The Big Picture

• Saw X is the tenth installment in the franchise and is proving to be a huge success, solidifying Saw's status as one of the most beloved horror franchises ever.
• The creators of Saw, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, were inspired by The Blair Witch Project and used limited resources to make their first short film, Saw .5.
• Twisted Pictures took a chance on Wan and Whannell's vision, allowing them creative freedom to make the low-budget horror film that eventually became a global phenomenon, earning over $1 billion worldwide.

It's official: Jigsaw is back, and he's more diabolical than ever before. Saw X is making a bloody splash at the box office with its tenth installment in the franchise, slicing through the competition and reinstating Saw's status as one of the most beloved horror franchises ever. Its signature tagline, bizarre traps, and twists and turns draw in audiences everywhere and make them mind their P's and Q's to avoid the wrath of John Kramer (Tobin Bell). While this newest installment is directed by veteran Kevin Greutert, the original director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell of the first Saw movie had humble beginnings with the franchise.

'The Blair Witch Project' Inspired the Creators of 'Saw'

It all started when Whannell and Wan struck up a friendship during their time at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology for their shared love of horror. In an interview with The AV Club, Whannell said that Wan showed a short film in one of their classes entitled "Zombie Apocalypse" that most of the other students scoffed at since being interested in horror was mainstream, and film school students felt they were better than being interested in horror. The two of them eventually ended up living together, struggling to get by even post-grad school, and decided to put their money together to make a short film for a project they believed in. In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Wan and Whannell shared that they found the inspiration to make a film after watching The Blair Witch Project back in 1999. During that time, independent and low-budget films were becoming more popular, and because of their various jobs and low funds, they didn't have extensive resources to make a blockbuster film off the bat. Seeing The Blair Witch Project helped them realize that they could use just a camera and what limited resources they had. That inspiration is what led to the beginnings of Saw .5, the short film that started it all.

'Saw .5,' the Short Film That Started It All

When Wan came to Whannell with the basis of the film, two guys stuck in a room with a dead body and no recollection as to how they got there, Whannell went to work. As Whannell and Wan shared with Bloody Disgusting, before the film was set in an industrial bathroom, they had the idea of having the two guys trapped in an elevator and the movie being shot from the viewpoint of the security cameras. This first draft came from the idea of cutting as many costs as they could, but as Whannell began writing, the pages flowed, and suddenly they had a full script. Worried about how it would be perceived or if studios would believe in what they wrote, they put their money together to make the short film. Wan and Whannell had the script, but they wanted a studio to believe in their vision, allow Wan to direct, and ensure that the script stayed true to what Whannell wrote as well as allow him to star in it. To prove their chops, the dynamic duo took a scene from the script and decided to scrape what money they had together to shoot a 9-minute and 46-second short, burn it to a DVD, and bring it with them to Hollywood. The scene they chose is the iconic jaw-trap scene that Amanda (Shawnee Smith) found herself victim to in Saw.

While writing and forming the plot and script, Wan and Whannell had separate inspirations to create the mythos of Jigsaw. During writing, Whannell was having persistent migraines and was sent to do an MRI to figure out the root of the issue. He told Bloody Disgusting:

"They sent me in for an MRI and I started to think about what it would really be like if the doctor called and said hey, you have a tumor. It’s something that happens every day. Right now while we’re having this conversation, there’s a doctor somewhere telling someone you’re terminal, you’re going to die."

That thought spiraled into thinking about how the terminally ill are relatively mistreated within the medical community, and John Kramer's character was born. Wan's inspiration for how Jigsaw tortures and mutilates people came from a real-life serial killer who would break into people's houses and tickle their feet. He mentioned this on a featurette on the special edition of Saw II and said he slept with a hammer at his bedside for a couple of nights after hearing about it. When the serial tickler was caught, he said he didn't do it on his own, but was forced to do it and was sent a jigsaw puzzle piece telling him to commit the crimes.

Twisted Pictures Took a Chance on 'Saw'

One of the companies that they met with, Twisted Pictures, was on board for Wan to direct and Whannell to act in their movie. According to their AV Club interview, Twisted Pictures was sold on the idea, but let them know the budget would be minuscule. Most importantly, though, they would have creative freedom. In the same interview, the two said they received better offers from DreamWorks and Gold Circle, but would not receive the same freedom and ability to make their movie the way they wanted to. With Twisted Pictures, they shot the entirety of Saw for about 700,000 over the course of 18 days to keep the budget in mind. The end result, which was a gritty, grimy, experimental style look of filming, was made out of necessity instead of being revolutionary for the sake of money.

The Legacy of 'Saw'

This rough around the edges horror film made history with a whopping $103.9 million dollars made worldwide after its release. The first 8 Saw installments amassed the $1 billion landmark. Saw wasn't originally intended to go theatrical and was headed straight to DVD, but after three consecutive nights of midnight screenings being packed at Sundance for the film, Lionsgate decided to send it to the theaters. What started out as two broke guys taking a chance on themselves transformed into a franchise that rounds out the top 5 most successful horror franchises of all time.

Saw X is now playing in theaters.