Content warning: graphic images and descriptions of violence. Imagine being a creepy lil' freak who loves the gory Saw franchise so much that you ranked your favorite deadly traps and want people to relive the horrors with you. Lionsgate / Via giphy.com
It me. I'm the creepy freak.
There's something about Jigsaw's bone-breaking, gut-wrenching, nearly impossible contraptions that's so fascinating yet extremely terrifying. Lionsgate
So, here is my ranking of the 18 most horrific saw contraptions. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!
18. In Saw IV , two men with their eyes and mouth sewn shut were forced to work together in order to free themselves in the "mausoleum " trap. A random dude named Trevor and Jigsaw's former lawyer, Art Blank, were chained to a big ol' winch in the middle of a creepy mausoleum. Once activated, the trap slowly pulled both men into the middle of the room until they were crunched up by the winch. Trevor's eyes were stitched shut, and Art's lips were sewn together. Each of them had to work together using their available senses to find the key to escape the trap. Art figured out the key was on Trevor's back, but since they weren't able to communicate properly, Trevor freaked out and tried to kill Art. Both men fought each other, Art killed Trevor and then managed to free himself with the key. Bummer for Trevor.
Lionsgate 17. In Saw III, a lax judge was chained down to the bottom of a huge tank slowly filled with hot dog sludge in the "pig vat " trap. Judge Halden was abducted and chained down to the bottom of a giant vat for giving too light of a sentence to a drunk driver who killed Jeff Denlon's eight-year-old son. The vat slowly began to fill up with the blended guts of maggot-infested pigs. The porky juice sludged covered the judge's body and even went into his mouth. Judge Halden's life was placed into Jeff's hands. Jeff was forced to burn his son's belongings in a furnace and destroy his family's memories to stop the sludge. Before the judge drowned in the pig's guts, Jeff retrieved the key and set him free. This trap had a happy ending, but the idea of maggots and blended pigs going into my mouth almost sounds worst than any other Saw death.
Lionsgate 16. In Saw VI , when the shady insurance dude thought he was out of the game, he realized nobody had his back in the "acid room" trap. When he thought he had won, William Easton entered a room with a giant container of hydrofluoric acid "AF" connected to two devices — a bed of needles and a sprinkler system on the ceiling. Trapped in two connected rooms were his sister Pamela Jenkins and a mother and son, Tara and Brent Abbott. Pamela's life was threatened by the acid-filled sprinklers if he didn't reach her in time. William reached his sister, but Tara and Brent's room had a lever to the giant bed of needles in William's room. He discovered they were the surviving family of the man he did dirty, and when Tara chickened out and didn't pull the lever, her son delivered the final blow. The needle bed impaled William, and the acid slowly entered his body, dissolving his stomach and spreading his bloody guts all over the floor.
Lionsgate 15. In Saw 3D, a cheating girlfriend and her two suitors had to cut the trio down to two in the "public execution " trap. In the storefront of a hardware shop, two guys, Ryan and Brad, were chained to a see-saw contraption with three circular saws. Strapped to the harness above the contraption was Dina, a woman who had used both of the men to commit crimes for her benefit. Only two people could survive this trap. Each man could force one of the saws to slice up the other saving themself and Dina. A third blade would cut Dina in half if they didn't try to win. Dina showed no loyalty when each guy took turns getting the upper hand. Instead of fighting, Ryan and Brad agreed to stop and aimed the middle blade at Dina. She was slowly sawed in two, and the boys lived happily ever after.
Lionsgate 14. In Jigsaw , two unconvicted criminals were almost suffocated in the "grain silo " trap filled with sharp objects. Anna framed her husband for the murder of their newborn baby, and Mitch sold a man a motorcycle with no brakes and inadvertently killed him. They were trash people, so one of Jigsaw's random (unmentioned) successors abducted them and put them through a series of tests (not just one, because consistency isn't a thing in the Saw universe). For some odd reason, they got inside a giant silo that rapidly started to fill with grain. They could only escape if another trash person, Ryan, chopped off his leg with a lever to stop the grain. He took his precious time, and they almost died because Bob the Builder's deadly tool set started falling from the sky, but Ryan eventually chopped his stubby leg off, and they barley escaped with their lives.
Lionsgate 13. In a Saw IV flashback, the drug addict who started it all became Jigsaw's first victim in the cutting-edge craftsmanship of the "knife chair ." Cecil Adams was a drug addict whose attempt to rob the Homeward Bound Clinic resulted in the accidental death of Jill Tuck and Jigsaw's unborn baby. He was abducted and strapped to a wooden chair with knives sticking out of the armrest and piercing his hands. Jigsaw then placed him in a headgear covered in sharp knives, and the only way to escape was for Cecil to press his face against them before he bled to death. Cecil barely even attempted to press his face against the blades before the chair broke. Instead of being happy with escaping, he charged at Jigsaw, who quickly sidestepped. This caused Cecil's dumbass to leap into a cage of razor wire and die.
Lionsgate 12. In Jigsaw , a crooked motorcycle salesman was mixed up in the deadliest contraption known as the "cycle " trap. Grimey Mitch sold a motorcycle with faulty brakes to Jigsaw's nephew (wait, what?) and caused him to get hit by a diesel truck. In retaliation, Jigsaw dangled Mitch by his ankle above a giant blender designed to look like the spiral design that became Jigsaw's calling card. The spiraling blades were controlled by the same engine as the motorcycle Mitch sold, and the only way to stop it was to reach down in the middle of the contraption and press the brake handle. It appeared to be an easy trap if he remained calm. Anna messed everything up by briefly jamming the trap. He celebrated too early, and once it restarted, it sliced his ass up like Kendall Jenner cutting a cucumber.
Lionsgate 11. In Saw VI , Jigsaw chained up a crooked insurance broker and his innocent chain-smoking janitor in the "breathing room " trap. Shady health insurance executive, William Easton, was abducted by the Jigsaw gang and woke up to find himself and his company's janitor, Hank, wearing a deadly breathing apparatus connected to giant metal clamps. Every time one of them took a deep breath, the machine violently crushed their love handles. The heartbreaking reveal was Hank was a chronic smoker, so he was at a major disadvantage. It was the worst ASMR experience hearing each deep breath followed by a slow body crunch. Hank inhaled one too many times, and blood burst out of his mouth after he was impaled. It was a wild anti-smoking commercial.
Lionsgate 10. In Saw VI , two predatory lenders are forced to cut their losses and their limbs off in the "pound of flesh " trap. Two shady loan sharks named Eddie and Simone, jailed in metal grates, had to avoid holes drilled in their heads by offering up the most flesh. They were gifted a knife, meat cleaver, and 60 seconds on the clock to get chopping. Since Eddie was a much larger person than Simone, he started with an advantage by cutting off his love handles. Simone was a quick thinker and went for entire limbs — starting with her finger, forearm, and finally the whole damn thing. Watching her take a meat cleaver to the arm with five to six good whacks was true to the franchise's shock value and gore. Eddie's body chunks didn't weigh enough, and he lost after the machine drilled two giant holes in his skull.
Lionsgate 9. In Saw II , a meathead drug dealer had to find a key in a hole filled with used syringes but threw someone else in the "needle pit " trap instead. Angry-for-no-reason drug dealer, Xavier Chavez, was instructed to jump into a pit filled with dirty, greasy used syringes to find a small key to a giant safe containing an antidote that could save everyone's lives. Instead of taking responsibility, Xavier picked up Amanda Young and tossed her into the pit because she was a recovering drug addict and was used to needles. What? (Makes sense. Not.) Amanda's entire body was covered with needles dangling from her skin as she dug deep through the hole. It's the most simple trap of them all, but as a germaphobe — I would rather be chained up to a table saw. Amanda found the key, but Xavier's dumb ass couldn't get it in the hole in time, and he miserably failed at life twice in a couple of minutes.
Lionsgate 8. In Saw VI , the shady insurance broker had to decide which two of his six employees to permanently fire in the "shotgun carousel ." The Umbrella Health insurance company manager, William Easton, had to decide which of his six assistants to save. Each one was chained to a merry-go-round from a children's park with a giant spiral in the middle. Each person took turns until they landed before a shotgun that would kill them. William could only save two of the six by pressing a button that stopped the gun and skips a person. All of his assistants took turns pleading their cases to survive. Like their career strategies, most of them lied. In the end, Emily and Shelby had the most convincing stories. They used their children and sick parents' lives for pity. The other four got giant holes in their chest.
Lionsgate 7. In Saw III, a drug-addicted jailbird had his entire body pierced and chained up in the "classroom " trap. Troy was a drug addict who found himself in and out of prison, leading him to become a victim of Jigsaw's deadly traps. Troy was stripped down to his underwear and had metal rings chained to different parts of his body and suspended from different parts of an abandoned children's classroom. The only way to escape was to snatch the hooks from his body before the time ran out. If the time ran out, a cute little nail bomb connected to an adorable teddy would explode and rip his body to shreds. Unfortunately, this was one of the rigged traps, and even when he successfully removed the chains (which he didn't), the door was welded shut, locking him in the room forever. The teddy bear bomb blew up, and Troy's body was scattered throughout the room.
Lionsgate 6. In Saw V , a convicted murderer realized that only sacrificing his hands wouldn't cut it in the "pendulum " contraption. Seth Baxter, a convicted criminal who killed Jigsaw apprentice's (Mark Hoffman) sister, Angelina Acomb, was let out on a technicality. Bad move. Mark captured this fool and shackled him on a metal table beneath a swinging pendulum blade. The only way to break free was to crush both of his hands in a vise. Unfortunately, Hoffman rigged the trap, so even though Seth slowly crushed his phalanges, the blade sliced through his gut. It ripped out his intestines and eventually cut` him completely in two. After he was cut in half, the shackle around his neck was released. Homie never had a chance.
Lionsgate 5. In Saw III , the smartest detective in the police force was captured and hooked into the unbeatable "angel of death " trap. Detective Allison Kerry was one of the brightest cops working on the Jigsaw murders. She just didn't stand a chance against the combined forces of Jigsaw and his crooked apprentices. They connected her suspended body to a padlocked metal harness. A bunch of metal brackets was connected to the harness and her ribcage. The only way to escape was to grab a key from the bottom of a jar of acid before it dissolved. Being an expert on Jigsaw traps, Detective Kerry retrieved the key before her hand burned off, but the key didn't work. This was another trap rigged for failure. The clock ran out. The harness flung open like "angel wings," ripping out her ribcage.
Lionsgate 4. In Saw 3D, the publicist of a "Jigsaw surviving imposter" got impaled because they couldn't keep their mouth shut in the "speak no evil " contraption. Nina, the opportunistic publicist of Bobby Dagen, helped him lie about being a survivor of Jigsaw's traps and was given the first-hand opportunity to make their lies a reality. As part of Bobby's tests, he had to rescue Nina, strapped up like an institutionalized patient in a metal contraption with her head surrounded by a steel ring. Inside the ring were four protruding, sharp metal rods that would slowly move closer to piercing her head after sixty seconds. To stop the machine, Bobby had to remove the key from inside her body, which was connected to a fish hook. The hook took bloody chunks from her innards when he tried to yank it out. To make matters worse, because the ASMR or this woman's guts being yanked out wasn't enough, every time she screamed, it made the sharp rods move faster. Bobby finally yanked the key (and some guts) out, but he was a few seconds too slow, and the pokey metal sticks slowly pierced Nina's skull.
Lionsgate 3. In Saw II , a sneaky police informant got in over his head with the "death mask " trap. The nosy police informant, Michael Marks, was targeted by Jigsaw because he was a snitch, always helping out the crooked cops for a little coin. Instantly, Michael's trap was on a different level than the others. Jigsaw and company surgically inserted a key behind Michael's eye. He had to use a tiny scalpel to extract it before the clock ran out. To add insult to deadly injuries, his head was trapped in a "venus fly trap" mask that looked like a mini iron maiden covered in tiny spikes. When the time ran out, the mask closed around his head like the Man in the Iron Mask , except he wouldn't be a hot Leonardo DiCaprio twin — he would become a dead-ass Hellraiser/ Pinhead clone. In the end, Michael barely poked himself with the scalpel, gave up, and the spike mask snapped his ass to death.
Lionsgate 2. The reverse bear trap in Saw , Saw VI, and Saw 3D: The Final Chapter was the most sustainable and reusable contraption. In the first film. Amanda Young proved herself as one of Jigsaw's earliest victims and original proteges when she beat the clock of the reverse bear trap that would completely snatch her jaw open. She got a pretty easy test and was forced to cut open a man's stomach to find a key. A new and improved bear trap was used on Jigsaw's other apprentice, Mark Hoffman, by Jill Tuck, Jigsaw's ex-wife, when Hoffman took things too far. Detective Hoffman survived by jamming his face in a window. Hoffman brought the original reverse bear trap back when he got revenge on Jill, and for the first time, we got to see what it looked like when someone's face was ripped off. The movie was 3D, so bloody chunks flew at your face. It was disgusting, but a great close to one of the original traps that started it all.
Lionsgate 1. And finally, the original Saw had the most elaborate yet cost-effective scenario, the bathroom trap, which set the tone for the following eight films. Jigsaw's doctor, Lawrence Gordon, cheated on his wife, and Adam Stanheight was a freelance photographer who made money spying on shady people like the doctor. Their reasons for abduction probably have the lowest stakes of all the Saw franchise victims, but the execution of their trap is immaculate. The men had to sort through a series of sadistic Blue's Clues to discover two saws they could use to saw off their feet. Although, throughout their captivity, they're given other options that they either refused or couldn't figure out: poisonous cigarette, killing each other with a revolver, or finding the key (which they unknowingly kicked down the drain.) Dr. Gordon successfully sawed off his foot, and the men thought they killed Jigsaw. After Dr. Gordon escaped the room for help, John Kramer (the real Jigsaw!) stood up from the middle of the room and revealed himself. He was pretending to be dead the entire time! That's 100% dedication. He was a prop in the trap. 10/10 for performance, style, and literal execution.
Lionsgate "Congratulations, You Are Still Alive. Most People Are So Ungrateful To Be Alive... But Not You, Not Anymore." Which traps do you think were the most horrific in the Saw franchise? Lionsgate
Get your heart pumping with Fall, a new thriller that will take you to terrifying heights. Own it on Blu-Ray and Digital now! Promising Review: "FALL (Amazon Prime, maybe others): Tight, terrific, and very, very scary. Reminded me a bit of DUEL. Wish I'd written it." – Stephen King
Lionsgate View comments