Making Of: Saw

How a ten-minute short grew into a million-dollar franchise...

Mar 11th 2009 By Total Film

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From the original budget of $1m, the original Saw grossed over $100m worldwide. So what made it such a hit?

In part it’s the fact that it’s a proper horror movie: cheap, disreputable and seedy.

“I think one of the things that horror fans will embrace the most is a film that’s not typical, conventional or mainstream,” reckons Wan.

“The cheapness is what makes it special in the same way as the cheapness of the first Evil Dead film makes it special as well.”

Whannell agrees: “Horror fans are a strange breed. I think I’m allowed to say that because I’m one of them.

“You don’t wear zombie make-up and go around wearing a Hellraiser T-shirt if you’re the most popular kid at school.

“They’re outsiders and they really want to take ownership of something and know that it’s theirs and no one else’s.

“What they grabbed onto with Saw was that it was this cheap little indie film that screened at the Sundance festival and no-one else knew anything about it except them. It was their dirty little secret.”

But what of the criticisms of the franchise? Diminishing returns, predictable and cartoonish, shock by numbers...

“It’s flattering that they made sequels to our movie but at the same time it feels like the sequels have given the first film the wrong perception,” says Wan. “Now people refer to ‘the Saw films’ in a derogatory way.”

"What's funny is that a lot of people think of us as these two sick guys. But, like Bret Easton Ellis said of American Psycho, only a boring guy could write that kind of story. That's all me and Leigh are - two boring guys who happened to write a pretty crazy story."

The Saw series is out now on DVD/Blu-ray.

Saw - The Ride is open to the public from Saturday 14th March at Thorpe Park, UK.

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