“He doesn’t want us to cut through our chains, he wants us to cut through our feet.” That line started an entire franchise, spoken by Cary Elwes in the first trailer for James Wan's Saw in 2004: A franchise that would end up having nine entries, with a tenth on its way. Not bad for a film series that frames itself around the most stomach-churning and disturbing gore that the creators can think of, ramped up with each movie. However, was this the right path for Saw? Despite how many films there are in the series, only one has even come close to matching the quality of the original (and even then, not by much). Would we view Saw in a more favorable light if there was only one film to the series’ name? After all, you can reset a bear trap, but you’ll probably only jump at the snap one time.
