Time Network Special Article Some movies are so classic that only one or two lines can awaken the memory of fans. For example, in a deep voice, "I want to play a game." ”
Now, do you remember the fear of being dominated by jigsaws?
In 2004, director Wen Ziren filmed "Chainsaw", which made his debut, and embarked on a journey of directing horror films with this series.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the first work in the series, and taking advantage of this opportunity, Time Jun revisited this work and was deeply impressed again.
Saw
The "Saw Horror" series should be the most influential series of horror films in film history, and there is no need to add "one" here.
In the past 19 years, 10 films have been filmed in a row, and the quality of each one is remarkable. And it is the first work in the series that lays a solid foundation for it.
The beginning of the legend
Saw has multiple charms. The most superficial layer is naturally those traps and props that are full of design.
At the beginning of the film, the mysterious man is trapped in an abandoned toilet with Adam (played by Ray Warner) and Lawrence (played by Gary Elvis), and they are chained. Later, they found two tapes, jigsaw, and spoke in a deep voice, accusing them of their attitude towards life and giving vague escape instructions. The first key prop was a hand saw, but it didn't help with chains, it turned out that this hand saw was used to saw legs.
In flashbacks, jigsaws are presented with more elaborate mechanisms. For example, if a person is to survive, he must pass through layers of barbed wire, and he is in danger of losing blood and dying.
For example, some people are covered in flammable materials, and they must take a candle to find the key in an enclosed space, and accidentally set themselves on fire. In another example, Amanda is faced with a hood that hooks her upper and lower jaws, and the key must be retrieved from the living person's body within a time limit, otherwise the hood will tear her mouth apart......
Every trap is perverted, but the jigsaw isn't a murderer. This is the second major feature of "Chainsaw", which is far-reaching, the villain Jigsaw is like the embodiment of death, he puts people in a desperate situation to test human nature, and uses death to warn the world of the preciousness of life.
Jigsaws are all people who don't respect life and life. He firmly believes that people can only truly make changes between life and death, and that those who do not value life do not deserve life. It is worth noting that he is extremely sincere, creates rules and respects them, and he never kills people maliciously, but lets the tested challenge the game. Those who fail die, but those who succeed are even grateful to him as if they were given a new life.
On a deeper level, "Chainsaw" also has a big reversal, which makes people frightened after reading the story, and has more aftertaste that has been exhausted and meaningful.
Specific to the playwriting technique, it is to use sufficient plot to create "narrative tricks", and then overturn the previous conclusions and give a surprising ending. For example, the film first foreshadows a number of details to make Adam and Lawrence believe that Saip is a jigsaw.
So, the two plot to kill Sepp, and Lawrence escapes by sawing off his leg and promising to come back to save Adam.
At the end, the "corpse" lying in a pool of blood suddenly stood up, and it turned out that he was the jigsaw himself.
The subtlety of this ending is not only unexpected, but it also bridges the flaws in the rules of the game. Because according to the requirements, only one person can live, and he appeared to make the whole game run successfully.
Looking back at the "Saw Horror" series, it is precisely because the sequels mostly follow these three methodologies that they have been able to maintain a very high standard.
A miracle of small costs
"Chainsaw" has been a huge success with its excellent play, brain-opening mechanism design and unique violent presentation. The film cost only $1.2 million, but it grossed more than $55 million in North America, which is a miracle.
The production process of the film itself is also a legend. Influenced by David Lynch and Dario Aguientu, Wen decided to take a surrealist approach, placing his characters in a desperate situation and allowing them to escape within a limited time, creating a thrilling, thrilling experience and weaving a complex, chilling plot. At the same time, he also invited Ray Wenner, who played Adam in "Saw", to co-write the script.
It is worth mentioning that the talented man collaborated with Wen Ziren as a screenwriter to create the "Latent" series, and also directed the third part. In addition, his directorial masterpieces in recent years include "Upgrade" and "The Invisible Man", both of which are rare horror films.
At the time, Ray Wenner was in the midst of a health crisis, and the two incorporated the theme of cherishing life into the story.
In addition, "Saw Horror" has two new ideas. One is that the film abandons the police perspective that is usually used in police films, but allows the audience to put themselves in the perspective of the victim from the beginning, welcoming the bloody experience while undergoing moral tests. The second is that the villain is presented in a very unique way, in the film, he hardly appears, but he is everywhere.
But the problem is that Maxima also needs Bole's appreciation. At that time, Wen Ziren and Ray Wenner were both unknown little people, and it was very difficult to attract investment.
So the two decided to scrape together a few thousand dollars to make an experimental short film "Saw 0.5" first, and put as many elements of the script as possible into it.
Eventually, they managed to get the approval of producer Greg Hoffman, and the project went smoothly. Amazingly, the film only took 5 days to prepare for and 18 days to shoot, but Wen Ziren and Ray Wenner relied on their genius creativity and extraordinary execution to create a myth in the film industry.
Even, to a certain extent, "Chainsaw" has changed the appearance and expression conventions of B-grade films. To this day, the legend is still enough to inspire creators who want to pursue a career in the film and television industry.
Shinigami Eisei
There is a detail in Saw that the victim will be left with a scar that resembles a puzzle shape. And the same is true of this series, each of its sequels is trying to expand this horror film IP from a different perspective, expand the territory of the story, and improve the rationality of the story.
The upside is that the Saw universe is getting bigger and bigger, and the downside is that the series is becoming more and more like a series.
For example, in "Saw 2", the number of people tested has expanded from two people to a "group of eight", and Amanda, the only survivor in the previous flashback, is also among them.
Detective Matthew leads the team to Jigsaw's hideout, but he doesn't dare to move it, because Matthew's son Daniel is one of the tested. In this part, the mechanism and the trial of human nature have been upgraded again, especially the design of "needle pit spoon", which is full of pain.
On the surface, it will be the group of eight who will be put to the test, how they will face a desperate situation, and Matthew's ability to sit still and make small talk with jigsaw when he sees his son's life in danger. But at the end of the story, there is a big reversal, and the true face of the "narrative trick" is revealed, and it turns out that the real person who is tested is Amanda, and she becomes a jigsaw disciple through this battle.
"Saw 3" is the opposite of "Saw 2". The film first presents the iconic elements of the series, two tests of life and death mechanisms, and strangely, the people who pass the game are still killed by the mechanisms, which is obviously not the jigsaw style. Then, the formal test begins, and the challengers are Len, the doctor, and Jeff, another man.
Jeff faces a lot of traps, and at each level there is a person involved in his son's car accident, and he must choose whether to forgive or not to save them in order to let go of the loss of his son, while Lane has to perform a craniotomy on a jigsaw in a rudimentary medical facility, and the jigsaw survives to save her life.
The ending is still a big reversal, and Amanda, the disciple who originally helped the jigsaw arrange the mechanism, is the one who is really tested. Her problem is that she is too emotional and doesn't play by the rules of the game. So, through a series of complex plots, "Saw 3" really wants to tell a story about cleaning up portals. This one also leaves a dilemma: Jigsaw is dead, how can the sequel be filmed?
"Saw 4" opens with high energy, the forensic doctor dissects the body of the jigsaw and finds the tape he swallowed before his death in his stomach, and in "Saw 6", the jigsaw leaves his wife with 6 envelopes. With these objects, the jigsaw can still continue to judge the world as a god of death.
And parts 4-7 of "Saw Horror" introduced a new character, Hoffman, who was a police detective who was once convinced by the jigsaw and became his believer. Later, he also used his identity and ability to arrest those sinners who did not know the blessings in the midst of the jigsaw. This also solves a problem in the play, why can the jigsaw trap the tested at will. Compared to Amanda, Hoffman is more calm and rational, and his style is more in line with the requirements of a jigsaw, but he also hides secrets.
In this series, "Saw 9: Vortex" is the worst word-of-mouth, and the fundamental reason is that it focuses on the police, and the most critical mechanism design, human temptation, and reversal narrative are all thrown aside.
Just when the audience thought that the "Saw Universe" had finally come to an end, "Saw 10" appeared in the public eye with an excellent reputation. The film is unusual, portraying the jigsaw as a fragile old man, which greatly enriches the characters, and in addition, the medical fraud experienced by the jigsaw also directly points to the phenomenon existing in American society, with a strong humanistic spirit. From the story, it echoes "Chainsaw 6", debunking the routine of commercial insurance companies refusing to settle claims.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of "Saw Horror", and "Saw 11" will also be released within the year. What will happen to the rest of the story? We don't know. But as long as the "three-plate axe" is still there, this series is worth continuing to look forward to.
It is very important that it is better to have Mr. Jigsaw appear on the front. There are many ways, for example, the story of "Saw 10" takes place between "Saw 1" and "Saw 2". Jigsaw is the soul of this series, and as long as he is there, the foundation of the story will be much more solid.
As viewers, of course, we also hope that "Chainsaw" will continue to be filmed, and every once in a while we can hear the familiar phrase: "I want to play a game." "Let death live forever, and let judgment continue.
Author: Xiao Gen
Editor: Donnie Yen