Mythology: Saw
By Martin Felipe
October 22, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
As I said, this recent horror series has inspired the ire of critics, word-of-mouthers, bloggers, tweeters, facebook status updaters, and pretty much anyone with a public outlet to express their scorn. Yet, year after year, the latest installment rakes in another $50 million plus in ticket sales. I think I read somewhere that it's made more in five films (to date) than any of the three big franchises, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th have in their collective double digit installment grosses. No Saw film has topped $100 million like Blair Witch, The Ring and The Grudge, but consistency is the word of the day here and Saw has developed a passionate fanbase, excited to return every All Hallow's Eve to see Jigsaw or one of his disciples dispatch another bunch of ingrates who just can't seem to learn that all they have to do to survive is to show how much they appreciate life by permanently mangling themselves. And the fan base is passionate. There is a core who will always turn out for Saw - maybe not to the extent of Star Wars, Twilight or Harry Potter, but enough to keep the franchise going well beyond the trilogy level that most film series peter out at.
So why the disconnect? Certainly horror is one of the more polarizing of genres to begin with, but there are enough acclaimed classics of the form (The Exorcist, Halloween, Frankenstein, The Shining) to disavow genre prejudice, I would say. Saw exists within a splinter genre, the so-called torture porn or gorno. Now this label, while clever, is not quite accurate. Porn is real, not simulated, sex. To really be "torture porn", Jigsaw's traps would have to actually mutilate the actors. This seems like a bit of a nit-pick on my part, but I think it's significant in that the "torture porn" label exists to devalue any film that fits within its constricts. Is there artistic value in the Saw films? That's debatable, but throwing the descriptor of "porn" at them immediately reduces them to a category of crass commercial product designed to titillate the basest of human id.
Now I don't mean to dispute the graphic nature of the series, nor do I deny that there is a visceral response to the gore we see, but I find it disingenuous to criticize Saw (or its gorno bretheren like Hostel) for being violent. Gore, blood and viscera have all been part and parcel to the horror genre for decades. One could argue that Saw raises the bar on dismemberment, but there are many horror classics (Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead 2, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and so on) that enjoy acclaimed reputations in cinema's history books despite disturbing violence, not to mention other serial killer films like Silence of the Lambs or Se7en. I'm not sure where one draws the line, but it's a blurry one.
The label of porn also implies titillation for titillation's sake. You know, it means no real story other than the hot girl who can't pay the pizza man...at least not with cash. Wan, Whannell and their successors have crafted their stories as a series of puzzles, complete with an annual twist ending. Now the success of these violent head trips is in the eye of the beholder, but there is clearly some thought that goes into their construction. Jigsaw doesn't just torture the girl for not paying for her pizza. He constructs an elaborate game with definitive rules by which she must abide in order to survive.
For that matter, the Saw team put a lot of thought into the continuity of the films and in how they fit together. It's complex and convoluted, but with each installment, we get a new puzzle piece in Jigsaw's master plan, as well as in his ever-expanding back story. It's complicated beyond all probability, but I'm not so concerned with the verisimilitude of Jigsaw's mythology. Hell, he's a brilliant engineer. Maybe he is enough of a genius to have connected all of these myriad dots in advance. Looking for plot holes in such an approach can be fun, but it misses the point. The Saw creators care about the fans and work hard to make all of the pieces fit. If there are holes in the construct, it's certainly not for lack of care. Contrast that with, say, the Friday the 13th sequels, which are just a redundant string of Jason killings, each plot a repeat of the last, showing a contempt for the viewing hand that feeds the series.
And on that note, how awesome a villain is Jigsaw? He's certainly equal to many of the other big horror names. Now I loves me my Freddy Krueger and my Michael Myers. Don't misunderstand me. I like other serial killers like Hannibal Lecter and John Doe. I love Damien, and Jack Torrance, and all of the other big names of the genre. Say what you will about the Saw series, but few would dispute Jigsaw's worth as an addition to the horror baddie hall of fame. He's brilliant, scary, has a flawed philosophy, and a tragic past. He's calculating, thinks about 12 steps ahead of the rest of the world, and is dying of cancer. His master plan is so elaborate, it continues many films after his death. And, as the icing on the horror monster cake, Tobin Bell plays him. This dude has been creeping out viewers in pretty much every television show for the past 20 years or so, but it wasn't until Saw where he became a minor household name. And, he spends most of the first movie face down in a pool of blood. How they got a respected character actor to do that in a non-budget film I'll never know, but he's been the face of the biggest horror franchise of the decade ever since. It's a dubious cinematic immortality, yet a cinematic immortality all the same.
Look, I doubt the series will be reevaluated as some sort of maligned classic in the future. I do think, however, that many critics are being unfair in their harsh evaluation. It's not flawless, nor is it pretty, but Saw aims higher than many other less-hated horror franchises. Does it always hit its mark? Probably not, and, well meaning though it may be...well, the road to hell and all. Nevertheless, it is here to stay, and the creators have inspired a passionate following, far more passionate than other horror series enjoy. Okay, enough being the voice of dissent, back to TV next time. I'm sure Jigsaw would disapprove of my rule breaking.