1) Saw: Where It All Began
Without Dr. Lawrence Gorden’s first encounter with Jigsaw, none of the previous insanity would have ever been possible. Sure, by the time Saw 3D rolled around we had these technically gargantuan traps with massive complexities, but the very first Saw discovers true depravity by giving desperate characters nothing but a household tool and a choice. The moment when Gordon’s character realizes what the saws are meant for still stands as one of the most memorable reaction shots in recent horror history, as survival instincts hit Cary Elwes’ character like a sack full of dismembered body parts.
Coming full circle from my first pick, there’s nothing worse than the most barbaric of torture devices. We started out with a simple fishhook gutting its victim, and now we’ve reached a character forced into performing a self-amputation in order to stay alive. No crazy bells and whistles, no moving parts – just a chain, a saw, and the most despicable realization imaginable. I’m not sure James Wan could have ever predicted the franchise juggernaut his indie-horror-flick-that-could would become, especially when analyzing the evolution of traps from a simple chain to a collapsible blast furnace.
Be sure to relive Saw during its 10th anniversary re-release starting October 31st, a perfect start to any horror fan’s Halloween weekend!
