"Live or die, make your choice."
In the summer of 2003, after failed attempts at pitching the project in their home country, young Australian filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell reluctantly traveled to Los Angeles in hopes of making a scary movie unlike any before it. A bloody thriller featuring meticulously engineered death traps and an ingenious twist ending, Saw would go on to be just the first installment of one of the most popular horror film franchises ever.
Featuring an intriguing diabolical mastermind operating under a warped central philosophy, amusingly shoddy acting, and loads of gratuitous violence courtesy of set pieces that steadily increase in gory intensity with each sequel, it's easy to write off the Saw films as prime examples of the (perhaps deservingly) much-maligned "torture porn" horror subgenre. However, what sets the Saw series apart are the genuinely creative traps featured in the films, the mind-bogglingly convoluted continuity of the overarching plot complete with mind-blowing twists that has remained remarkably consistent, and its incredibly devoted fan base.
At the height of the series' popularity, distributor Lionsgate released sequels every October for six consecutive years following the first film, making Saw a bit of an annual Halloween tradition among devotees. Though genre trends and the tastes of horror fans continue to change, the Saw franchise manages to resurface every few years as it takes interesting creative swings on its way back to cinemas to simultaneously thrill and gross-out audiences.
