The Saw series has been a staple of gory, psychological horror since the first movie was released in 2004. The 8 film franchise is coming back into the limelight with the new reboot, Spiral: From The Book Of Saw, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and produced by Chris Rock.
Known for horrific traps that force the victims to choose between excruciating pain and the ability to walk free, mutilated but alive, each movie seems to get more violently creative. Here is a look back at 5 of Jigsaw’s most painful death traps and 5 of the ones that let the victims off easy!
Most Painful: The Angel Trap (Saw III)
![Saw: 5 Most Painful Deaths (& The 5 Nicest Ones)](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/sawangeltrap-Cropped.jpg)
The “Angel Trap” made its debut in Saw III. Detective Allison Kerry wakes up to a living nightmare when she finds that she’s suspended in the air with metal brackets hooked into her rib cage. If hanging by claws stabbed in between her bones isn’t painful enough, the key that will supposedly unlock the contraption is dissolving swiftly in a jar of acid.
After severely burning her hand in her attempts, she finally manages to get the key, but it is too eroded to fit into the lock. The timer ticks down to zero and the trap bursts open, tearing Kerry’s ribs apart and exposing her internal organs.
Nicest: The Gun In The Eyehole (Saw II)
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If anyone in the world of Saw has gotten off easy when it comes to dying, it’s Gus from the second movie. One of the simpler traps, this one is nothing more than a gun aimed at the door’s peephole with a chain attached between the doorknob and the firing mechanism.
It was built as security to ensure that the various prisoners don’t try to leave, but that doesn’t stop Gus from trying to rip the door open in a desperate panic to get away from the poisonous nerve gas that’s being pumped through the house.
Most Painful: The Furnace (Saw II)
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Just because someone helps Jigsaw, doesn’t mean they are safe from his worst traps. That’s a lesson that Obi Tate learned the hard way. After helping John Kramer (Jigsaw) abduct his latest victims, Obi is kidnapped himself and put into the Nerve Gas House with the rest of them.
Eager to get his hands on the antidote, poor Obi crawls into his own grave when he scrambles after it into the furnace. He yanks at the syringe attached to a chain and it’s bye-bye, Obi. The doors close, the fire starts up, and despite the others’ efforts, he dies a slow, excruciating death as he’s burned alive.
Nicest: The Shotgun Collar (Saw III)
![Doctor Lyn wearing the collar trap on Saw III](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/saw-iii-shotgun-collar.jpg)
What can a dying, genius serial killer do when they need a surgeon but they still have work to do? Jigsaw’s answer was to attach a bulky collar made up of shotgun shells around Dr. Lynn Denlon’s head. As long as she does as she’s told and doesn’t leave the premises, the doctor gets to keep her head.
Dr. Denlon is a pawn in a game for both Amanda and her husband, Jeff. Everybody plays by the rules until Jeff decides that he just can’t forgive John and fails his final test by cutting the killer’s throat. The collar is activated and Lynn is dead before she can feel a thing.
Most Painful: The Rack (Saw III)
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“The Rack” is one of the most agonizing and difficult to watch traps in Saw history. The victim is Timothy Young, the drunk driver responsible for accidentally killing Jeff Denlon’s kid, and one of Jeff’s many tests. He’s strapped into a machine that twists his head and limbs in directions that, let’s just say, they are not supposed to go.
Jeff beats at a box holding the key with a metal pipe, but ultimately, he and the audience are forced to watch Timothy scream in agony as his arms and legs are practically twisted off of his body.
Nicest: The Oxygen Crusher (Saw VI)
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When it comes to the deranged mind of John Kramer, even painful traps can be considered “nice” when other people are getting twisted, sliced, and pulled apart. The “Oxygen Crusher” is a competitive trap between a heartless health insurance manager, William, and a janitor.
The trap is a childish game of “hold your breath” turned sinister. Both men are strapped into a contraption that crushes them bit by bit, every time that they take in a gulping inhale. While painful, it’s quicker than most other traps, and William the insurance manager comes out the winner.
Most Painful: Pendulum (Saw VI)
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Made by Mark Hoffman as revenge on the man responsible for his ex-girlfriend’s death, the “Pendulum Trap” is both cruel and unwinnable. Ex-con Seth Baxter is shackled to a table. The game is simple; either crush his own hands using the vices on both sides of him or face the giant pendulum blade flying down towards him.
Seth crushes his hands, but the blade doesn’t stop. It keeps coming, swinging back and forth and slicing his belly open cut by cut until the man is nearly chopped in half.
Nicest: The Pain Train (Saw 3D)
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For a dream, this trap isn’t very imaginative, but it is effective. Fearing for her life, Jill Tuck is ravaged by horrible nightmares of her impending death at the hands of Mark Hoffman. One of her nightmares comes in the form of the “Pain Train.”
Jill is standing on a track with her arms and legs chained in place. The actual train is more of a homemade car with a massive blade attached to the front of it than a train. Hoffman turns it on and Jill can do nothing as it rockets towards her, slamming into her body and ripping it to shreds.
Most Painful: The Brazen Bull + Bobby’s Hooks (Saw 3D)
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Bobby Dagen claims to be a Jigsaw victim and he even has the scars to prove it…except for one little detail. He made it all up. Bobby’s final test in Saw 3D is brutal, as he has to face the truth and prove himself worthy of the trap that gave him wealth and fame, or watch his wife be roasted alive.
Joyce is chained to a “Brazen Bull”-like oven in the center of the room. All Bobby has to do is spear metal hooks through his pecs and then use the chains to pull himself up. He makes a valiant effort, but in the end, his flesh gives out and he falls to the ground and watches as his wife goes up in flames.
Nicest: The Reverse Bear Trap (Saw I, VI, & 3D)
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Perhaps the most famous trap, the “Reverse Bear Trap” is featured multiple times throughout the series and many different characters have worn the dreaded piece of headgear, including Mark Hoffman and Jill Tuck.
It is first worn by the ex-drug addict and early Jigsaw victim, Amanda Young. The trap works exactly how it sounds. The victims are given their “game” and if they don’t complete it by the time their timer goes off, the trap aggressively snaps open and rips their heads apart. Gruesome, sure, but it’s also a quick death. Both Amanda and Hoffman survive the trap, but not without scars.