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It got them noticed, as Wan and Whannell revealed that offers came in from the likes of DreamWorks and Gold Circle, trying to lure them in with a big budget. But they refused, for there was no guarantee that Wan would direct. There was also the possibility that Whannell would be replaced by a bigger actor and that his script would be rewritten to include car chases, sex scenes and explosions. Producers Gregg Hoffman, Oren Koules and Mark Burg of Evolution Entertainment saw their short film and loved it. They read the script and loved that also. They made a deal with Wan and Whannell, offering them a low budget, but full creative control. They accepted. Hoffman, Koules and Burg formed genre arm Twisted Pictures and Saw became its first film.

Shooting began in September 2003. With hardly any time for prep or rehearsals, the majority of the film was shot in a warehouse in just 18 days. The low budget shows in quite a few scenes - a car chase has cars that are obviously stationary and a police station is suffering from a severe lack of light bulbs. An editing suite was set up in Wan’s apartment where he rushed to edit the film so that it could play as part of the Sundance Film Festival’s Park City at Midnight section.

It premiered there in January 2004, with Whannell recalling how two women walked out during its first screening, saying that they just “couldn’t handle it.” While walkouts would signal that a film is destined for disaster, the reasoning here only got people talking about Saw. Wan was later told that the cut he delivered at Sundance was “too intense.” Lionsgate moved in quickly before the competition could take notice and actually picked the film up for worldwide distribution just days before it even screened at Sundance.

Saw works because Whannell’s script is absolute dynamite with a unique concept. A lot of the time, we the audience are as clueless as the main characters. It keeps you guessing with many twists and turns, and audiences love their surprise twisty endings, which often contribute to hot word-of-mouth. The final eight minutes are absolutely phenomenal, with a reveal that causes the viewer to reassess the whole film. Only then do we realize that we’ve been had.

Also unlike most horror/thriller films where we just accept that the crazed killer is crazy (“motives are incidental” are they?), Jigsaw was dangerously different and an integral part to Saw’s success. Although he’s rarely seen in the film, his presence is felt throughout, via his voice and that tricycle-riding puppet. “Most people are so ungrateful to be alive,” says Jigsaw to one of his victims. He places his victims in these games in the hope that their experience will help them gain a different outlook on life. Unfortunately, most of them don’t survive long enough to change that outlook. Those that do must pay a price for their freedom. As we’re told, Jigsaw “finds ways for his victims to kill themselves.”

It’s debatable, but a good chunk of his victims are sinners and this is also interesting. Who exactly are the audience supposed to side with here? The immoral victim? Or Jigsaw? Well, they’re both in the wrong, right? The character of Detective Sing would be the main exception here, but one could argue that these people deserve to die and that Jigsaw is just trying to rehabilitate them. He wants his victims to appreciate the life that they have. Should they fail their game, what’s the loss? Might as well give Jigsaw a police badge and tell him to carry on administering his own brand of justice. Okay, I don’t really believe that, but the film splits audiences on Jigsaw and his motives. While some may see him as a sympathetic serial killer, it’s worth noting that he will kill if he has to. In one scene, Jigsaw attempts to kill two characters through "his own" actions. Another thing that separates Saw is that the killer actually manages to get away with it! How many times does that happen?

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