To celebrate Saw‘s ten-year anniversary, the first film will hit theaters again this Halloween season. Let’s go back to the film’s roots with ten facts of the franchise’s origin that you probably didn’t know.
1. This movie was filmed in only 18 days
Which yes, is an incredibly short amount of time to film a horror movie, which typically have plenty of special effects and challenging stunt-double shots. Both of which this film had limited of. (source)
2. The creation of the franchise was influenced by the low-budget approach of ‘The Blair Witch Project’
Saw co-creator Leigh Whannell once stated “For James [co-creator] and I, Saw began back in 1999 when we first watched Blair Witch.” (source)
3. The film was originally going to be filmed through the perspective of a security camera in an elevator.
This version of Saw most definitely would’ve ended up a lot more like 2010’s Devil. (source)
4. The series’ signature blood and guts aren’t akin to the creators’ vision
“I felt people ended up concentrating on certain things that were not necessarily, for us, what the film was about, like the blood and guts of the trap,” said co-creator James Wan. “I keep reminding people that the reason why I think the first film works so well was because it was fresh, it was unique, and it had a really cool twist ending that made people say, ‘My God, did you see that?'” (source)
5. Two other concepts almost won out over ‘two guys in a room, and(…) a dead body on the floor’
“One was an idea for a movie about astral projection,” said Wan. “The second one was an idea about a guy who goes to sleep at night, and wakes up in the morning with scratches on himself. He notices that something weird is happening to him at night, so he sets up video cameras while he sleeps. And this was many years ago, long before another movie came out called Paranormal Activity.” (source)
On page 2: How much ‘Saw’ was filmed for, and the origin of Jigsaw
6. ‘Saw’ was filmed for a measly $700,000
By means of contrast, the original The Nightmare on Elm Street was filmed for nearly 4 million dollars in 1984 (when adjusted for inflation). (source)
7. Jigsaw was inspired by migraines co-creator Leigh Whannell had
In an interview with The A.V. Club, Whannell recalled a time when he had serious migraines. After having an MRI done, Whannell pondered, “What if you were given the news that you had a tumor and you were going to die soon? How would you react to that?” Whannell continued, “Instead of a doctor telling you, ‘You have a year to live, make the best of it,’ this guy would put people in a situation and say, ‘You have 10 minutes to live. How are you going to spend those 10 minutes? Are you going to get out of it?'” (source)
8. ‘Saw’ was only meant to be a ‘demo reel’
Reflecting back on the revelation that a sequel was a possibility, Wan said “We literally let the bad guy open the door and then close it.” (source)
9. There were no rehearsals, unless you count the final cut of the film
This is usually never heard of in current films, and for good reason. Renting out filming locations, hiring actors, crew, and the like all add up when an actor doesn’t perform their line to the director’s taste, thus adding on another expensive day of filming! (source)
10. In the original concept for ‘Saw,’ there was no Jigsaw
Perhaps the most surprising of all facts about this movie is this one. Odd how the puppet-on-a-bike mascot for the horror series wasn’t the first idea on the creators’ minds! (source)
