Saw
- Director: James Wan
- Writer(s): James Wan and Leigh Whannell
- Release: October 29, 2004
The original Saw film actually began as a short film by James Wan. It did so well, he made a full film out of the concept. Of course, this was an independent film not connected to a major studio. Wan decided to have Leigh Whannell mostly write out the screenplay while he directed it. By January 2004, Saw appeared at the Sundance Film Festival where it did terrific among critics. That allowed it to have a fall release. On just a $1.2 million budget, the film made roughly $104 million at the box office!
The movie offers a psychological twist, where it puts people in often impossible choices. For example, a photographer and oncologist are chained up with a corpse in between them holding a revolver and microcassette. Both men find a tape in their pockets that both have different directions. The photographer is told to escape while the doctor is told he must kill the photographer by 6:00 or his wife and daughter will die. This is all designed by the Jigsaw Killer to test his victims and their will to survive. He puts them through “games” in one of the scariest movies you’ll ever see, which might make your brain hurt.