Two strangers, a photographer named Adam and an oncologist named Dr. Lawrence Gordon, awaken in a dilapidated subterranean bathroom, chained to pipes at opposite ends of the room. Between them lies a corpse holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. They soon realize they are the latest pawns in a twisted game devised by the notorious "Jigsaw Killer," a serial genius who forces his victims to make impossible physical and psychological choices to survive. With a clock ticking down, they must unravel the puzzle to escape before it's too late.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
October 29, 2004 |
Running time |
103 minutes |
Genre |
Horror
Mystery Thriller |
Budget |
$1,200,000 |
Box Office |
$103,911,669 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
James Wan |
Produced by |
Gregg Hoffman Oren Koules Mark Burg |
Written by |
Leigh Whannell James Wan |
Music by |
Charlie Clouser |
Cinematography |
David A. Armstrong |
Edited by |
Kevin Greutert |
Production Co. |
Twisted Pictures |
Distributed by |
Lions Gate Films |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #01 in Saw Collection
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The Plot
The Awakening in the Bathroom
Freelance photographer Adam Stanheight and oncologist Dr. Lawrence Gordon regain consciousness in a grim, dilapidated industrial bathroom. Confused and terrified, they find themselves shackled by their ankles to sturdy pipes on opposite sides of the room. Between them, in the center of the filth-strewn floor, lies a motionless corpse in a pool of blood, clutching a revolver in one hand and a microcassette recorder in the other. As they search their pockets for clues, both men discover cassette tapes bearing their names. Adam manages to retrieve the tape player from the corpse.
Upon playing the recordings, the grim reality of their situation unfolds. A distorted, ominous voice addresses them. Adam’s tape urges him to survive and escape the room. Dr. Gordon’s instructions, however, are far more specific and sinister: he must kill Adam by 6:00 PM. If he fails to do so, his wife, Alison, and his young daughter, Diana, will be executed. The game has begun, and the clock is ticking.
Tools of Torture and the Jigsaw Connection
Desperate to free themselves, Adam investigates a toilet tank near him and discovers a plastic bag containing two hacksaws. He throws one to Gordon, and they frantically attempt to cut through their heavy chains. Adam’s saw snaps under the pressure, rendering it useless. Dr. Gordon, examining the tool, comes to a horrifying realization: the saws are not meant for the steel chains. They are intended to cut through their own feet. This sadistic methodology leads Gordon to conclude that their abductor is the notorious serial killer known as "Jigsaw," a murderer who places victims in lethal traps to test their will to live.
Gordon reveals to Adam that he is not a stranger to the Jigsaw case. He admits that he was once a prime suspect in the investigation. He recounts the events of five months prior, detailing how he was visited at the Angel of Mercy Hospital by Detectives David Tapp and Steven Sing. They were investigating a penlight found at a Jigsaw crime scene—a penlight that belonged to Gordon. Although his alibi cleared him, Gordon was taken to the station to witness the testimony of Amanda Young, a heroin addict who became the only known survivor of a Jigsaw trap.
Flashback: The Hunt for the Killer
The narrative delves into the past, revealing how the police investigation spiraled into tragedy. Following the lead from Amanda’s game, Detectives Tapp and Sing analyzed the videotape left by the killer and discovered a subtle audio clue—the sound of a fire alarm—that led them to Jigsaw’s hideout in an abandoned mannequin factory. They raided the location and caught the killer off guard, successfully saving a victim named Jeff Ridenhour from a deadly contraption.
However, the arrest went terribly wrong. Jigsaw, feigning surrender, slashed Tapp’s throat with a hidden wrist-blade and fled deeper into the warehouse. Detective Sing pursued the suspect through the corridors but accidentally triggered a tripwire. The mistake was fatal; Sing was instantly killed by a battery of four shotguns rigged to the ceiling. Jigsaw escaped, leaving Tapp critically injured and emotionally shattered.
The Surveillance Network
In the present timeline, the stakes for Dr. Gordon are revealed to be terrifyingly high. His wife Alison and daughter Diana are being held captive in their own apartment by a man whose face is obscured. This captor monitors the bathroom game via a hidden camera feed. Unbeknownst to the kidnapper, the Gordon apartment is also under surveillance. David Tapp, now discharged from the Metropolitan Police Department following a mental breakdown caused by Sing's death, has not given up the hunt.
Obsessed with proving Gordon’s guilt, Tapp has rented a run-down flat directly across the street from the doctor's home. He spends his days monitoring the residence, convinced that Gordon is the mastermind behind the Jigsaw killings, unaware that the doctor is currently a victim in one of the traps.
Betrayal and Identities Revealed
Back in the bathroom, Gordon discovers a hidden compartment containing two cigarettes, a lighter, and a one-way cell phone. As the tension mounts, memories of their abduction surface; both men recall being ambushed by a figure wearing a grotesque pig mask. Their reminiscence is interrupted when the cell phone rings. It is Alison, forced by her captor to call her husband. She warns Gordon not to trust Adam. When Gordon confronts Adam with this information, the photographer’s secrets spill out.
Adam admits that he was hired by Detective Tapp to spy on Dr. Gordon. He produces a bag of photographs he found with the hacksaws—pictures he took of Gordon. These photos expose Gordon’s affair with Carla, one of his medical students, whom he met at a hotel the night he was abducted. However, Adam points out a photograph in the pile that he did not take. It depicts a man standing in the window of Gordon’s home. Gordon looks closely and recognizes the man holding his family hostage: it is Zep Hindle, an orderly who works at the Angel of Mercy Hospital.
The Deadline and the Confrontation
The clock strikes 6:00 PM. Gordon has failed to kill Adam. In the apartment, Zep prepares to execute Alison and Diana as per the rules. He forces Alison to call Gordon one last time to hear his failure, but Alison seizes the moment to fight back. She struggles violently with Zep, creating enough noise to alert Tapp across the street. The former detective rushes to the scene, storming the apartment and exchanging fire with Zep. This intervention allows Alison and Diana to escape to safety.
Zep, realizing his time is running out, flees the apartment, intending to go to the bathroom site to kill Gordon himself. Tapp, despite his earlier injuries, pursues Zep to an underground tunnel network. The chase ends brutally; Tapp catches up to Zep and batters him, but Zep manages to shoot Tapp in the chest. The detective succumbs to the wound, dying in the dark corridor.
A Desperate Sacrifice
Inside the sealed bathroom, Dr. Gordon hears the gunshots and screams over the phone but is cut off, leaving him to believe his family is being murdered. Overcome by a psychotic break and desperate to save them, he makes an unthinkable choice. Gordon uses his hacksaw to sever his own foot at the ankle. Screaming in agony, he crawls across the floor, grabs the revolver from the corpse’s hand, and loads it with a bullet found in the hidden box.
Gordon shoots Adam in the shoulder, and the photographer collapses, appearing dead. Moments later, Zep bursts into the bathroom. Seeing Adam down, Zep moves to kill Gordon to finish the job. However, Adam, who survived the gunshot, lunges at Zep. A vicious struggle ensues, ending when Adam grabs the heavy porcelain lid of the toilet tank and bludgeons Zep to death.
The Final Twist: Game Over
Gordon, bleeding profusely and in shock, tells Adam that he must crawl away to find help. He drags himself out of the room through the open door, promising to return. Adam is left alone in the bathroom with the bodies of Zep and the original corpse. Searching Zep’s body for a key to the shackles, Adam finds nothing but another cassette tape. Upon playing it, a shocking truth is revealed: Zep was not the killer. He was another victim, poisoned with a slow-acting toxin and forced to kidnap Gordon's family to earn the antidote.
As the tape ends, the "corpse" in the center of the room slowly stands up. It is John Kramer, the terminal cancer patient Gordon had introduced to his students months ago. Kramer, the true Jigsaw Killer, peels off a prosthetic mask. He reveals that the key to Adam's chain was in the bathtub the entire time, but it had been washed down the drain when Adam woke up and drained the water in a panic. Adam grabs Zep's gun and attempts to shoot Kramer, but the killer incapacitates him with a hidden electric shock device. Kramer walks toward the exit, stating that "most people are so ungrateful to be alive," but not anymore. He turns off the lights and seals the heavy door, leaving Adam screaming in the darkness as he utters the final words: "Game over."
