99 Fun Facts About Saw

In which country did Saw's two creators write the script, only to find nobody there would fund it?

Australia passed on it, so the pair went abroad with a short film made from one of the script's scenes, and producers signed on almost at once.

What does Jigsaw's puppet ride when it appears before his victims in the Saw films?

A tricycle, an old-fashioned red one, carries the puppet into view; later films fixed him to it with magnets so that he could ride it on cue.

Why is Saw's killer nicknamed Jigsaw?

He cuts a jigsaw piece from victims' flesh when they fail his tests; in Saw II he says the shape marks what they lacked, a vital piece of the human puzzle: the survival instinct.

Which actor plays the Jigsaw Killer in the Saw films?

Tobin Bell took the part because the script's ending caught him by surprise, and he reckoned that if he hadn't seen it coming, audiences wouldn't either.

What is the name of the puppet Jigsaw uses to deliver his messages in the Saw films?

Billy is never called that on screen: the name is the one his creators and the crew use for the puppet, whose first face was built from clay, papier-mâché and ping-pong balls.

In the first Saw, what does Dr. Lawrence Gordon do to escape the bathroom?

He saws off his own foot with the hacksaw left in the room, and Saw 3D later reveals he survived by cauterising the stump on a steam pipe.

Who plays Dr. Lawrence Gordon in the original Saw?

Cary Elwes was sent the makers' short film on DVD and read the full script in one sitting; he later sued the producers over his share of the profits, then came back for Saw 3D.

Which co-creator of Saw also plays Adam, the photographer chained in the bathroom?

Leigh Whannell wrote the script as well, and during $400 worth of do-it-yourself reshoots he stood in for two other members of the cast.

In the first Saw's twist, Jigsaw turns out to have been posing as what?

The corpse on the bathroom floor stands up in the final minutes: the supposed suicide lying between the two prisoners had been their captor, listening all along.

Roughly how much did the first Saw cost to make?

About $1 million: the pair turned down bigger studio offers to keep the director's chair and a lead role, and their producers put a second mortgage on their office to pay for it.

In which city was the first Saw shot in just 18 days?

Los Angeles hosted the whole 18-day shoot at one production facility, where the bathroom was the only set that had to be built; the first sequel moved to Toronto.

At which festival did Saw premiere in January 2004?

Sundance gave it three packed midnight screenings, and the reaction persuaded Lionsgate to drop its direct-to-video plan and put the film in cinemas that autumn.

Which two low-budget hits inspired Saw's creators to fund a film themselves?

The Blair Witch Project and Pi showed them a film could be made for almost nothing; they reasoned the cheapest script to shoot would be two actors in one room.

Who plays Amanda, the survivor of a Jigsaw trap, in the first Saw?

Shawnee Smith, no horror fan, first turned the part down, calling the script 'horrific'; the director had named her on a whim, having had a crush on her since his teens.

What is the title of the instrumental theme heard over the twist endings of the Saw films?

'Hello Zepp' is named for the character Zep, though the script spells him with one P; written for the first film's finale, it was reused in every sequel.

Which former Nine Inch Nails member composed the Saw score?

The first film's score took six weeks; a Megadeth track was planned for the film but never used.

What is Zep Hindle's job in the first Saw?

Hospital orderly Zep looks like the villain until a tape reveals he was another victim, poisoned and following rules to earn the antidote.

What is the name of Jigsaw's ex-wife, who ran a rehab clinic in the Saw films?

Jill Tuck lost her unborn son at the clinic for recovering addicts where she worked; years after the divorce she is left a box holding his final instructions.

Which Saw police lieutenant is blackmailed into becoming Jigsaw's apprentice after avenging his sister?

Mark Hoffman killed his sister's murderer and dressed it up as a Jigsaw trap; the real Jigsaw abducted him for it and forced him to help build the games.

In Saw II, the house full of victims is slowly filling with what?

A deadly nerve agent gives the captives two hours to find the antidotes hidden around the house; among them is the teenage son of the detective questioning Jigsaw.

Who finally kills Jigsaw at the end of the third Saw film?

A grieving father he is testing is offered a last choice, to kill him or forgive him, and cuts his throat with a power saw; a tape then reveals that the game goes on.

Where is a cassette tape found during Jigsaw's autopsy in Saw IV?

In his stomach: the wax-coated microcassette turns up during the autopsy, and it tells the detective who plays it that the games have only just begun.

The game in Saw VI targets William Easton, an executive in which industry?

Health insurance: his company's policy of turning down claims had once denied Jigsaw himself cover for medical treatment, which is why its staff end up in the game.

In Saw 3D, Bobby Dagen is punished for what lie?

Claiming he survived a Jigsaw trap made him a rich self-help guru; his final test makes him attempt the ordeal he invented, and the hooks tear free.

Which device kills Jigsaw's ex-wife at the end of Saw 3D?

The reverse bear trap used is the original headpiece from the first film, and her killer is repaying her: she had locked him into one, which he escaped.

In Jigsaw (2017), who is revealed to be the new copycat killer?

Logan Nelson, the coroner, once mislabelled Jigsaw's X-rays, so the cancer went undiagnosed; Jigsaw judged it an honest mistake, spared him and made him his first apprentice.

Which comedian stars as Detective Zeke Banks in the Saw spin-off Spiral (2021)?

Chris Rock brought the idea to Lionsgate himself, wanting to try horror, and served as an executive producer as well as its star.

The Jigsaw copycat in Spiral (2021) targets which group?

Corrupt police officers are picked off one by one by the hero's own rookie partner, whose father was shot for agreeing to testify against a dirty cop.

In the tenth Saw film, Jigsaw travels to which country for a supposed miracle cancer cure?

Mexico is where he pays for a miracle operation at a clinic outside the capital, then finds no scar under his bandages: the surgery was faked, and the traps come out.

Which Saw film was the first to win generally positive reviews, scoring about 80% on Rotten Tomatoes?

Saw X put Jigsaw himself back at the centre, in a story set between the first two films, and was directed by the man who had edited six of the earlier ones.

As of 2025, which Saw film is the highest-grossing in the series worldwide?

Saw III took about $164 million worldwide on a budget of roughly $10 million; no later entry, not even the 3D one, has matched it.

In 2010, Guinness World Records named the Saw series what?

The most successful horror franchise in history was the title announced in July 2010, three months before a seventh film billed as the final chapter, which it was not.

Which UK attraction opened the roller coaster "Saw – The Ride" in 2009?

Thorpe Park's coaster hauls riders up a 100-foot vertical lift and drops them at a beyond-vertical 100 degrees, a fall it advertised as the steepest in the world.

Which Japanese company published the two Saw video games?

Konami picked up the first game when its original publisher went bankrupt, and hoped Saw would become a horror series to stand beside its own Silent Hill.

The 2018 Saw chapter of Dead by Daylight added which character as a playable killer?

Amanda Young joined the game as a killer called The Pig, named for the mask she wears; a detective from the first film was added as a survivor.

The 2003 short film used to pitch Saw is often referred to by what nickname?

Saw 0.5 is the fans' name for the short the creators shot from one scene of their script to win over producers; it was later included on the uncut DVD.

Which VH1 reality show had actresses competing for a role in Saw VI and Saw 3D?

Scream Queens gave its first winner, Tanedra Howard, a part in Saw VI and its second, Gabby West, one in Saw 3D; Howard's character survived and came back too.

According to the makers of the Saw films, the traps are what?

Real working objects, not CGI: a writer said a scalping chair really had gears that turned, and one of the most dangerous was a water box in which an actor held his head under for real.

Which production company bought Twisted Pictures' stake in the franchise in June 2025?

Blumhouse bought out the producers who had made every Saw film, while Lionsgate kept its half; the deal brought the first film's director back into the creative fold.

Which Saw detective, played by Danny Glover, becomes obsessed with catching Jigsaw after his partner dies?

David Tapp is thrown off the force after his partner's death and keeps watching the home of his chief suspect, convinced the doctor is the killer.

Roughly how much did the first Saw gross worldwide?

About $100 million worldwide made it one of the most profitable horror films since Scream, and a sequel was approved straight after its opening weekend.

The Saw II: Flesh & Blood video game was released for which consoles in 2010?

Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners got it on 19 October 2010, ten days before Saw 3D reached cinemas: the game was timed to ride the film's release.

Which low-budget horror hit beat Saw VI to number one on its opening weekend in 2009?

Paranormal Activity, already weeks into its run, took first place with $21 million; Saw VI's $14 million was the weakest opening the series had yet seen.

Which former New Kids on the Block singer plays Detective Eric Matthews in Saw II?

Donnie Wahlberg plays the detective whose teenage son is among Jigsaw's captives, and he came back to the role in later Saw films.

What was John Kramer's profession before he became the Jigsaw Killer?

Civil engineer: flashbacks in Saw IV show him as a successful one with a wife and a child on the way, the life whose collapse turned his skills to building traps.

Which drug addict's actions cause Jigsaw's wife to lose her unborn son in the Saw films?

Cecil slammed a door into her while robbing the clinic where she worked; Saw VI reveals that Amanda had put him up to the robbery, a secret later used to blackmail her.

Which star plays Marcus Banks, the retired police chief and father of the hero, in Spiral (2021)?

Samuel L. Jackson joined the Saw series as the hero's father, a former chief whose past catches up with him when he goes after the killer alone.

Which 2004 film gave Lionsgate a bigger opening weekend than Saw's $18.3 million?

Fahrenheit 9/11 came to Lionsgate after Disney ordered its Miramax arm to drop Michael Moore's documentary; it opened to $23.9 million that June.

Which publisher released the 2005 prequel comic Saw: Rebirth?

IDW published the one-shot to promote Saw II, telling how John Kramer became Jigsaw; Saw IV later rewrote much of that backstory on screen.

Which animated film was a child's birthday party expecting when a cinema mistakenly showed Saw 3D?

Megamind was what the birthday group had paid to see, and it took staff several minutes to stop the horror film. A week later the same cartoon knocked Saw 3D off the top of the box office.

What did the actor who plays Jigsaw donate to help make 1,000 special Saw III posters?

His own blood was drawn and mixed into the printing ink, an idea from the studio's marketing chief. The posters sold for $20 each, and the first was auctioned for the Red Cross.

In the Saw films, Jigsaw and his helpers wear the mask of which animal when abducting victims?

A pig mask hides the abductors because John Kramer began his work in the Chinese Year of the Pig. Saw IV traces the first masks to a New Year festival.

Which first-time director insisted on directing Saw himself as a condition of selling the script?

James Wan and his co-writer turned down richer studio offers so that he could direct. He went on to launch the Insidious and Conjuring series and to make Aquaman.

In Saw II, what fills the pit that a captive is thrown into to search for a key?

Syringes, about 120,000 of them, had their metal tips swapped for harmless fibre points over four days. Even that many could not fill the pit, so foam was hidden underneath.

Before its festival success, Lionsgate planned to release the first Saw in what way?

Straight to video was the plan until midnight festival crowds reacted so well that the studio booked cinemas instead. Saw then opened third in the US, behind Ray and The Grudge.

Saw's Jigsaw lost the Best Villain prize at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards to which Star Wars character?

Darth Vader, as played by Hayden Christensen in Revenge of the Sith, took the award. Jigsaw was nominated again a year later for the third film and lost to Jack Nicholson.

Jigsaw's terminal illness grew from a Saw writer's fear that his own migraines were caused by what?

A brain tumor was what he feared while waiting for an MRI, and the dread of being told he had little time left became John Kramer's backstory.

Which rock frontman took acting lessons to play Evan, a skinhead caught in a trap in Saw 3D?

Chester Bennington of Linkin Park hired an acting coach to work out his character's motives. His side band Dead by Sunrise also features on the film's soundtrack album.

Before choosing a bathroom, Saw's creators thought of trapping two actors where for the whole film?

In an elevator, watched only through security cameras, was one early idea for the cheapest possible shoot. They reasoned that two actors in one room would cost the least.

How did the MPAA first classify Saw for its graphic violence, forcing a re-edit before release?

Rated NC-17 at first, the film was trimmed until it earned an R. Saw 3D had it worse: it went back to the ratings board six times before it passed.

Saw is set in an unnamed American city, but Saw II through Saw 3D were all filmed in which Canadian city?

Toronto and its Cinespace studios hosted the shoots. For the second film alone, 27 sets were built on a single sound stage in three weeks.

Saw III held the record for the biggest Halloween weekend opening until which 2011 animated film beat it?

Puss in Boots opened to $34 million in 2011, edging past the $33.6 million that the horror sequel had made five years earlier.

Which earlier serial-killer thriller did Saw's writer name as an inspiration for the script?

Seven was a model of construction for him, though he felt the stories differed: Saw is told from the victims' side, not through the police chasing the killer.

Which Gilmore Girls actor plays FBI agent Peter Strahm in Saw IV and Saw V?

Scott Patterson had just finished playing diner owner Luke Danes when he took the role. His agent is the first investigator to suspect that Jigsaw had more than one accomplice.

Which actor, later an Emmy winner for Lost, plays Zep, who holds Dr. Gordon's family hostage in Saw?

Michael Emerson called the script's twist the best ending he had ever read. He found the short shoot punishing, then went on to play the island schemer Ben Linus.

The director of the first Saw has said he cast the actor who plays Jigsaw mainly for what quality?

His voice won him the part, fitting for a villain who is heard on tapes long before he is seen. A hockey-playing friend of a producer had turned the role down first.

Which country gave Saw VI an X rating, restricting it to just eight adult cinemas?

Spain classed it as fit for adult cinemas only because of its extreme violence. A trimmed version reached ordinary Spanish screens a year later.

How did the three producers of the first Saw raise the money to shoot it?

By remortgaging their office, the trio found the budget themselves. They also gave the two creators creative control and a quarter of the net profits.

Most of the deadly game in Jigsaw (2017) takes place inside what kind of building?

A barn hosts the game, a change from the warehouses and bathrooms of earlier films. The film was shot in late 2016 under the working title Saw Legacy.

Kevin Greutert directed Saw VI after doing which job on the first five Saw films?

Film editor was his job from the very first film, where he helped the director disguise missing shots with stills and fake security footage. He stepped up after five films in the cutting room.

Which director made Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV, then returned to the series for Spiral in 2021?

Darren Lynn Bousman was a music video director whose own rejected script was reworked into the second film. He made three in a row before stepping away.

Which actor plays the police detective who secretly carries on Jigsaw's work from Saw IV to Saw 3D?

Costas Mandylor first appears in the third film as a forensics detective before his character becomes the main villain. He was earlier a regular on the TV drama Picket Fences.

Which Braveheart actor plays Jeff Denlon, who must confront a drunk driver in Saw III?

Angus Macfadyen, the epic's Robert the Bruce, took the part as a fan of the first Saw. His character's tests ask whether he can forgive those involved in a fatal crash.

Which future Parenthood star plays Alison Gordon, the doctor's wife held at gunpoint in the first Saw?

Monica Potter plays the hostage who frees herself and fights her captor. She was already known for Con Air and Along Came a Spider.

In the climax of the first Saw, what does Adam use to beat the gunman Zep to death?

A toilet tank lid is the weapon, swung after Adam survives being shot. Two films later a detective uses another one to break out of the same bathroom.

Which Handmaid's Tale actor plays William Schenk, the rookie partner of the lead detective in Spiral (2021)?

Max Minghella signed on because the script read like the buddy-cop films of his youth crossed with a Saw film. He had earlier appeared in The Social Network.

Which punk singer accepted the role of drug dealer Xavier in Saw II, then dropped out over scheduling?

Henry Rollins, the former Black Flag frontman, had said yes before a clash of dates ruled him out. The part went to Franky G instead.

In Saw VI, what does the son of a dead client use to kill executive William Easton?

Hydrofluoric acid is pumped in by a platform of needles when the furious teenager pulls a lever. Jigsaw had left the final say to a family that blamed the executive for a death.

Why did the MPAA reject the original teaser poster for Saw II?

It showed severed fingers, two of them, standing in for the Roman numeral II. The banned image survived as the cover of the soundtrack album.

Jeff Denlon's tests in Saw III are staged inside what kind of abandoned building?

A meatpacking plant gives the film its freezer room and a vat that slowly fills from a grinder. Each test there brings him face to face with someone tied to the crash.

The five strangers tested together in Saw V are all linked to what deadly event?

A building fire that killed eight people ties them together: each helped to cause it or cover it up. They learn too late that every room could have been survived by all five.

In Saw III, the shotgun collar locked on Dr. Lynn Denlon will fire if what happens?

John Kramer dies and so does she: the collar is wired to his heart monitor, forcing the surgeon to keep her captor alive. It also fires if she strays out of range.

In Saw X, the con artists claim their experimental cancer treatment was developed in which country?

Norway is the supposed home of the treatment, recommended to John Kramer by a man from his cancer support group. The operation he pays for turns out to be a sham.

Which online game platform hosted the official 2023 tie-in Saw X: Survive the Obby?

Roblox got the tie-in, an obstacle course built by Amber Studio and released the same weekend the film opened in cinemas.

An officially licensed Saw escape room opened in 2018 in which American city?

Las Vegas got the escape room, built by the creators of the city's Fright Dome, which had been running a Saw haunted house each October.

Which SWAT officer, seen in Saw II and Saw III, becomes the main test subject of Saw IV?

Daniel Rigg is told that a missing detective is still alive and that he has ninety minutes. The actor had first auditioned to play a captive in the second film.

In the opening of Saw II, the key to a spiked mask has been hidden where on the wearer?

In his eye socket is where the key was surgically placed, and the police informant cannot bring himself to cut it out. The film's director stood in as the hooded figure who put it there.

In Saw II, where on each captive's body has Jigsaw written a number of the safe's combination?

The back of the neck carries each number, so nobody can read their own. One captive becomes so frantic that he slices away his own skin to see it.

In Saw V, FBI agent Peter Strahm survives a box filling with water around his head by using what?

A pen becomes a breathing tube when he pushes it into his own throat, an emergency tracheotomy. The move buys him enough time to be carried out alive.

In the first Saw, where does the key to Adam's chain end up moments after he wakes?

Down the bathtub drain it goes when Adam pulls the plug on waking. He only learns the truth in the final scene, when it is far too late.

Saw VI chains six employees to which fairground-style ride as it turns them past a shotgun?

A carousel carries them round while their boss is allowed to spare only two. The director first planned ten riders, then cut the number to six to match the film's title.

Which star of the 1983 comedy Private School plays Jigsaw's ex-wife from Saw III to Saw 3D?

Betsy Russell came out of a 15-year retirement from acting to take what began as a small part in the third film. She stayed for four more.

Which Dexter actress plays Brit, one of the five captives tested together in Saw V?

Julie Benz was playing Rita on the serial-killer drama when she took the role of a real estate developer. Her character is one of only two to reach the last room.

Which 7th Heaven star plays Laura, one of the captives in the house in Saw II?

Beverley Mitchell disliked horror so much that she needed five attempts to finish watching the first Saw. She took the part as a personal challenge.

Saw II grew out of an unrelated script by its director that studios had rejected, titled what?

The Desperate had been turned down for being too close to Saw, until the first film's cinematographer passed it to a producer. Its traps and deaths were kept for the sequel.

Saw's two creators handed Saw II to a new director because they were busy making which horror film?

Dead Silence, made for Universal and released in 2007, kept them away from the sequel. They stayed on as executive producers, and one of them revised the script.

Which country banned all public screenings of Saw 3D for nine months from April 2012?

Germany banned it after a Berlin court ruled that several scenes broke the country's law on depictions of violence. An appeal lifted the order in January 2013.

Zep Hindle follows Jigsaw's rules in the first Saw in the hope of earning what?

An antidote to a slow-acting poison in his own body is the prize, which makes the apparent villain just another of the killer's victims.

The five captives in Jigsaw (2017) wake up in chains wearing what on their heads?

Buckets cover their heads when they wake, and one of the five is still unconscious as the game begins. The film revived the series after a long break.