🎶It’s the most wonderful time of the year.🎶
Welcome to Spooptoberfest 2020, a month-long celebration of all things horror. This year, we’re taking a look at my all-time favorite horror franchise: SAW. I know what you’re thinking, “Are you serious? Why?” and obviously there is nothing I can say to fully express why I love this franchise so much, I had such a hard time choosing the order for this list, but I hope to give some insight this year. And yes, I am beyond hyped for Spiral.
With SAW, I want to take every trap from all 9 movies and list my top 10. This is my personal opinion and I am basing my choices on the following criteria:
- Design / Aesthetic
- Pain-Level
- Survivability
- Entertainment Value
Now with some of these, I need to be careful, because if you’re like me and very knowledgeable in SAW lore, then you’ll know that there are many traps that don’t abide by the original rules: a person being tortured and the main player of the game has to free them, two players face each other and one must die for the other to live, and there are traps that are made to kill as opposed to acting as a “tool” to change a person’s life. If I include any traps that fall into either or both of those categories, I will make special note of that.
Without any further adieu, as our lord and savior once said, “Let the game begin”.
#3:Â The Rack
Film: SAW III
        Jigsaw himself spoke for me when he said “my personal favorite”. Number 3 on the list takes us back to SAW III. Here we find poor Jeff at his third and final test, where he comes face to face with the man responsible for his son’s death.
Jigsaw’s Explanation: “Hello Jeff. If you are listening to this, that means that the confrontation you so long dreamed of is finally unfolding. In your head he is a cipher, a symbol of your life changing, a symbol of death. I present him to you now as a simple human being. His name is Timothy Young, he’s 27 years old, a medical student with a mother and a father just like you. A man whose life also changed on the day your son died. That day he made a terrible mistake. You believed he didn’t pay for that mistake, and now is your chance to make him pay. The device Timothy is strapped to is my personal favorite. I call it “The Rack.” The human body is a miraculous creation. Ever wonder how far the arm can twist? This device is going to start twisting. There is a chance he might live though, with your help. To your right is a box. At the back of the box is a key. It’s tied to the trigger of a shotgun. The question you have to ask yourself is this: are you willing to take a bullet for the man who killed your son? Does “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” apply here, Jeff? Make your choice.”
How it works: The victim is strapped into each of the 5 pieces. Slowly each part rotates 360 degrees.
Why I like it: The climax of Jeff’s journey, it’s what he’s waited so long for, coming face to face with the man who killed his son. I love this whole scene. Jeff’s battle with himself to forgive Timothy, the unfortunate fate of the judge Jeff saved from the pig vat, the symbolism of the trap’s design, and the slow agonizing way the trap kill’s its victim. Jeff really sucks at saving people, but not as bad as Bobby from VII.
marcus loner 