Content Warning: This article contains graphic images and descriptions of violence in a fictional film setting.
The traps in the Saw film franchise are creepy, twisted, and massively creative, used by the serial killer Jigsaw to teach his victims a lesson about their lives. Although Jigsaw is stated in the first film to have "never killed anybody," setting up impossible traps and putting people inside them does lead to a lot of death and murder throughout the series.
The traps are thought up by the various writers of the franchise who evidently share a twisted vision and a lot of creativity when it comes to forcing victims to fight their way through impossible odds to freedom.
The Reverse Beartrap (Saw)
This first movie trap is one of the most iconic traps in the series, having been used in several films since. Amanda Young has to murder a man to retrieve a key inside his stomach to open the beartrap. If she does not succeed, the trap would spring and rip her face apart after a timer had gone off. The creativity in this trap comes from taking a trap intended for an animal and reversing it to become a human torture device.
Amanda describes the experience of this trap very viscerally, "I woke up and all I could taste was blood and metal," immediately letting the audience know that this trap is hardcore. This trap is also the first appearance of Jigsaw's puppet Billy and the iconic catchphrase, "live or die, make your choice."
The Angel Trap (Saw III)
Allison Kerry was suspended in the air with chains, wearing a harness around her chest with metal brackets hooked into her ribcage. Once the timer goes off, Allison's ribcage would be ripped open by the brackets, creating 'angel wings' with her ribs splayed out.
This trap is reminiscent of the Viking torture device and sacrificial method 'the blood eagle' where the victim would have their ribs severed from their spine. This trap is inescapable, as, once the key to unlock the device was retrieved, the lock on the harness did not work. The killer never intended to let Allison escape alive.
The Freezer Room (Saw 3)
As part of Jeff Denlon's trial, the victim of this trap was Danica, who was stripped naked and suspended by her wrists to the ceiling of a freezer room inside the meat-packing factory. Jeff had to save Danica, who would be sprayed with freezing water every ten seconds until she froze to death.
This trap makes creative use of the meat-packing factory, as it takes place in a room that would realistically be found in such a location. The trap is also relatively realistically set up when compared to other traps that seem impossible to have been set up by just one or two people.
The Scalping Seat/Hair Trap (Saw IV)
The victim of this trap, Brenda, was tied to a chair that had a series of gears attached to the back of it. Brenda's hair was wound around the gears, and, as they turned, Brenda's hair would be pulled back, eventually scalping her by ripping her hair out.
This trap is creative because, like many Saw traps, it finds an otherwise ordinary object like a chair and explores how it can be retrofitted to become an instrument of torture. However, this trap takes it further and creates a truly squeamish device that keeps audiences on the edges of their seats as Brenda is slowly made to endure some undeniable pain.
The Ice Block Trap (Saw IV)
Eric Matthews was suspended by the neck from the ceiling and forced to stand on an ice block to prevent himself from hanging. However, heaters melted the ice block over the course of 90 minutes. If Rigg opened the door to the room before the 90-minute timer went off, two giant ice blocks would swing down from the ceiling and crush Eric's head. This trap contains multiple ways in which the victim can die, from being choked to death to getting crushed by ice blocks if the door opens too early.
It was inevitable that Saw 4 would end with a bang, and this trap leans into the fun of the genre, smashing Eric's head in a bloody explosion of gore. The ice block is creative because it turns two traps—being hanged and being frozen—into one.
10 Pints of Sacrifice (Saw V)
Brit, portrayed by Dexter's Julie Benz, and Mallick are the victims of this device in Saw 5. The victims had to shove their hands into the device and use the saws inside to 'donate' 10 pints of blood. If they succeeded, they would be freed. If not, nail bombs would explode and kill them both.
This trap is creative, as it requires more than two people to complete it, but, thanks to the previous trials, there are only two victims left, meaning that each of them must sacrifice more blood than they were supposed to. This trap was so influential that it inspired the Bucket Trap in Jigsaw (2017).
The Shotgun Carousel (Saw VI)
Loaded with some great quotes and amazing traps, Saw VI was a surprise hit. In this scene, Aaron, Dave, Emily, Gena, Josh, and Shelby were brought to an abandoned zoo and chained to a carousel inside an animal enclosure. The carousel would stop with one victim in front of a shotgun mounted on the bars of the enclosure. William Easton had to choose two people to save, while the other four would be shot and killed.
As gruesome as this is, it's also one of the strangest traps in the Saw franchise. At this point in the series, fans have been subjected to quite a bit, but the zoo setting and the perverse use of playground equipment make this whole scenario undeniably odd.
The Public Execution Trap (Saw VII)
The worst-rated Saw film to date opens with two men and a woman restrained inside a glass box in a public square. Brad and Ryan are tied to a moveable table that has three saws embedded in it, while Dina is suspended from the ceiling and slowly lowered onto the middle saw. The men can choose to kill each other or work together to kill Dina.
While the trap is one of the most creative, taking place in a public arena rather than in private as most other traps do, it is hard to imagine Jigsaw planning this one. Jigsaw usually punishes people that have done real harm, such as burning down buildings or being incompetent at important jobs. So, having him punish a random group of teenagers for having a love triangle is inconsistent with his motivations.
The Horsepower Trap (Saw VII)
Famous for featuring Chester Bennington of rock band Likin Park, this trap relied on one central figure making a sacrifice in order to save his own life, as well as the lives of three others. Evan had to find and pull a lever to stop the car from accelerating and killing his friends.
This trap is creative as it uses many different ways of killing someone with a car, from being crushed by the wheels to having the driver get hurled through the windshield. If Evan had used his legs to find the lever, he could have beaten the trap, but, as fans of the franchise will doubtlessly know, Jigsaw's victims typically aren't great at thinking outside of the box.
Laser Collars (Jigsaw)
The victim of this trap, Halloran, had a large metal collar attached to his neck. The collar shot lasers out at eight equidistant points which would eventually slice the victim's head into eight pieces. This trap is inescapable, as the victim was put inside the collars by Jigsaw's vengeful apprentice.
The trap brings the franchise into more of a sci-fi setting, using the lasers to cleave the victim's head into pieces. In reality, these lasers wouldn't be powerful enough to slice a victim's head open, but the Saw franchise is beloved for its creativity and torture, not adhering to the laws of reality or physics.
