2017’s Jigsaw offered a whole new plethora of creative traps for the Saw franchise, with some being far crueler and gorier than others. The eighth entry among the dizzying number of Saw movies, Jigsaw occupies a unique spot among the confusing Saw timeline, with a creative twist ending that further complicates matters. Following a new group of five victims inducted into a classic series of games, Jigsaw features a wide range of traps that vary in deadliness, brutality, and sheer complexity.

Compared to other Saw films, the traps of JIgsaw are, for the most part, much kinder to their victims, which is truly saying something regarding the overall brutality of Jigsaw and his apprentices’ usual levels of violence. The traps in Jigsaw typically have simple or straightforward solutions, threatening a punishment of death that is, on average, mercifully quicker compared to some of Jigsaw’s more drawn-out methods of execution used in the later Saw movies. Unfortunately, the group of victims on trial in Jigsaw repeatedly manage to mess up incredibly simple tasks, artificially increasing the brutality of the film’s contraptions.

8

The Shotgun Keys

Kills Anna

The shotgun keys are by far one of the “easiest” tests ever presented to a victim of the Saw franchise. Yet somehow, Anna still manages to find a way to mess it up, killing herself in the trap in a manner that must have surprised even John Kramer. The trap is sprung when Anna attempts to escape the barn, causing her to be intercepted and knocked out cold by one of the series’ classic pig masks. When she comes to, she finds herself chained at the ankle in a mostly empty room opposite fellow victim, Ryan.

Between the two of them, a double-barreled shotgun sits on a pedestal. John Kramer explains that the key to their freedom is in a shotgun shell, and that they must see things “upside down.” Reading way too far into the instructions, Anna panics, grabs the shotgun, and fires it at Ryan, causing the trick weapon to shoot her in the head instead. Not only does Anna get herself killed, but she also destroys the only key to free either of them. For such a softball trap, it’s astounding Anna managed to die to it.

7

Edgar Munsen’s Test

Kills Edgar

A unique challenge among the Saw franchise, Edgar Munsen’s test is less of a trap, and more of a deadly scavenger hunt. One of the few Jigsaw trials to ever take place outside the confines of an isolated area, Edgar Munsen is tasked with finding the trigger that would begin the murderer’s trial in the barn and activate it, with his own life at stake. It isn’t clear how exactly Edgar’s life is being threatened at first, but he seems desperate not to find out, drawing the attention of the police in his frantic search for the device.

This opening chase sequence makes it seem like Jigsaw is more of a thriller film than straight-up horror, as the police pursue Edgar on his chaotic rampage through the streets. In the end, Edgar manages to activate the trigger, but is killed regardless, shot to death by an unseen sniper. While the panic of frantically searching for a small device and evading the police adds some level of brutality to the trap, a sniper round to the chest is a merciful way to die compared to most of Jigsaw’s methods.

6

The Bucket Trap

Supposedly kills Logan (But not really)

At first glance, the bucket trap might appear to be one of the most insidious and terrifying traps ever put to screen in the Saw franchise. Upon closer examination, however, this trap ends up being one of Jigsaw’s most lenient, with a fairly simple solution. All the contestants of the murderer’s trial in the barn wake up with buckets strapped to their heads, and an iron collar around their necks. This collar is attached via chain to a wall of buzzing saw blades, slowly pulling each victim in until they provide a sacrifice of blood.

All each victim has to do to free themselves from this trap is willingly cut themselves on one of the circular saws, instantly deactivating their bucket helms and ending the pull of their chain. One victim even manages to get away with barely nicking his finger on one of the blades, still technically qualifying for a “sacrifice of blood.” That being said, if one were to somehow fail this trap, it would be quite a grisly end, as supposedly happens to the unconscious Logan before his true nature is revealed in Jigsaw‘s ending.

5

The Chain Hangers

Kills Carly

Getting into the truly creative and elaborate traps Jigsaw is more known for, the chain hanger trap sits at an interesting intersection between the beginning of the game and the following bloodbath. With each contestant still chained by the collar and pulled to a dangerous-looking set of industrial wheels, Mitch manages to grab the tape on the Billy the Puppet doll nearby, briefly pausing the slow pull of the chains. The victims are then presented with a series of needles marked with numbers, one of which contains the cure to a poison that Carly had been injected with.

Carly must choose a syringe to inject into herself, lest the entire gang be hung by their necks as the chains begin slowly ascending to the ceiling once more. Choking to death is a horrific way to go, and Carly’s eventual death by acid when Ryan injects all three needles into her to stop the hanging is hard to watch. Still, the trap had a clear solution that Carly was even able to recognize, with one of the numbers on the needles relating to her crime, but she still refuses to choose a needle in time.

4

The Grain Silo

Doesn’t kill anyone

An appropriately farm-themed trap for Jigsaw’s very first set of killings in a barn, the grain silo trap is among the most elaborate in the series. Featured heavily in the advertising for Jigsaw, the grain silo traps Mitch and Anna when they go looking for more clues to their escape. The duo find another tape, after the door to the silo locks behind them, explaining that their only hope for a way out now rests with Ryan, who must “free himself to free others.”

From there, the silo begins filling up with grain, nearly asphyxiating Mitch and Anna. If that weren’t enough, the half-full silo then begins dropping dangerous pieces of farmhouse equipment on them, such as saws, pitchforks, and knives, making the trap even more deadly. Choking to death on grain or being stabbed by a rusty farm tool are terrifying ways to go out already, but what makes this trap so brutal is the fact that its participants are solely reliant on someone else’s sacrifice to escape. Luckily, Ryan takes one for the team, saving Mitch and Anna.

3

The Laser Collar

Kills Detective Brad Halloran

At the end of Logan’s game of cat-and-mouse with Detective Halloran, the two find themselves face-to-face while wearing a high-tech version of Jigsaw’s classic reverse bear trap. Rather than pry apart heads with a powerful spring lock, these pieces of headgear instead project powerful lasers that cage in the heads of both victims, possibly slicing them into eights with searing beams of light. Detective Halloran is given a choice to save himself by activating Logan’s collar, only for the true nature of the trap to be revealed to him.

It turns out that Logan was the one to orchestrate the entire thing, and the devices on his own collar are essentially harmless laser pointers. Surmising that Detective Halloran has failed his one last chance at redemption, Logan activates his collar, slowly slicing his head into chunks like an orange. This is a pretty horrible way to go, although it’s shockingly still over with quicker than many of the more painful devices concocted by Jigsaw.

2

The Leg Wire Snare

Ultimately kills Ryan

Of all the traps featured in Jigsaw, the leg trap is by far one of the hardest to watch. Activating when Ryan attempts to escape through a door marked “No Exit,” the cocaine dealer and serial cheater finds his leg ensnared in a trap of painfully sharp wires, locking him in place. Another cassette tape rests on the floor underneath the wires, but as Mitch attempts to scoop it up with a rake, the wires tighten, causing even more pain to the hapless Ryan. Narrowly avoiding the wires with his own arm, Ryan is able to retrieve the tape.

It turns out that the only way for Ryan to escape the trap is to hit a lever that will tighten the wires to the point of completely tearing apart his leg. Even worse, once Mitch and Anna fall into the grain silo trap, he must do this to save their lives. Despite escaping, Ryan ultimately dies of exposure after Anna messes up the shotgun trap. Between the slow death, unbelievable pain, and moral calculus required to free oneself from the trap, the leg wire snare is one of the most insidious designs of Jigsaw’s first game.

1

The Motorcycle Trap

Kills Mitch

After being caught by his ankles by a wire and suspended in the air, Mitch is dangled over a devious-looking funnel with a spiral-shaped blade lining the inner wall. A tape explains that to survive, Mitch must reach the brake located at the base of the funnel while being precariously lowered into the whirling death machine in a high-stakes game of Operation. Unlike most traps, which test a victim’s pain tolerance, morality, and ability to stay cool under pressure, this trap seems like a battle of pure physical agility.

Powered by the same faulty motorcycle that got Mitch involved in the games in the first place, Anna manages to halt the trap by jamming a metal rod into one of the bike’s wheels. However, Mitch doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity to simply hit the brake right below him while the blades are paused, quickly meeting a grisly end in the blender of a trap after it re-starts. From the high physical dexterity it requires of its victim to the positively excruciating way it kills, the motorcycle trap is by far the most brutal trap used in Jigsaw.