PremiumSaw franchise turns 20 | From The Public Execution to The Rack - Here are 5 of the most iconic deaths ranked worst to best
Since its birth in 2004, the Saw franchise has won the hearts and quivered the livers of horror fans. As it turns 20 this year, let’s take a look at 5 of its most iconic deaths.
Last Updated: 05.22 PM, Jan 22, 2024
The Saw franchise turns 20 this year and Lionsgate will be releasing a special 10-film Blu-ray collection with a special rustic box art containing a special gift from Jigsaw himself, to commemorate the occasion on March 5. Till that happens, here are 5 of its most iconic deaths, ranked worst to best.
The Public Execution (Saw 3D)
This joins the list mainly because of its morbid voyeurism and gory reward. The Public Execution is a Jigsaw trap that involves three individuals, attached to a strange contraption in an empty store. The store is on a busy street, and its front is covered by bulletproof glass. Now imagine, three people involved in a love triangle, where the girl is playing both dudes, attached to a three-way contraption, that requires any one of them to die so the other two may live. The gory death, featuring flying bits of intestines, as well as its screaming yet curious audience make the scene a thrilling watch for horror fans.
The glass coffin and crushing walls (Saw V)
The iconic scene features long-surviving Special Agent Peter Strahm’s bone-crunching death as well as a special twist. As a final test, Strahm arrives in a room which has a glass coffin in it. But Strahm refuses to play the game and turns on Officer Mark Hoffman with a gun, who was sneaking in behind him. After forcing Hoffman to get into the coffin, a jubilant Strahm realizes within a few moments that he made his biggest mistake. The solid glass contraption was the only way of surviving the room. As the walls descend upon a still-shooting Peter, he slowly gets crushed to death, with gory, visceral sounds of bones crunching and blood sloshing.
Pound of Flesh (Saw VI)
Loan sharks Simone and Eddie are kept in a room separated into two by a metal grate with a special contraption attached to their respective heads. If they do not shed more flesh than the other, the losing person dies with the metal contraption drilling into their brain. A hard to watch scene, as two people chop off their body parts in a bid to ensure the other’s death, the scene features an iconic victory and a later, haunting reminder of the perverse redemption and morality associated with the Jigsaw traps and games.
The Angel Trap (Saw III)
Detective Allison Kerry wakes up in one of the worst scenarios possible. There are metal hooks painfully attached within her rib cage, which bear her entire suspended-in-air-body's weight. If that is not enough, the only answer to solving and escaping this trap is in a jar of acid, right in front of her, swiftly dissolving. As she attempts to retrieve the key, effectively burning her hand almost to the bone, she must be quick else the timer will go off, along with her rubs. Sadly, though Detective Kerry succeeds in opening the lock, the trap was built inescapable, and we see unforgettable shots of an Angel with wings of dripping flesh and blood, and her still-beating heart in her dead body.
The Rack (Saw III)
This scene is one of the most iconic and painful deaths in the history of horror films. The man attached to a metallic machinery resembling a rack is Timothy Young, the young drunk driver responsible for the death of Jeff Denlon’s little son. A part of Jeff’s tests set by Jigsaw, which offers him a chance to forget his past and move on, the decision to save him comes too late on his part. Every limb of Timothy is wrenched in unnatural directions, resulting in gruesome twisted dismemberments, till finally his head is twisted right off with an agonizing crunch.