List of traps in the Saw film series
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One of the main focuses of the Saw film series are the traps that Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda create for their victims.
These traps, also called games or tests, come in two forms. The first are traps based around devices applied to the victim, usually with the effect of causing serious bodily harm if they are not removed by the end of the time allowed. The others involve a rigged area which the victim must escape, which are often based around interactions with other people. In both cases, they are created for people the central character deems unappreciative of their lives, and are designed to ironically reflect the problems of the characters. Often the victim will have to perform dangerous tasks or sometimes body mutilation to escape. While the traps do have solutions to them, few characters have survived them.
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[edit] Saw Traps
[edit] The Reverse Beartrap
One of the most infamous traps, this trap was used on a heroin addict named Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), who was duct taped to a chair in a dark room with a heavy metal apparatus hooked into her upper and lower jaw. The Jigsaw Puppet comes on the TV and reveals that she has a short amount of time to get the trap off of her, or it will act like a reverse bear trap and rip her jaws wide open. He tells her that the key is in the stomach of the dead man lying across the room from her. She must cut into his stomach and retrieve the key, although he is not actually dead - just in a state of paralysis due to opium. Amanda cuts his stomach open with a scalpel, getting the key and removing the trap just in time; as it dropped to the floor it shot open. The irony of this trap is that the man on the floor is Amanda's former drug dealer, and that he himself is on an opium overdose, presumably administered by Jigsaw.
[edit] The Razor Wire Maze
This trap involves a victim who wakes up inside a fenced-in area of a basement. Between the victim and the door, there is a gauntlet of densely strung together razor wire that the victim must navigate in order to find an exit. There is a hole cut somewhere at the end of the fence, but it is in a place where the victim is not likely to look. The door out of the basement is set on a timer and the victim must escape before the timer goes off. Paul Stallberg was the victim for this trap. He was a man with a decent life, yet he decided to slit his wrists, presumably for attention. According to Jigsaw, the irony of his situation was that if he really wanted to die, he just had to stay where he was (since the door to freedom would close, trapping him in). But if he wanted to live, he would have to "cut himself again". Footage from the movie shows him pushing his way through the wire, and making it to the end, but not finding the hole in time, therefore being trapped in the basement "forever". Detectives found him hanging dead on the razor wires. He was cut so deep that detectives found traces of stomach acid and intestines on the floor.
[edit] The Flammable Jelly
Mark Rodriguez, a hypochondriac, who is tested on his so called 'illness', is stripped nude, and covered in a flammable jelly. He is in a dark room with a safe, broken glass completely covering the floor (he is barefoot), a lit candle, and hundreds of numbers written on the walls. Via a recording, Mark is told that there is a slow-acting poison in his system and he has about two hours to find the correct combination and take the antidote for the poison which lies inside the safe. While looking at the walls however, he draws too close to the candle and goes up in flames. His scorched body is shown afterward. Detectives also found a peephole in the wall, showing that Jigsaw liked to "book himself front row seats to his own sick little games."
[edit] The Drill Chair Trap
This trap involves two power drills attached to the sides of a chair. As the time presses on, the drills move closer to the victim's head, which is held steady by a metal neck brace. In this case, a man named Jeff was shackled in while Detective Sing had to look for the key to his shackles. Inside a box connected to the chair was a key ring with countless keys. He did not know which one was the right one and moments before Jeff would be killed, Detective Sing shoots the drills, deactivating them.
[edit] The Quadruple Shotgun Trap
This trap involves four double-barreled shotguns suspended from a ceiling in a hallway, each with a tripwire connected to its trigger. When the victim steps across the string, a chain reaction is caused in which the four shotguns go off simultaneously, blowing the victim to pieces. In this case, the victim was Detective Sing, who was chasing Jigsaw through his warehouse in an attempt to capture him.
[edit] The Bathroom Trap
This trap involved two victims, Adam Faulkner and Dr. Lawrence Gordon, who had both been confined in a grimy industrial bathroom. Both were chained by the ankle to pipes at opposite ends of the bathroom. These pipes were connected to a remote electrical source. Since the chains were metal too, the electrical current conducted through those, to Adam and Gordon. It's later revealed Jigsaw had the remote to the electrical source. Also present in the room was a dead body, holding a gun, sitting in a pool of poisoned blood, just out of reach of the two prisoners. One of the prisoners, Lawrence, received a bullet, with which to load the gun and kill the other prisoner. He was told that if he didn't do this by a certain time, his family would be killed, and he'd be left to rot. In order to reach the gun, however, he had to saw off his own chained leg with a hacksaw, hidden in the room. The other victim, Adam, would have to try to escape by sawing off his own leg and leaving. It should also be noted that the hacksaw's strength is only enough to saw through flesh. Both tried to find alternatives, but could find none. Desperate to save his family, Lawrence was forced to saw his own leg off and retrieve the gun. He attempted to fatally shoot Adam, but closer inspection revealed that Lawrence only shot him in the shoulder. He then crawled out to find help. Adam, however, remained trapped. The dead body in the room was actually Jigsaw, who, after getting off the floor, told Adam that the key to unlock his chain went down the drain of the bathtub that Adam had woken up in. The bathtub was filled with water at that point, and Adam accidentally drained it when he woke up, unwittingly sending the key into the drain. It is assumed that Lawrence either died from his wounds or could not relocate the bathroom, because the corpse of Adam was found in the Nerve Gas House in Saw II. In Saw III, it is revealed that Adam did not in fact die of starvation or dehydration after being locked away, but by suffocation. Amanda, feeling terribly guilty, decided to help him by sneaking into the bathroom and placing a strip of plastic wrap over his head, bringing him to a somewhat more timely death.
[edit] Zepp's Test
After placing Lawrence and Adam in the Bathroom Trap, Jigsaw then put Zepp Hindle, a hospital orderly, into a game of his own: Zep had to monitor the two prisoners in the Bathroom Trap to assure that Lawrence killed Adam. If he didn't, then Zep would have to kill Lawrence's wife and daughter in order to attain an antidote to the poison flowing through Zepp's body. After Lawrence failed to kill Adam in time, Zepp attempted to kill the mother and child, but failed too, as they got away. Making his way down to the Bathroom Trap, he then tried to kill Lawrence, but was instead beaten to death with a toilet lid by Adam.
[edit] Saw II Traps
[edit] The Death Mask (a.k.a: The Venus Flytrap)
This trap is similiar to an iron maiden device, but on a smaller scale. Consisting of a harness, attached to the victim's chest, it is only removable if the key to the padlock is obtained. Attached to the harness are two masks, opposite from each other and angled down from the victim's head. Each mask has several nails protruding inwards. It is on a spring timer, and if it isn't removed in time, the two masks will clamp together on the victim's head, like a venus-fly trap, and drive the nails through his head. The victim in this trap was Michael, a police informant. In order to remove the device, Michael had to find the key, which he soon learned was hidden behind his right eye. Supplied with a scalpel, he attempted to surgically remove his eye, but failed to do so in time. The timer went off, and the masks snapped shut on his head. Falling to the floor, blood rapidly spilled from his wounds, out of the eye and mouth holes of the mask.
[edit] The Electrified Staircase
A staircase surrounded by a cage forms the setting for this two-trap guard mechanism. A tripwire halfway up causes the cage to close, and the cage itself becomes charged with an electrical current, while the stair above the pressure pad springs forward thereby breaking the shins of the victim (a S.W.A.T. officer); however, in the movie, the victim was considered the lucky one. The other two S.W.A.T. officers caught him as he fell back, and crashed into the caging, receiving a lethal shock.
[edit] The Nerve Gas House
This large-scale trap involves multiple victims in an abandoned house riddled with traps, containing one for each person. The victims breathe in a deadly nerve agent through the air-ducts as they navigate the house, and must find antidotes. The door to the house will eventually open on its own, but if they do not find an antidote, they will die before this happens. Each trap contains a way to get an antidote. Also inside the house, several weapons are found, including a single-edged blade and a bat with several nails driven through it. Aside from Laura, who succumbed to the nerve agent, the only others to die without the traps were Jonas, who got a blow to the back of the head with the nail-studded bat by Xavier, and Xavier, whose throat was slit with a hacksaw by Daniel. The majority of Saw 2 is played in the house. The traps shown to be contained in the house are as followed:
[edit] The Magnum Eyehole
This trap consisted of a locked door, with a revolver firearm attached on the other side of the eye hole, connected by a series of gears. A note given to the players told them not to use the supplied key on the door, but refusing to listen, Xavier chose to use it anyway. Turning the key in the lock, he unknowingly activated the gears, causing them to pull the trigger of the gun. The barrel of the revolver was aimed at the peephole, and would fire a bullet in whoever was in the direct line of fire. Gus was looking through it at the time, and was shot through the eye, blasting through the back of his head. The door, on a timer, eventually opened on its own.
[edit] The Furnace
This trap was built like a furnace for cremating bodies. The victim must crawl inside to retrieve two antidotes that are placed inside. One would be placed with a chain attached to the top of the furnace that, when pulled down, will close the door and ignite the furnace. The only way out is to twist a knob that turns off the gas. Obi fell victim to this and got burned alive. The knob had a painting of a devil pointing to it which said "twist". This clarifies Jigsaw's line, "Once you're in Hell, only the devil can help you out."
[edit] The Needle Pit
This trap involves a pit in the middle of a room, filled with several thousand syringes. A locked door in the room holds an antidote, but is set on a timer. If the timer expires, the door will remain locked forever. This trap was meant for Xavier, a drug dealer, who would have to jump into the pit of needles to find the key to the door. However, instead of going in himself, he picked up Amanda and dropped her in to find the key. Although she found the key in time, Xavier fumbled with it and was unable to unlock the door in time. This trap, unlike many of Jigsaw's other traps, would not kill the victim if they failed the task, but was more of a punishment (although the victim would still die from the effects of the nerve agent, unless an antidote was found).
[edit] The Razor Box Trap
This trap involves a glass container which was suspended from the ceiling. Inside the box is an antidote which is accessible by two holes underneath the box that are big enough to fit one's arms through. Once they put their arms through, however, they realize that the corners of the holes are fitted with blades that will bend up if something is inserted and if the person tries to take their hands out, the blades will go into their skin and the harder they pull, the deeper the blades go in. Addison fell victim to this trap. At first, she only inserted one hand, and may have been able to push open the blades and free herself (cylinders extending downward from the holes in the box would have made this extremely difficult), but the plunger to the needle was stuck to the bottom. When she pulled the needle up, the antidote inside spilled. Panicking, she reached her other hand inside to grab it, trapping her. It is unknown if she survived. It is later revealed in a featurette on the construction of the trap for the set that if the victim were to walk to the other side of the box, they would see a lock with a key sticking out of it, which in turn would have unlocked the box and allowed them to access the antidote without harm. Although Addison fell victim to this trap, it was intended for Gus.
[edit] The Waffle Iron Trap (unseen)
A trap meant for Addison, which was similar to a waffle iron. It would clamp down on Addison’s hands when she reached for an antidote, and burn them until released. The only way to unlock it would be to apply pressure to the top, which would have to be done by her head, as both of her hands would be trapped. By pressing her face against the top, she would open the mechanism up, freeing her hands at the price of burning and scarring her face. This trap was never seen on Saw II, as Addison instead ended up getting trapped in Gus’ trap (The Razor Box Trap). It was spoken of on a commentary for the film.
[edit] Detective Matthews' Test
After having his son Daniel kidnapped and placed in the Nerve Gas house by Jigsaw, Detective Eric Matthews discovers Jigsaw's lair, and with the S.W.A.T. team, he tries to convince Jigsaw to give up the whereabouts of the house. Jigsaw proposes a deal, stating that all Matthews has to do is listen, and he will get his son back. Though Detective Mathews does listen for while, he eventually tires of Jigsaw's game and instead resorts to brutality. After beating Jigsaw to within an inch of his life, Jigsaw ends the game, and takes Matthews to the house. The detective enters the house, only to find that his son is not there. After entering the bathroom, Eric is attacked by Amanda, disguised in a pig mask, as she leaps out and jabs a syringe into the detective, drugging him. When he awakes, he is chained to a pipe. Amanda shows up in the doorway, and shuts it, leaving him in the dark with the dead bodies of Xavier, Zep, Adam, and Dr. Gordon's decaying sawed-off foot. However, it is discovered in the third movie that Eric managed to escape into the hallway after breaking his foot, almost severing it off by using the toilet tank cover. When he escapes, however, he confronts Amanda in the hallway. The two of them have a fight, and Amanda begins to believe that Eric has not learned anything from his trap. After kicking him in his broken foot, she decides to leave him to die in the hallway. What happens after this is questionable though, as Jigsaw states later that "He had to clean up the mess" that Amanda left in not letting him escape.
[edit] Saw III Traps
[edit] The Body Chains
This trap features Troy, who finds himself in an empty, forgotten school classroom. As the television screen turns on, Jigsaw's puppet, Billy, is shown. Billy reveals that Troy had been in and out of prisons for quite some time and if he wishes to live, he must break free of the chains before the timer stops. If time runs out, a bomb in the room will detonate. The chains are hooked through his skin in various places, including his lower jaw, shoulders, arms, hands, obliques, legs, and Achilles tendons. When the television screen turns off, he painfully pulls the chain rings through his skin. Troy manages to pull of all of the chains except the one attached to his mouth and dies from the explosion. It is later revealed that the door out of the classroom was welded shut, making it impossible to escape this trap (in addition to the fact that the jaw chain is attached through a very large amount of bone and soft tissue, making it effectively impossible to remove). This is the first of Amanda's traps that could not be escaped from.
[edit] The Ribcage Trap
Kerry wakes up hanging from the ceiling in something that looks like a leather belt strapped around her body and neck, attached to several chains hanging from the ceiling. Upon further examination of her harness, she finds that a device has been placed on her chest, hooked into her ribcage by needles. Hanging next to her is a jar filled with acid, into which a key has been dropped. In her video, Jigsaw/Billy says she is "dead on the inside," which is why she must enjoy working in situations with death. It says she has one minute to retrieve the key from the jar after the video ends before it is dissolved by the acid, at which time the device will kill her. After hesitating, Kerry plunges her hand into the jar, severely burning it but failing to get the key. Plunging it in a second time, screaming in pain, she grabs the key and pulls out her bloodied, severely corroded hand and unlocks the cage, trying in vain to find a way to remove the trap. This was the second trap that Amanda created that could not be escaped from, and as Amanda walks into the room, the devices embedded in Kerry's torso are ripped back in opposite directions, completely removing both sides of her ribcage, killing her and leaving her internal organs completely exposed.
[edit] The Shotgun Collar
Amanda places a collar equipped with loaded shotgun shells onto Lynn. The hammers behind each shell are clicked back, and the collar responds with Jigsaw's heart rate. If he flatlines, or if Lynn moves out of range, the shells will explode, killing her instantly. Lynn is forced to operate on Jigsaw to keep him alive long enough for Jeff to complete his series of confrontations in the warehouse. When he does, Jigsaw orders Amanda to remove the collar from Lynn, as she has completed her task; however, Amanda refuses. Jigsaw gets killed by Jeff before the collar is removed, and the shells explode, blowing Lynn's face and head away.
[edit] Jeff's Tests
Jeff wakes up in an empty shipping box. Upon escaping, he must walk through a warehouse containing the victims of the ice shower, intestines pool, and rack. Each person in each trap is directly or indirectly involved in his son's death. He must go through each scenario and decide whether or not to forgive and assist the person or watch them die a horrible death. Upon completion of this, Jeff must face Jigsaw. During this confrontation Jigsaw gives him the choice of killing him and taking revenge, or making the ultimate choice of forgiveness. However, unknown to Jeff, the choice of killing Jigsaw will ultimately kill his wife as well because the shotgun collar will be activated. This choice is the true aim to Jeff's trap. He ends up killing Jigsaw by slicing his neck with a circular saw blade, and the movie ends with possible further tests for Jeff as Jigsaw left one last tape before his passing. This tape could possibly give further instruction on rescuing his daughter, and yet more traps for Jeff.
In more detail, his tests were:
[edit] The Ice Shower
Danica Scott is suspended by her arms in a walk-in freezer, where two vertical poles spray her naked body with cold water. Jeff is forced to decide whether or not to help her. Danica was the one witness to the death of Jeff's son, and she fled the scene, giving Jeff the choice to save her or let her freeze to death. In this trap, behind freezing cold pipes, there is a key that Jeff can reach if he gets close enough to them. By doing this, however, his skin sticks to the pipe and he has to rip it off. Ultimately, Danica freezes to death before Jeff can save her; her upper body and chains are completely frozen. Jeff leaves as more water sprays, building up the ice on her further. This trap is similar to an act of torture given by the infamous Elizabeth Báthory.
[edit] The Intestine Pool
Upon entering a room, Jeff hears the voice of a man screaming for help. As he searches around for the man, a large silo in the middle of the room begins to emit a loud, pulsating buzz. Jeff climbs up a ladder to see a man attached to the bottom of the silo by a metal brace holding his neck. As he screams for help, Jeff plays a tape. Jigsaw tells him that when the judge presiding over his son's murder trial sentenced the murderer so lightly, his soul never recovered. He now has the power to sentence the man's soul straight to hell, or he can choose to forgive. As the tape player ends, a series of large, interlocking saws up above the man begin to whirl and buzz. Hanging from a conveyor like bar comes out a dead, rotten pig filled with maggots. The pig is dropped onto the saw blades and ground up, leaving the large amount of thick grey liquid remains to be splattered down, hitting the judge in the face and gradually filling the silo. More dead pigs are pulled in on the rotating chain and dropped, one after the other, into the saws. Soon enough, enough pigs have been liquified to fill the silo nearly enough to drown Judge Halden. In order to save him, Jeff destroys all of his son's possessions (photographs, stuffed animals) with an incinerator to find the key to the judge's neck brace. The judge manages to escape thanks to Jeff's help, but is later accidentally shot in the head after following Jeff into another trap.
[edit] The Rack (a.k.a: The Twisting Crucifix)
Jeff stumbled upon this trap after saving the judge's life from the Intestine Pool. Tim, the victim in the trap, turns out to be the man responsible for the death of Jeff's son. The victim's head is held in place by a rotating lock, while the arms and legs are held in place by spikes through the hands and feet. Each end is able to twist 360 degrees, taking the victim's head, arms, and legs along for the ride by spinning him around. Jigsaw states on Tim's tape that this trap is a particular favorite of his, calling it "The Rack." The only way to free Tim was to obtain a key that was attached to a shotgun's trigger; if the key was taken, the shotgun would go off and shoot Jeff. As the judge watches Tim's bones slowly break one by one, Jeff manages to untie the key from the shotgun, but in doing so sets off the gun, killing the judge. Jeff rushes over to Tim just as his head begins to rotate and inserts the key, but fails to unlock it before Tim's neck is fatally broken. The gears slow down after Tim's head twists almost completely around. In an article talking about the traps of Saw III, the directors commented that each end twisted one degree for every second that went by.
[edit] Amanda's Test
After becoming Jigsaw's apprentice, Amanda begins to crack under the pressure. She soon becomes a killer, making traps that have no possibility of escape, such as the Body Chains and the Ribcage Trap. Jigsaw realizes this, and decides to give her another test to prove that she is willing and able to continue on his work after his death. She shoots Lynn just as Jeff enters the room. It turns out that Jeff is Lynn's husband, and now equipped with a loaded gun, he shoots Amanda in the neck.
| The Saw Trilogy |
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