Spooky Season II: The Saw Franchise and Other Scary Stuff
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween everyone. I initially planned on writing a piece for Spooky Season about the Saw franchise, but after about 1,000 words, it just seemed directionless. So I figured what better way to bring back the ‘smash hit’ Spooky Season than to talk about all the horror movies I watched this October.
I originally wanted to cover the entire Saw franchise because I wrote about two of my favorite franchises last year, Scream and V/H/S. The game plan this time around was to watch all ten Saw movies in a week, which I did, then write all about them. Let me tell you, it was exhausting. To ensure the integrity of 1 AM Media, I even saw 2023’s Saw X alone in theaters. It was my first time seeing a movie alone. Despite not loving Saw X, it was kind of nice seeing it in the theater. I have a huge soft spot for the whole movie experience. I love getting the popcorn, candy, drink, etc. I love sitting through the trailers. I just got on Starpass, so my ticket only cost me $5. Regardless, after ten gory movies in a week, I just didn’t have enough to say for a full Substack post. So I had to watch some other horror movies to fill a post and perhaps provide some recs.
The Saw Franchise
Before watching them all, I had only seen the first installment of Saw, and some of the second installment. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the lore and plot of Saw, I’ll catch you up. Spoilers ahead, kind of.
Saw follows John Kramer aka the Jigsaw Killer, a man who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. After his diagnosis, he gains a newfound appreciation for life. This appreciation also comes with a profound resentment for people who take their life for granted. As a result, Kramer hatches a plan to “rehabilitate” the people he deems deserving of this treatment. Kramer’s trademark rehabilitation methods involve kidnapping unsuspecting people, and placing them in elaborate traps that force them to make extreme physical sacrifices if they want to survive. Despite the horrific imagery, the filmmakers make point to illustrate the fact that Kramer is TECHNICALLY not a murderer. He never directly kills anyone. Every trap that Kramer designs is built to be escapable. He believes that if these people truly want to live, they will do whatever it takes to survive. If they do survive, many of the victims appreciate what Kramer has done. Some of them even follow in Kramer’s footsteps, ultimately becoming his apprentices.
The first three installments of the franchise, Saw, Saw II, and Saw III, are by far the best. The later films kind of suck, in my opinion. Tobin Bell kills it as Kramer, but his character is killed off in Saw III. Luckily for the viewers, the franchise employs a great deal of nonlinear storytelling that focuses on Kramer’s life and motivations before his death. It also reveals little tidbits about events from previous films that we had already seen. This works for me as a viewer, but only goes so far. I seemed to get increasingly uninterested in what was happening in the moment, while waiting for more Tobin Bell.
Kramer’s posthumous plans are carried out by his apprentices. The two (of many) main apprentices that the films focus on are Amanda Young, a young addict who survived the Reverse Bear Trap, and Mark Hoffman, who staged a murder in the style of Kramer, prompting Kramer to teach him his ways. Amanda Young is the most likable apprentice from a character perspective. She unfortunately dies in the same elaborate scheme that kills Kramer, when he felt that she needed to be tested again. Hoffman is a fan favorite apprentice, but I was not a fan. He kills so many people to cover his own tracks, including Kramer’s ex wife, Jill Tuck. I suppose his character’s behavior was written intentionally, but John Kramer would be rolling in his grave because of Hoffman’s actions.
I’m getting into the weeds here, but there is a lot of lore.
One thing I love about the Saw franchise is the way they end the movies. Every movie ends with the theme music playing (which goes hard every time) while the filmmakers show you a montage of how everything happened. There is typically a big reveal of some sort, and for me, it’s the perfect way to dumb it down. When you are watching all ten movies in a few days, it is very considerate of the filmmakers to essentially tell you everything that happened. The last thing I wanted to do while grinding through the franchise is think.
You can’t write about Saw without bringing up the traps. The traps are the trademark of the franchise. Unfortunately for me, I put myself at a disadvantage. As I’ve mentioned ad nauseam, I watched all ten movies in such a short time. I quickly became desensitized to the SEVENTY THREE traps featured in the franchise. After a while, they all start to blend together. I just read an article ranking every trap and I forgot 20-30% of them even happened. The bottom line is, some are better than others, and some are just stupid. To me, they don’t hit the same in 2023 as I’m sure they did in the mid-2000s. Also, gore for the sake of shock factor isn’t really my favorite method of horror. Movies like Terrifier and Terrifier 2 up the ante with gore, but it doesn’t really resonate.
All this yapping leads me to one final question: would I recommend the Saw franchise? I guess so. They’re fine. If you feel inclined to watch them, let me know what you think. If this were the Wednesday Watchlist on 1 AM’s Instagram @OneAyEmm, I would probably give Saw (2004) a score in the high 60’s for its originality, but increasingly lower scores for subsequent installments.
Found Footage
If you have been following 1 AM Media for a while, you know I love found footage horror movies. There are a lot of terrible found footage horror movies, but I luckily stumble upon many films that execute the genre really well. This week, I watched two found footage horror movies that have been on my list for a while. The first being Hell House LLC (2015), and the second being the sequel to one of my guilty pleasures, The Houses October Built 2 (2017). Ironically, both films focus on Halloween haunt attractions.
Hell House LLC is part of a franchise that I plan on diving into, especially with the rave reviews of the newest installment. As of right now, I have only seen the first film, and I quite liked it. The film is shot like a true crime documentary, using found footage from the scene of a horrible incident at a haunt attraction. The goal of the documentary is to find out what actually happened in the basement of Hell House. The story follows a group of young adults that run a yearly haunt. After leaving New York City to open a new haunt in Upstate New York, the group grows increasingly fearful of the abandoned hotel they are inhabiting. As the group prepares their haunted house attraction, creepy things begin happening to them. Ringleader Alex urges the group to continue staying there and finish the haunt. Hell House LLC does a great job of building to a climactic ending, which ultimately left me feeling satisfied with the film as a whole. The film earns bonus points for not relying on gore or cheap jump scares. I would definitely recommend it.
The Houses October Built 2 picks up right where the original left off. If you haven’t seen it, it’s quick rundown time. Spoilers ahead: The Houses October Built follows a group of young adult friends who travel the country looking for the most extreme haunts. As their quest progresses, they find hints of an ultra extreme haunt called “The Blue Skeleton”. Towards the end of the film, The Blue Skeleton group ends up finding them, kidnapping them and burying them alive. The viewer is left wondering if The Blue Skeleton was an extreme haunt, or a sick way of murdering ambitious thrill seekers. The sequel picks up with Brandy, still buried alive, as The Blue Skeleton is interrupted by the police resulting in Brandy’s release. Video of the burial goes viral on The Blue Skeleton’s YouTube channel, which turns the friends into minor celebrities in the haunt world. However, Brandy suffered severe emotional damage, and gained a new nickname, “Coffin Girl”. The rest of the crew takes their newfound fame in stride, now traveling the country visiting more haunts for money. Their new expedition comes to a halt when haunt venues begin cancelling on them. The venues refuse to pay the friends for their appearance, unless they can bring “Coffin Girl” out of hiding. When Brandy reluctantly agrees to join the fellas on their trip, things quickly escalate as Brandy begins to notice signs of The Blue Skeleton on their trail.
The sequel was not as good as the first film in terms of horror, but it did provide an interesting twist. It also completed a story and answered my burning questions. I would check it out if you liked the first movie.
Now there’s no better way to wrap up a Spooky Season post than to turn to ole reliable. You may have seen my Wednesday Watchlist featuring this movie, or you may have read last year’s post about this franchise. Either way, a new V/H/S dropped this month. I signed up for a Shudder free trial to watch V/H/S 85 when it came out. It was okay, not my favorite by any means. The frame narrative kind of fell flat. I did, however, really like two segments that were related. One about friends boating on a lake, and the other about a family celebrating their young family member. Aside from the two segments that unexpectedly intertwined, I liked seeing James Ransone in the final segment. Would I recommend it? Probably not. At this point, I just feel obligated to bring up V/H/S whenever I can.
Thanks for reading, and Happy Halloween from 1 AM Media!
If you watched any good horror movies lately, feel free to let me know.
Until next time.
-CJ
Great Blog!
-Berg