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Biodata
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Saw (original: 电锯惊魂) 1 |
| Type | Low-budget horror film 1 10 |
| Director / Screenwriter | Steve Kevin 1 10 |
| Production Company | New Line Cinema 6 8 |
| Budget | $1.3 million 6 8 10 |
| Status | Released theatrically; sequel and future-revenue rights sold to New Line Cinema 14 22 |
| First Appearance | 1 |
Premise
Saw follows victims trapped in deadly trials arranged by Jigsaw, a killer who targets people he judges guilty or ungrateful for their lives. His traps leave a possible route to survival, but demand extreme sacrifice; those who fail are marked with a puzzle-shaped piece of skin removed from their bodies. 2
At the film's center, Adam awakens chained in a decaying basement opposite Dr. Gordon, with an apparent corpse between them. Forced to choose between survival, family, and strangers, Gordon cuts off his own foot to escape. Adam then discovers that the corpse is Jigsaw, who incapacitates him and leaves with a final warning. 10
Production History
| Milestone | Chapter | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Project selection | 1 | Kevin chooses Saw as a commercially viable low-budget horror project, drawing on his detailed knowledge of its plot, setups, and filming techniques. |
| Rights protection | 3 4 | Kevin registers the screenplay and joins the Directors Guild to guard against plagiarism while retaining sequel rights. |
| Financing | 6 | New Line Cinema agrees to finance the film with a $1.3 million budget. Kevin accepts a performance-based box-office share capped at 5%. |
| Casting | 6 7 | More than one hundred actors attend auditions; Kevin personally selects the principal cast. |
| Principal photography | 8 | Filming begins on September 15, 1991. The production uses renovated empty rooms as sets and specially manufactured torture devices as its most costly props. |
| Filming completion | 8 9 | Kevin completes principal photography in twenty-five days, retaining time for reshoots and improvements. |
| Editing | 9 10 | Kevin receives priority first-cut rights and spends eight days editing the film with editor Tyn. |
| Theatrical release | 14 | The film receives an R rating and opens at midnight on Halloween across 800 screens near U.S. universities. |
Cast and Characters
| Performer / Character | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Clark Gregg | Jigsaw | Cast after Kevin fails to find a suitable older actor. Makeup is intended to give Gregg a more aged appearance. 7 8 |
| Salma Hayek | Female lead | Selected after standing out among numerous auditions; her role helps position her for wider recognition in Hollywood. 6 7 14 |
| Adam | Captive | Wakes chained in Jigsaw’s basement and remains trapped after Jigsaw reveals himself. 10 |
| Dr. Gordon | Captive | Is driven to cut off his own foot in an attempt to escape Jigsaw’s test. 10 |
Jigsaw
Jigsaw is the film's defining antagonist and the “soul” of its script. Rather than killing indiscriminately, he presents himself as a moral judge who forces people to confront the value of life through brutal, technically survivable tests. 2 7
Gregg’s calm, friendly-looking demeanor is deliberately contrasted with Jigsaw’s violence and self-righteous belief that he acts with divine authority. This contrast gives the character an unsettling, religiously tinged charisma. 10 11
- Targets people he believes have wasted their lives or committed moral wrongs. 2
- Designs torture devices and psychological trials that offer victims a costly chance to survive. 2 10
- Leaves puzzle-shaped marks on victims who fail his tests. 2
- Uses a hidden device to electrocute Adam after revealing himself in the basement. 10
Release and Reception
Marketing
New Line Cinema commits $3 million to college-area advertising, print-media outreach, and critic screenings after its internal evaluators identify Saw as a potential classic. 11 The advance-screening campaign uses roughly $500,000 in public-relations spending, while Roger Ebert is portrayed as judging the film independently and later choosing to support it. 12 13
The release strategy links the film to the audience for The Silence of the Lambs, targets college viewers during Halloween, and relies on early box-office performance to retain or expand its theatrical screen count. 13 14
Box Office
| Milestone | Gross | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Opening day | $8.43 million | Earned from 800 theaters; the result immediately assures profitability against the film’s production and marketing costs. 15 |
| Following day | $12.13 million | The continued run brings wider attention to Jigsaw and Clark Gregg. 16 |
| First week | $45.86 million | Establishes the film as one of the year’s most profitable low-budget releases. 18 |
| North American theatrical run | $86.52 million | Reported after the theatrical run concludes. 25 |
| Worldwide gross | $166 million | Final global total used to calculate Kevin’s 5% box-office share. 30 |
Critical Response
Internal evaluators praise the camerawork, pacing, suspense, and Jigsaw’s charisma, unanimously judging Saw capable of becoming a landmark horror film. 10 Roger Ebert responds favorably to Kevin’s explanation of Jigsaw’s philosophy and decides the film deserves a wider audience. 13
Franchise Rights and Legacy
Kevin retains the sequel rights during the initial financing negotiations because he considers the future franchise more valuable than immediate compensation. 3 4 Following the film’s success, New Line Cinema purchases the future rights for $30 million; the agreement includes two additional Saw scripts, Kevin’s producer credit, and his promotional cooperation. 22
Kevin later incorporates foreshadowing into Saw for a planned horror-film universe, recasting Jigsaw as a follower of an evil god and adding Cthulhu-related elements. 39
Notable Quotes
“People often live without knowing gratitude, but you won’t.” — Jigsaw 10
“His purpose was to teach people to cherish their own lives.” — Steve Kevin on Jigsaw 13