get ripped apart by a complex trap in another visually interesting area is gleeful.
Grade: A-
Lawnmower Man and Woman
Appearance: Saw VII
The game a woman in a Jigsaw victim support group was involved in. It's very unclear what this game was, as when we see it there are two people hanging from a bar above a pit of deadly spinning lawnmower blades with no explanation. The woman hits the man and he falls to his death, she lives.
Deadliness: One survivor, one dead.
Effectiveness: It's nothing more than a flashback and clearly was not well thought out (did they just wake up holding up all of their weight?). The cut to it does get a laugh, at least.
Grade: D
Bobby's Quest
Appearance: Saw VII
Bobby (Sean Patrick Flanery) has been running a support group for Jigsaw's victims and has become a best-selling author and media personality by detailing his experience surviving one of Jigsaw's games. The only problem? He made it all up. Jigsaw never actually chose him, but he has now. Bobby has 60 minutes to get through a building filled with tests (the most of the series!) and save his wife, Joyce (Gina Holden).
Deadliness: Bobby survivors, but leaves four dead.
Effectiveness: Bobby's journey is fraught with cruelty and bloody deaths. In my opinion, Saw VII is the best entry in the series since the first, and it's largely due to Flanery's performance and the large number of traps that he is involved in. There is much less filler in this one.
Grade: B+
Swinging Cage
Appearance: Saw VII
Bobby wakes up in a cage suspended over a bunch of spikes. Suddenly, the bottom of the cage springs open. Bobby grabs hold and swings the cage until he is a safe distance away.
Deadliness: One survivor.
Effectiveness: The spikes below don't look deadly enough. If Bobby fell and landed on his feet, something he could easily do once he was hanging on to the bottom of the cage with his feet hanging just a few feet from the ground, he could have walked out of it just fine.
Grade: C
Silence
Appearance: Saw VII
Bobby comes upon his agent sitting with her head back in a chair with multiple spikes aimed at her neck. The key to release her is deep within her stomach, and Bobby has 60 seconds to pull it out of her before the time is up. Along with the timer, if either Bobby or the woman make any noise, the spikes will move towards her neck faster.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: The timer might be a little overkill on this one, but that doesn't take anything away from the agonizing pain of the key being pulled out. There's also some great blood in this one.
Grade: A-
Strongman
Appearance: Saw VII
Bobby's lawyer is strapped to a vertical table with three spikes aimed right at her eyes and mouth. To free her, Bobby must hold up a heavy weight that will pierce his sides during a 60 second timer or else the spikes will make their way towards her.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: It doesn't seem possible to hold up that large of a weight while simultaneously being stabbed in the sides, but I still expected to see this one succeed, and was pretty surprised when it didn't. The spikes are a little overdone at this point.
Grade: B
Leading the Blind
Appearance: Saw VII
Bobby's and his friend are at opposite sides of a long decrepit hallway with a missing floor. In the center of the hallway is a key that will get Bobby's friend out of his noose if he can get there while guiding his blindfolded friend before the 60 second timer is up.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: The time limit gets in the way once again. Bobby and his friend spend so much time arguing that it becomes unbelievable that they also found the time to come this close to success. The pit below should have been deadlier, because as is it's an easily survivable fall. It's also just a simple noose, something we've seen multiple times throughout the series.
Grade: C+
Teeth
Appearance: Saw VII
Bobby is one room from saving his wife. With just a few minutes left on the clock, he is instructed to pull certain teeth out of his mouth which contain numbers to a code that will open the door.
Deadliness: One survivor.
Effectiveness: We've seen Bobby go through hell up to this point, why not have him rip out some of his teeth. Nothing special, but effectively off putting.
Grade: B-
Nice Pecs
Appearance: Saw VII
For the final test to save his wife, Bobby actually has to play the game that he has been claiming he played. He is presented with two hooks that he has to stick through his pectoral muscles and he must pull himself up using a chain. If he gets up far enough, he will be able to reach extension cords that he has to plug together.
Deadliness: Bobby fails the test but surives, which kills his wife.
Effectiveness: People swinging around by hooks in their skin is a regular real-life sideshow attraction, so watching it here is not all that shocking. That said, it gets intense as the clock is ticking, and the failure is sweet.
Grade: B
Fire Tomb
Appearance: Saw VII
Joyce is chained by the neck on a large platform. Every few minutes, the chain is pulled closer to the ground. If her husband can't complete his tests in 60 minutes, then the platform will transform into an oven, burning her alive.
Deadliness: One dead.
Effectiveness: The transforming platform must be the most expensive thing that Jigsaw ever built, so it makes sense it's the climax of the movie.
Grade: B
Reverse Bear Trap: Part Trois
Appearance: Saw VII
The inimitable head trap has found its way on Jill Tuck's (Betsy Russell) noggin. There is no escaping this time.
Deadliness: One dead (finally).
Effectiveness: This trapped has been wisely teased for so long, only shown going off on dummies or on its own, that it's a big fan service moment when it finally triggers on a victim. Jill's face explodes in a pulpy, chunky mess, leaving a great big horrible hole where a face once was. God damn was it worth the wait.
Grade: A
So, there you have it. An exhaustive look at every insanely work-intensive, overcomplicated, physics-challenging game that a physically-ill, and, let's face it, mentally-ill old man slaved over. In my opinion, it felt like Jigsaw was kind of running out of ideas near the end of his life, and his lackeys weren’t much better. Does John Kramer somehow return? Did Cary Elwes continue his apprenticeship after Hoffman’s death? How the hell was any of this built? The next entry, Jigsaw, has had a seven-year hiatus to think of an answer to these questions and to devise some extra creative traps, and I can’t wait to see if they used their time wisely.