Here, listening to this as you read might help you get into the proper mindset to read this post:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxEuQjE50LQ]
Good. Now, I want to play a game…
Just kidding. But seriously, can you believe it has been a DECADE since Saw was first released? I realize there have been seven Saw flicks since the first one was released, but for some reason my head just can’t wrap itself around the fact that an entire decade has passed since we were first introduced to the Jigsaw Killer.
To celebrate the franchise’s first big milestone, Lionsgate is re-releasing Saw to theaters for one week, starting this Halloween–some theaters will even have some special screenings on Thursday night, October 30th. Moviegoers can relive, on the big screen, that moment which made us all protectively clutch our right ankles.
The original Saw film was the first partnership of two individuals who would go on to make some pretty big waves in the horror movie community, co-creators James Wan, who directed the film, and Leigh Whannell, who wrote the screenplay. Turns out they are pretty awesome at making horror films. They’re not only behind Saw, but the Insidious franchise, and Wan directed The Conjuring. So it makes sense that these two would be behind a movie that changed up the game for mainstream horror by introducing audiences to Jigsaw and his messed-up, deadly puzzles.
While the super gory, cringe-worthy flicks are certainly nothing new, Saw was one of the first movies to bring the hyper-gory horror film to a mainstream audience, introducing masses of us to a whole new world of messed up gore. Despite what you think about the movies and the plot–especially as the sequel number got higher and higher–the first Saw is a pretty iconic horror film. I would also argue that the Saw franchise paved the way for a lot more of those gross-out, gory horror films we have today. I mean, hey, without the Saw franchise, maybe the words “Human Centipede” wouldn’t really mean anything at all to us.
Oh if only…
Regardless of your opinion on Saw being a gore horror pioneer, it’s certainly a movie that every horror fan should see at least once. With its return to the big screen this Halloween, Saw fans who watched the movie for the first time in theaters ten years ago will get to relive the first time they heard, “I want to play a game,” and new Saw fans will get to experience the movie in a way watching it On Demand just can’t deliver. Be sure to check your local movie theater for times!
What do you think about Saw‘s theatrical re-release? Will you be seeing it again on the big screen? Am I the only one who feels incredibly old knowing that it’s been a DECADE since this movie came out? Let me know in the comments!
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