Bookmonkey Saw: Day 18

Taking a step away from the films for a few days, lets look at some the other Saw-related media out there.

But first a little background.

1) In 1999 Konami released a survival-horror video game called Silent Hill (which in itself became the beginning of a series of games, comic books, movies, and novels), in which an "everyman" type character explored the frightening town of Silent Hill and sometimes slipped into a darker and more violent place.  Unlike it's most popular competitor in survival horror, the Resident Evil series of video games, Silent Hill focused on moody atmosphere and could best be described as psychological horror rather than the zombie-filled action horror of the Resident Evil series.

2) One year earlier, in 1998 the television series Felicity began airing which focused on the character of Felicity Porter (played by Keri Russell) as she attends college at the fictional University of New York, and throughout the series balances school with a love triangle involving two boys named Ben Convington and Noel Crane.  The first season ended on a cliffhanger, wherein Felicity had to choose between taking a road trip to California with Ben, or a trip to Europe with Noel.  Season two began with the knowledge that Felicity chose (mild, 13-year-old spoiler) the road trip with Ben.

Now, before you get upset and and start wondering why I'm filling my Saw blog with Silent Hill and Felicity, bear with me, It will all make sense I promise.

1a) Before season two of Felicity began, fans could buy a novel called Felicity: Summer which focused on her European trip with NOEL!?!  Which, of course, didn't happen (although the series does get involved in time travel later - seriously - so who knows, maybe it did?).

2a) Already considered one of the leaders of horror games in the video game industry, Konami began to look for a new concept which would further cement their hold on this sub-genre of video games.

Now, let's talk about Saw, for Playstation 3.  Like Felicity: Summer, Saw the game plays around with the franchise, taking place between Saw and Saw II, and featuring the character of Detective Tapp, who DIED in the first film, as the main character.  At the time of the games release, Saw VI was due out in about a month, so a game wherein the main character, who is clearly referred to as dead in the second film, somehow survives and gets to go through another bout with the Jigsaw killer may seem strange, but that is what players were met with.

The game looks an awful lot like Silent Hill, taking place in a largely-abandoned location, and with a very similar atmosphere, it is easy to make comparisons.  Also, having played through the first half of the game myself, it is probably the most fun I've had with a Saw-themed text since the first film.  The game is filled with timed mini-puzzles, and although it has a pretty high violence factor, the fact that you control the character makes it a heck of a lot more enjoyable than watching another half-dozen random characters get fed through death-manchines (sorry, Saw III - V).

So there you have it, even a passing familiarity with the series of films is all you need to enjoy the game, and as long as you are not put off by the onscreen violence, it was actually a lot more fun than I expected.

Also I got to put Saw and Felicity together for the first time on the web!

Bookmonkey Saw: Day 11

Saw III

All right, the third film in the Saw franchise (and second to be directed by Darren Lynn Bousman), ups the ante from the previous film by having not one, but two extremely violent killings in the first twenty minutes.

A quick side note:  In previous posts I've mentioned that I enjoyed the first film and actually appreciated it's lack of onscreen violence and was therefore confused as to why the violence level increased so sharply in the subsequent films.  The answer?  The filmmakers read responses of fans in the horror magazine Fangoria that the first film would have been better if there had been more explicit, onscreen violence, and therefore changed the following films to reflect the tastes of the fans.

The problem with this is that Fangoria is a magazine which has heavy focus on makeup and special effects in horror films, so obviously it's readers would prefer more onscreen opportunities for special effects and makeup.  

The third Saw film basically sets the template for the rest of the series, a victim wakes up in a strange place and witnesses the torture or impending murders of a number of people - sometimes they help, sometimes they just watch, either way the film ends with the protagonist failing at their test and the Jigsaw Killer makes some announcement which (supported by heavy flashbacks) means that the test wasn't exactly what was expected.

The third film has people dying in various horrible ways, and includes a significant flashback to the first Saw film (other than a few cameos from Saw II the second film is barely mentioned) and actually concludes the series in a relatively satisfying way.

The problem being that after the dramatic success of Saw II at the box office(approximate $87 million, with a production cost of $4 million), both Saw III and Saw IV were immediately green lit for production.

Honestly, this month is beginning to feel like a marathon to me.

Bookmonkey Saw: Day 9

Let's take a moment to examine some of the effects the Saw franchise was having on popular culture in 2006 during the wait for Saw III.  

In April, Scary Movie 4 was released, including it's own version of the infamous banned poster for Saw II (pictured left), as well as featuring a scene where basketball star Shaquille O"Neal and daytime television star Dr. Phil McGraw awaken in a bathroom chained to the pipes.  Interesting side note - the comedic sequence in Scary Movie 4 is actually a little more graphic than the same sequence in Saw and the set used for the sequence was so close to the original used in Saw (2004), that the makers of Saw III actually asked the filmmakers if they could use the set for the next Saw film to be used in a flashback sequence.

In October, Spike TV created a new awards show, The Scream Awards, which focused on Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy texts, and featured awards such as Best Sequel (Saw II was nominated), Most Vile Villain (Tobin Bell was nominated as Jigsaw for Saw II), and Most Memorable Mutilation (Saw II was nominated, but as I'm trying to make this blog family friendly, you'll have to follow the link to see which scene was nominated).

Also - and honestly in one of the ways that I have to say the Saw franchise really impressed me at the time, Lionsgate films had it's third annual Give till It Hurts, blood drives, which included a partnership with the American Red Cross and worked to raise both blood and financial donations from fans.  For every release in the series a new promotional poster (The poster for the Saw III blood drive appears to the right) was sold, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.