SAW

Saw is a 2004 horror film and the first installment of the Saw film series. The film's story revolves around two men who awaken kidnapped and chained in a dilapidated industrial bathroom. They are given instructions via a microcassette recorder on how to escape by following the "rules" of their "game". Meanwhile, police detectives investigate and attempt to apprehend the criminal responsible.
The film was first screened January 19, 2004 at the Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews.^[2][3] It was then screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 18, 2004, with theatrical releases on October 29, 2004 in the United States and December 2, 2004 in Australia. The film was originally rated NC-17 for strong, graphic violence, though after being slightly re-edited, it was released with a R rating.^[4]
Critical responses varied. Some critics denounced the whole movie as nothing more than a "sadist gore fest" and a "low quality" and "cheap snuff film", while others praised its stylish visuals and called it a true "chilling" and "terrifying" horror film. Despite mixed reviews, Saw was a financial box office success.

SAW II

Saw II was a 2005 film that was the first sequel to the film SAW. It was directed by Darren Lynn. At the start of this film Michael awakens to find himself in a game. He has a device around his neck that is filled with spikes. He is told that the only way to unlock the device was to use the key that was implanted behind eye. Michael cannot bring himself to do it, and is killed when the helmet slams shut. Detective Matthews is called to the scene, and later follows the SWAT team led by Sgt. Rigg to the factory. There they locate John Kramer (Jigsaw) as well as eight monitors that shows several people trapped inside an abandoned house. One of the people inside the house is Matthews son, Daniel. The victims have two hours before a nerve gas fills the house and kills them. Jon informs Matthews that he wil see his son in a "safe,secure state" if he will just talk to him. Matthews starts talking with John hoping the police could locate the house.

Inside the house the eight victims are informed that there are antidotes throughout the house to save them.One guy is shot and killed fairly soon by a gun that was rigged to a door when Xavier triggers it. Next they are in a basement when Obi attempts to retrieve two antidotes that were inside a furnace but is burned alive.Next they find there way into a room that has a pit full of needles. A key is hidden inside the pit. Amanda is forced into the pit where she finds the key for more antidote.When Xavier fails to get the door open he then leaves the others. While, this is taking place John is talking with Matthews  and explains why he is doing what he does. He explains to Matthews  that other than Daniel the other seven inside the house are known criminals that Matthews had framed for different crimes.

Xavier returns to the guy that was shot earlier and notices numbers on the back of his neck. Here Xavier discovers that this is the clue to getting out of the house. Xavier then kills Jonas and begins to start stalking the other victims inside the house.In another room, Laura dies from the gas but reviles Daniels identity (that he is Matthews son) to the rest of the victims inside. Meanwhile, Addison finds and antidote inside a glass box. As she reaches inside the box the openings are lined with blades and she cannot remove her hands from the box without cutting her wrist. Xavier finds her but leaves her to die after he reads the numbers from her neck. Amanda and Daniel retreat to the safe room where they find a tunnel that leads to the bathroom of the first film. Daniel collapses, Xavier arrives ad Amanda tells him that he can't read his own number. Then Xavier takes his knife and cuts the skin from his neck to retrieve his number. Daniel, then attacks Xavier with a hacksaw and kills him.

Matthews then attacks Jigsaw and forces him to take him to the house. The police then follow the signal to a different house which contain VCR's playing previously recorded images. Matthews enters the house that Jigsaw took him to and eventually reaches the bathroom and is attacked by someone wearing a pig mask. Then a timer expires in Jigsaw's lair and a safe opens where Daniel is sitting hooked to an oxygen mask. When Matthews come to he finds himself chained to some pipes. He then plays a tape and it reviles that Amanda is helping Jigsaw. She then appears in the doorway and slams the door shut as the movie ends.

I really liked the story in this film. The first scene where the key was behind the guys eye made me wonder if Jigsaw actually planted it there or if he had help. Who would be more capable of doing that than Dr.Gordon.I feel we will see Dr. Gordon again in another sequel. The kill scenes were great in this film. The gun on the door and the glass box were two of my favorite. Until the end I didn't put together what Jigsaw meant about a "safe place" until it showed Daniel inside the safe.Overall I was very satisfied with this film. Probably one of the best sequels to a film I have seen yet. Please feel free to leave your comments about the film here on The Jigsaw Diaries.

SAW III

Saw III was released in October of 2006 and was directed by Darren Bousman.. In my opinion I loved the start of this film. This is where we saw the Angel Trap. Here Kerry wakes up and finds herself  suspended in the air with a device around her ribcage. The key to unlock the device is inside a beaker filled with acid. She does get the key, however the device detonates ripping the flesh away from her ribcage. I loved the angel trap. I think it may be one of my all time favorites. Next Jeff and Lynn are kidnapped and Lynn is brought before Jigsaw. We find out that Amanda is working for Jigsaw and was behind the game in this film. Lynn is ordered to keep John alive until Jeff finishes his game. If, however she doesn't keep John alive or tries to escape, a device around her neck will detonate five shotgun shells that are pointed at her head. Jeff then awakens to find himself in the plant where he is instructed to complete several test. Then he will get to confront the man who is responsible for the death of him and Lynn's child. 

In Jeff's first test, Jeff enters a freezer and finds a lady who refused to testify in court and was the only other witness to Jeff's sons death. The lady was stripped naked and bound between two bars that are spraying ice water on her periodically. She begs Jeff to help her in which he gives in and tries to do so. The special effects in this scene were great. I really liked the part where Jeff tries to retrieve the key and his face touches the metal bar and as he pulls away it slowly tears the flesh from his face. When he returns with the key it is too late and the lady is frozen solid. In the second test he finds a man tied in the bottom of a large vat. He then discovers that this man is the judge who only gave the man responsible for Jeff's sons death six months in prison. As Jeff is faced with the decision to burn all of his sons belongings in order to get the key to release the man from the vat, the vat is filling with dead rotting ground up pigs. After the vat is filling and the judge is covered ,Jeff burns the toys and retrieves the key. He then gets inside the vat and releases the judge.

While Jeff is going through his game Lynn and Amanda are working to operate on John to relieve pressure inside his scull from the result of the frontal lobe tumor.During the surgery, John starts talking about another woman that he loves. Amanda gets upset thinking he is talking about Lynn. Amanda then leaves the room to go check on Jeff's game. While Lynn and John talk alone Lynn tells John how she has a new appreciation for her family. In Jeff''s next test he is faced with Timothy Young. The man who killed Jeff's son. Here Timothy was placed in "The RACK" This device was attached to all of Timothy's limbs and would begin to twist until every bone is broken. In order for Jeff to help him he must retrieve a key that is located n a glass box with a string attaching it to the trigger of a shotgun. Jeff does retrieve the key, however the judge is killed in the process when the shotgun accidentally goes off. When Jeff returns to free Timothy he is to late and the rack had already broken Timothy's neck.


When Jeff returns to the room where they are working on Jigsaw. He sees Amanda shoot and kill Lynn. Jeff then shoots Amanda. John then reveals to Amanda that she was actually being tested and not Lynn. Amanda then dies from her wounds. John then gives Jeff his final game. He tells Jeff, that if he will forgive him for all the pain he has caused his family that he will call for an ambulance for Lynn. This is where Jeff snaps, grabs a circular saw and slashes Johns throat. Then the door seals the room and Jigsaw plays a tape recorder telling Jeff that he failed the game, by killing John who was the only person who knows the whereabouts of Jeff's daughter. Now Jeff will have to play another game to try and find Corbet before she runs out of air. As John dies the collar on Lynn detonates and Jeff is sealed inside the room with the three of them.

I really liked this film in the series. I thought the games were good and that the plot was easy to follow. The effects were some of the best. Reason I say that is due to the Angel Trap and the Freezer woman. The way the ice formed on her it just looked so real. I like the film all the way through. The acting was excellent just like every film in the series. I do think they killed John Kramer to early in the series. It also leaves you wandering where is Corbett. It also made me realize that Hoffman was involved in the first few scenes. Reason being, that the Angel trap as well as the man attached to the chains by the rings were inescapable and this is never Jigsaw's methods.Over all I liked this film. Watch it yourself and please feel free to leave your comments and thoughts, with me here on..The Jigsaw Diaries. 

SAW IV

Saw IV was released in 2007 and was directed by Darren Lynn. Saw IV was another great of the SAW film series. Saw IV starts off with the autopsy of John Kramer. While in the process of the autopsy a small cassette tape is found in John's stomach that is covered in wax. When detective Hoffman comes into the room he plays the tape and is informed that he too will be tested. When the first game begins Trevor and Art both are chained at the neck and to a winch in the middle of the room. Trevor's eyelids are sewn together and Arts mouth is sewn shut, making communication impossible.When the winch begins pulling them together Trevor attacks Art, who kills him and takes his key and unlocks his collar.

Next we see where the police find  Detective Kerry (who was killed in the Angel Trap). There Hoffman meets Agent Strahm and Agent Perez. They inform Hoffman that Jigsaw was not in good enough condition and Amanda doesn't have the strength to place Kerry into the device therefore there had to be a third party involved. Strahm, then suspicious of Rigg is convinced that Eric Matthews who had recently disappeared is still alive. Later when Rigg's arrived at his house, he is attacked. Upon awakening he watches a video tape that tells him that Matthews is indeed still alive and that he must save himself as well as Hoffman. As the game begins the first subject that Riggs encounters is a blond female secured in a chair with a pig mask over her face. Rigg is informed to leave her there (see what I see) Instead he tries to help her triggering the device that begins to pull her hair resulting in tearing her scalp from her head. Ultimately Rigg saves her however she grabs a knife and attempts to kill Rigg's due to her being told that she would be arrested if Rigg's saved her unless she kills him first. Rigg's ends up killing her and leaves.

  Rigg's next test comes at a motel where he see's "feel what I feel". Here he forces the manager of the hotel (Ivan) into a room and onto a bed. There Rigg places Ivan into restraints holding him to the bed. Surrounding the bed are photos from all the victims that Ivan had raped in the past. Ivan is faced with the decision to gouge out is eyes or be dismembered limb by limb. Above Ivan's head where two metal spikes  that if he chooses  to blind himself they would swing over and gouge out his eyes. The problem was that Ivan only got one eye taken out before the time ran out, therefore he was also dismembered by having his limps ripped off. I found this scene to be awesome. The realness factor was unbelievable The eye gouging device was probably my favorite in the film.

Next Riggs goes to a school where the third test "save as I save" takes place. Here you see a flashback from Rigg where he attacked a man when he was a patrol officer for abusing his wife and daughter. Rigg's finds the man and his wife hanging in the center of a classroom with steel rods impelled through them both holding them together. The rods are strategically placed so that they were penetrated into vital organs on the man but no-vital organs on the wife. When Rigg leaves this room there is one rod left and Rigg hands the wife the key to unlock her harness. While this is taking place Strahm and Perez are investigating the string of murders. While at the school agent Perez locates a Billy doll sitting in a chair inside a room. As she leans down closer to see what it is, it advises Strahm that he will take the life of an innocent man. It then explodes sending  small metal objects into Perez's face. While Perez is hospitalized Strahm begins to interrogate Jill Tuck more than ever. During this time Jill explains to Strahm that while she was pregnant with Gideon, her clinic was robbed by Cecil Adams causing a door to slam into her and forcing her against the wall causing a miscarriage. This is why Cecil was the first target of John's. Jigsaw places Cecil into a chair, where in order for him to be released he must press his face into a grid of knives. However the trap failed and Cecil comes at John but ultimately Cecil falls into a bunch of razor wire. Meanwhile, Rigg arrives at the Gideon Meatpacking Plant just before Strahm does. Strahm, thinking he is on the trail of Rigg, is actually following Jeff. (Jeff is the husband f the nurse that tried to perform the operation on John Kramer while on his death bed.) Once he catches up to Jeff, Jeff flashes a gun wanting to know the whereabouts of his daughter. Strahm then kills Jeff following through with what Jigsaw said earlier with the Billy doll. ("You will kill an innocent man")

Rigg then finds himself inside a room with Hoffman, Matthews and Art. Art was the attorney for Jill and John. When Rigg arrives, Matthews is standing on a large block of ice with a noose around his neck. Hoffman is opposite of him sitting in a chair with an electrical wire at his feet. Two more blocks of ice are set up in the ceiling to swing down and crush Matthews head should the door open. As the ice under Matthews melts it sends water toward Hoffman. Should Matthews slip off the ice he will be hung and the balance scale will shift causing the water to make contact with the electrical wire in turn electrocuting Hoffman. Art has a device attached to his back  to cut his spine. The only way to remove the device is for the ninety minutes to run out. As Riggs comes through the door, he is shot by Matthews, Matthews is killed by the ice blocks in the ceiling. Rigg then kills Art thinking he is responsible for the traps, however a tape that Art had in his hand informed Rigg that he failed the test by interfering. Matthews and Hoffman would have lived had Rigg not tried to save them.. Hoffman then removes himself from the chair and leaves Rigg's in the room to die. That is when we see that Hoffman was the second accomplice. He then arrives in front of the room where Jigsaw had died and sees Strham kill Jeff. Hoffman then seals Strham inside the room with the four bodies. (Jigsaw,Amanda,Jeff and Jeff's wife.) That is when we see that this film was actually taking place the same time that SAW III was taking place.

For me this was the hardest film for me to follow. Mainly due to the fact that it and III were running together but you didn't catch it till the end. Also, I had a lot of trouble keeping up with which detective was which.I think the kill scenes and the devices used were some of the best. I really liked the Ivan scene and then it would have to the school scene. It was just brilliant to think of placing the rods in the husband and wife like they did. The camera angles were awesome.  I would not expect any less coming from the directors of SAW. The plot was great. It really left the film open. I do think if they had made it a little less confusing I would have liked it a lot better. The story line was dead on. I really liked the acting in this film. I think each actor carried out their roll very nicely. Please leave your comments on my post, along with your comments about the film here, on The Jigsaw Diaries.

SAW V

Saw V was released in 2008 directed by David Hacki. Saw V starts with Seth Baxter chained to a table with a large pendulum blade hanging above him. In this first game of the film Seth has to insert his hands into two devices that will crush them in order to release his bindings and free himself from the table. You hear a voice explaining to Seth how to play the game. I noticed immediately that the voice seemed a little off to be Jigsaw's. When The game begins the pendulum starts swinging getting closer to Seths torso with every swing. Seth crushes his hands only to his surprise to find that the bindings did not release. Just before Seth is cut in half he looks to his left and notices an eye watching him from behind a wall.The first flashback is from the end of SAW IV where it shows agent Strahm in the room where Jigsaw was dead on the bed and Strahm escapes through a hidden door where he is then captured. Then you see the next game where Strahm's head was inside a glass box attached to two hoses that are attached to two water jugs. Strahm then does the unbelievable and uses an ink pen shell to jab into his throat to form a tracheotomy to keep breathing in turn keeping him alive. Next you see Hoffman carrying a little girl (Jeff's daughter from IV) outside the building thinking they were the only two survivors only to be shocked when he sees Agent Strahm rolled out on a stretcher still alive. One thing I noticed was that they never showed how Strahm escaped the glass box. Whether he escaped on his own or was he assisted from the medical team.

Next scene shows Jill Tuck (Jigsaw's wife) in a meeting with her attorney where she is given Jigsaws last will and receives a box. Then you see Jigsaw on a video tape where he tells Jill that the contents of the box are of "Grave Importance"(this statement being a key part to the film). She never showed what the contents of the box are. Detective Hoffman is awarded as being a hero, and agent Strahm is taken off the case. This is where agent Erickson comes into the film. Erickson then becomes  fascinated with the "Jigsaw Killer" and begins his own researching of the victims. When Hoffman is brought back to the Seth killing to conduct an investigation that's when we discover that Seth Baxter was the guy who killed Hoffman's sister. This is when things started coming together for me. I then realized that Hoffman was behind the murder and that it was his voice we heard not Jigsaw's. It was also Hoffman standing behind the wall that Seth seen just before he died. Again Jigsaw always leaves a way for the subjects to escape however with Seth there was no way to escape. To me that was the first twist in this film.

While Erickson is working on trying to piece together Hoffman's involvement another game is taking place. Inside what appears to be a sewer you find five victims awaken with collars around their necks. Each is attached to a cable that is attached to all five collars. When one subject moves forward is pulls the other four backwards where there is two razor sharp blades located at their necks. The keys for these collars are located in five glass boxes, one in front of each subject.You then see "Billy" and he explains how the game works. He tells them that "their instincts will tell them to do one thing but he encourages them to do the opposite". Once one person goes for the key the timer begins. Four people retrieve their keys, however Ashley doesn't and she in turn is decapitated  when her collar retracts slamming her into the sharp razor blades. The next part of this game involves three chambers and some glass jars hanging from the ceiling containing the keys to the chambers. When the clock starts it is connected to glass jars in the corners of the room filled with nails and C4 explosive. When the clock runs out the bombs will detonate killing anyone left in the room. The chambers provide shelter to save them from the explosion. The subjects begin breaking the jars to retrieve the keys. In the process they begin fighting with each other ultimately causing Charles to be left inside the room to face the explosion. In the next room there is a bathtub that is filled with water and five electrified cables that must be connected together to complete the circuit to unlock the five locks on the door. Again you keep seeing the number five (five cables and five locks.. you will see where this goes at the end)) However the cables are not long enough to be connected so a body must be used to bridge the gap. Here Luba attacks Mallick with plans of using his body when suddenly from out of nowhere Britt stabs Luba in the neck and her and Mallick use Luba's body in the tub to bridge the gap, resulting in the five locks (five again) being released and allowing them to open the door and escape the room before the nail bombs detonate. In the last room Britt and Mallick discover a large glass box that has five circular saw blades inside.(again still five.) There are enough slots for five peoples arms to fit inside the box(again five). Attached to the box are glass beakers. The object of the game is to fill the beakers with ten pints of blood to open the door to allow their escape. This is when Britt and Mallick realize that what Jigsaw meant by "Your instinct will tell you one thing, however I encourage you to do the opposite" (remember I mentioned that earlier) was that all five subjects were suppose to survive to the end. Now you see where I was going with the number of five. In turn this meant that each subject would have to shed only two pints of blood each to fill the beakers. However since only two were now left, either one will die or they both will have to shed five pints each. In this room Britt and Mallick realize how all five of the test subjects were connected causing them to be in this game from the start. With all options now gone Britt and Mallick are forced to start the clock which turns on the blades and stick their arms inside and begin shedding blood.

Meanwhile while this is all taking place Hoffman is busy planting Strahm's phone and Erickson's personal file in the fifth room of the sewer. Erickson is on the trail when he enters the room just as Brit and Mallick get the door open. Mallick passes out from the amount of blood loss but Britt crawls into the room to be discovered by Erickson. Erickson then calls for help and notices the file and a phone lying on the desk. When Erickson calls a number we see the caller ID on the phone and it is Strahm's phone. Erickson then calls for the arrest of Agent Strahm. At the same time Strahm is following Hoffman who leads him to the gas house and follows him to an underground room. Inside the room is a large box full of broken glass. Strahm then finds a tape recorder that is Hoffman telling him that he must trust him and enter the box to escape. Strahm stops the tape pissed off and waits for Hoffman to enter where they begin to fight. Strahm forces Hoffman into the box and closes the lid sealing Hoffman inside. Strahm (being the dumb ass he is) thinks he has won and has finally got Hoffman.

Only to discover that the box begins to slowly disappear into the floor. Hoffman points to the tape recorder that Strahm then plays again and finds out the since he did not comply he will simply vanish and Hoffman's legacy will become his own. As the glass box continues to disappear and all four walls begin closing in on Strahm ultimately crushing him to death. 

I loved SAW V. I thought the story line was great. I know a lot of you think that V was the worst of the Saw series. We will have to agree to disagree. I do know that V was very hard to follow and with a years lapse from IV the initial viewing of this film makes it hard to follow and keep up with. If you watch IV then watch V and see how everything "fits" I feel you will also enjoy V just as much as I did. This film had in my opinion one of the best kill scenes from the series. That scene being the initial Seth Baxter scene. The graphics of this scene looked so real and I actually felt as if I were in the room with Seth watching it take place. I could almost feel the pain that Seth was feeling while this scene was taking place. My overall opinion of this film would be GREAT. Of course I encourage you to take time and watch it if you haven't and if you have watch it again. Then make your own opinion and PLEASE share your opinion with me here, on The Jigsaw Diaries!

SAW VI

"Jigsaw appears in flashbacks in the film. One flashback set prior to the events of the first film showed that it was Amanda Young who sent Adams to Jill Kramer's clinic to steal drugs for her. This resulted in Jill's miscarriage, and thus Young was revealed to be an indirect cause of John Kramer's transformation into Jigsaw. Further flashbacks set prior to the events of the first film reveal that Jigsaw targeted William Easton for one of his games because William, without any sensitivity, had denied him health coverage after he developed cancer. In the present time of Saw VI, Kramer shows himself on video twice to Easton instead of Billy (the method Kramer usually used to speak to his subjects), so Easton could look in the eyes of someone he let die. In another flashback, this time set between the events of the first and second film, Jigsaw explains to his ex-wife that his "rehabilitation" works, showing Amanda Young as supposed evidence of this. A flashback set just before the events of the third and fourth films explores the group dynamic between Jigsaw, Amanda Young and Hoffman. Jigsaw criticises Hoffman for not seeing the test subjects as human beings and also critiques his approach to setting up Timothy Young's trap. It was also shown that Jigsaw seemed to have had a closer emotional attachment to Amanda Young than Hoffman. Shortly afterward, Jigsaw gave his ex-wife the key which she later used to open the box he gave her in his will in saw v). In the present time of Saw VI, it is revealed that the box contained six envelopes (marked 1 through 6), a thicker envelope, and an updated version of the "Reverse Bear Trap". She gave detective Hoffman envelopes 1 through 5, but hid everything else from him and later delivered the thick envelope to an unknown person. Envelope 6 was meant only for Tuck-Kramer, instructing her to trap Hoffman and put the "Reverse Bear Trap" on him so he could be "tested". This fulfilled the promise made, via the audio tape discovered in the stomach of Jigsaw's corpse, that Hoffman would not go untested."
 above was quoted from wikipedia for time reasons


In my opinion this was the BEST film in the series yet. We all hate insurance companies and we all know how they will screw you every chance they can. The plot to this film was based on that. William Easton who ran Umbrella Insurance Co. would find reason to cancel peoples policies when the people needed it the most. The "GAMES' in this film were the best.

My favorite being the merry-go-round that held the six members of Eastons insurance company. The effects and camera angles in this film were AWESOME! All kill scenes were shot from the best angle so that the viewer could see every detail. In the end Easton got what he deserved when a woman and child (who was the wife and son of another person that Easton canceled and let die) got to make the choice of whether Easton got to live or die. To me that was very odd for Jigsaw as he has always let the victims make there own decision. I guess that twist is what made me really love this film. Then to me the most major twist came when Jill Tuck placed the reverse bear trap on Hoffman. I never saw that coming during my viewing of the film.

I think the directors left alot open at the end of this film enabling the chances of a SAW VII. I would personally love to see many more SAW films. I would hope they never ended. Rumors are spreading like wild fire about what SAW VII may possibly be. Only the directors really know and hopefully it will be brought to reality and we will see it later this year. Let's keep hoping. Their are also alot of rumors saying that SAW VII will be in 3D. I really and truly hope that this doesn't happen. In my opinion when a film is made into 3D that is truely the ending. I hate 3D movies and think that by doing this they will destroy the greatest film series ever made. So Lionsgate Films and Director Kevin Greutert PLEASE do not make a SAW VII if you are going to make it 3D. Just leave us with VI films and keep a GREAT series.