Top 20 Worst Decisions In Saw Movies
#20: Shooting the Drills
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“Saw” (2004) The first “Saw” contains a subplot that follows Detective David Tapp as he attempts to apprehend the Jigsaw Killer. He partners up with Steven Sing, and the two are successful in locating Jigsaw’s twisted lair. Of course, Jigsaw is ready for them and distracts the detectives with a trap. It consists of two drills that slowly approach the head of a restrained man. Sing finds a key ring that seemingly holds about a million keys, but realizes that there’s no time to try them all. Instead, he takes out his pistol and shoots the two drills right before they enter the man’s head. Sing’s plan works, and the trap is disabled. Too bad Tapp took his eyes off Jigsaw to watch…
#19: Tossing in Amanda
“Saw II” (2005) Serving as one of the main antagonists of “Saw II,” Xavier was an aggressive drug dealer who was framed by Detective Matthews. His personal test inside the nerve gas house was to dig through hundreds of used needles to find a key that unlocked a metal door. Behind the door was the antidote to the nerve gas. Not wanting to dig through the pit himself, Xavier picked up Amanda and tossed her in. It wasn’t a very nice gesture, to say the least, but it was pretty smart on his part. The plan actually worked, as Amanda dug through the needle pit and was successful in finding the key. It was only Xavier’s bungling at the door that prevented him from obtaining the antidote.
#18: Schenk Fakes His Death
“Spiral” (2021) Max Minghella plays Detective William Schenk, a wide-eyed rookie who is partnered with Chris Rock’s Zeke Banks to hunt down a copycat serial killer. However, the hunt results in his demise. A box is sent to the police station containing a piece of Schenk’s skin, and they later find his corpse inside of a hobby store-turned-butcher shop. Or do they? Banks later finds the very much alive Schenk, who is revealed to be the copycat killer. His real name is William Emmerson, and he faked his death using the flayed body of a thief. This allowed him to continue his killings undetected. It’s an evil plan, but you have to admit that it’s also a smart one.
#17: Stabbing Carly with All Three Syringes
“Jigsaw” (2017) Carly is a purse snatcher who accidentally caused the death of a woman. Her target was an asthmatic, and by stealing her purse, Carly deprived her of her inhaler. As a result, ends up in an appropriately-themed trap. Carly is poisoned and put in the unique position of saving the other captives from certain death. But, to do so, she must inject herself with one of three needles. One contains the antidote to the poison, the other saline, and the third acid. She refuses to make the decision, so Ryan makes it for her. As he’s being hanged, Ryan stabs Carly with all three needles, freeing himself and the others from the trap in the process. It’s good news for him. Not so good for poor Carly…
#16: Allison Shoots at the Closet
“Saw III” (2006) Alison Gordon is not to be confused with Allison Kerry, a homicide detective working on the Jigsaw case alongside Detective Tapp. Unfortunately, Allison became a victim of Amanda, who rigged her trap to be inescapable. Right before she was abducted, Allison realized that she was being filmed from a hidden camera in her closet. After seeing herself on the TV screen, Allison quickly grabbed her gun and shot through the closet door, believing an assailant to be hiding inside. It was very quick thinking on her part, and a very smart move. Unfortunately, there was no one in the closet, and she was ambushed by Pig Mask and taken to her fatal trap.
#15: Getting the Dog
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“Saw IV” (2007) The fourth entry in the franchise sees Officer Daniel Rigg going through a series of tests. One takes place at the shady Alexander Motel, which is run by a serial sexual abuser named Ivan Landsness. To target Ivan, Rigg first lures his dog. When Ivan notices that his pup is missing, he naturally sets out to find her. He comes upon her in front of Room 261, playing with a pig mask. After he approaches, Rigg steps out and brings Ivan into the room at gunpoint. It was quite an ingenious plan, and it worked flawlessly. And rest assured - the dog was unharmed. We can’t say the same for Ivan, though…
#14: Eric Breaks His Foot
“Saw III” (2006) The second installment of the “Saw” franchise ends on a cliffhanger, with Eric Matthews chained to a pipe. It looks for a minute that he will be stuck inside the darkened and dilapidated bathroom forever. But Eric is smarter than that. He initially tries to saw his own foot off, just as Lawrence Gordon had done before him. However, he can’t bring himself to do it and vies for another method. He finds a toilet tank lid and uses it to smash his foot. The heavy lid makes mincemeat of his limb, but the damage allows Eric to slide his mangled foot out of the shackle. Amanda would later use this broken foot to her advantage and free herself from a fight with Eric.
#13: Hoffman’s Escape
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“Saw VI” (2009) A man named Seth Baxter is killed by a Jigsaw copycat, and it’s up to audio technician Sachi to clean up a distorted tape that was left at the crime scene. She makes great progress and is nearly done identifying the voice when Detective Mark Hoffman is brought into the room. The voice is revealed to be that of Hoffman, prompting a snappy reaction from the ruined detective. He slashes Erickson’s throat, throws hot coffee at Lindsey Perez, cuts the power, and takes Sachi hostage as a human shield. Perez accidentally shoots and kills Sachi, and Hoffman stabs the injured Perez to death. Talk about thinking fast and making an efficient getaway.
#12: Emily Brings Up Her Children
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“Saw VI” (2009) Emily is one of the few Jigsaw survivors, and she takes part in the iconic shotgun carousel trap. The carousel spins and places one of six people in front of an active shotgun. William Easton is then given the chance to save the target. The trick is, he can only save two of the six victims. He allows Aaron to die before the carousel places Emily in front of the shotgun. Thinking fast, Emily brings up her two children and pleads with William, telling him that they can’t be raised without their mother. He agrees and decides to save her. It’s quick thinking on the part of Emily, and she is successful in playing on William’s empathy.
#11: Tricking Halloran Into Confessing
“Jigsaw” (2017) The climax of “Jigsaw” sees Logan Nelson and Detective Halloran inside a trap involving laser cutter collars. John’s voice tells them to confess their sins or risk being killed by the collars. Halloran forces Logan to go first, and the trap seemingly kills Logan. Halloran then confesses his own misdeeds that got numerous people killed. It’s exactly what Logan was waiting to hear and he pulls the reverse-uno of a lifetime. It’s revealed that Logan is actually John’s apprentice, and he is decidedly not dead. Logan swiftly activates Halloran’s collar and walks away a vindicated man.
#10: Staging Perez’s Death
“Saw VI” (2009) Lindsey Perez dies at the hands of Mark Hoffman. But, before that, she was the subject of a creative fake death concocted by the FBI. Perez appears in “Saw IV,” where she is lured into danger by Jigsaw’s whispering puppet. It was a smart move by the killer. The whispering draws in Perez, who leans in close to hear the whispers, and the puppet explodes in her face. It leaves her with ghastly injuries, and she’s presumed dead. However, this was merely a ruse devised by the FBI and Special Agent Dan Erickson, which would allow Perez to continue the investigation in secret.
#9: Alison Frees Herself
“Saw” (2004) The Gordons are a pretty darned smart family. Not only does Lawrence prove one of Jigsaw’s survivors, but his wife Alison effectively frees herself from Zep’s control. Alison and her daughter Diana are held captive by Zep, who’s ordered to take them out if Lawrence doesn’t do the same to Adam. Quite the resourceful woman, Alison managed to free herself from the binds, and in an act of extraordinary intelligence and forward-thinking, she pretended to remain tied up. When Zep returned to execute Alison, she sprung her trap and wrestled the gun away from Zep. Following a brief struggle, Alison stabbed Zep in the leg with a pair of scissors, buying her time to be saved by Detective Tapp.
#8: Brad & Ryan Team Up
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“Saw 3D” (2010) You know what they say about bros. Brad, Ryan, and Dina are abducted by Mark Hoffman and taken to a hardware store. Dina was secretly dating both men, and their trap served to conclude the love triangle in a dastardly and deadly manner. Brad and Ryan were forced to push saw blades into each others’ chests, the stronger man obviously proving the victor. However, Dina makes the very stupid decision to encourage both men, reaffirming her love for both and telling each to take out the other. Realizing that they are still being played, even in the midst of a life or death trap, Brad and Ryan decide to spare each other and sacrifice Dina to the saw. No pun intended.
#7: Hoffman Tricks Strahm
“Saw V” (2008) Peter Strahm is an FBI agent who was thwarted by Hoffman in the famous Glass Coffin trap. The trap was set by Hoffman and seemed deceptively straightforward - simply climb inside the coffin and live. Strahm doesn’t, and Hoffman soon intervenes, preventing Strahm from hearing the rest of his tape. The two engage in a brief physical struggle, and Hoffman is pushed inside the glass coffin. While inside, he gloatingly gestures to the tape recorder, which asks if Strahm trusts Hoffman. As the tape plays, the glass coffin is lowered into a secret compartment in the floor while the walls of the room slowly close in around Strahm, eventually crushing him. We guess he should have trusted him after all...
#6: Daniel Plays Dead
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“Saw II” (2005) Xavier has nothing on Daniel Matthews. After finding the dilapidated bathroom from the first movie, both Daniel and Amanda realize that there is no way out and that they will soon be accosted by the now-psychotic Xavier, who is hot on their heels. To trick Xavier, Daniel pretends to be dead while Amanda keeps up with the ruse - a ruse we’re sure she was happy to undergo, considering what Xavier did to her earlier in the film. Just as Xavier approaches Amanda, Daniel springs up, kicks him in the shin, and puts a hacksaw to effective use. Daniel certainly has a good heart. And as it turns out, he’s also quite the badass as well.
#5: Hoffman Survives the Bear Trap
“Saw VI” (2009) Mark Hoffman becomes a victim of his own games in “Saw VI” when he is approached and incapacitated by Jill Tuck, who outfits him with an inescapable version of the reverse bear trap. Immediately after Jill leaves him for dead, Mark manages to break his own hand with the trap and free himself from his restraints. Thinking very quickly, Mark makes the genius decision to stick the trap between two metal bars on the door window, effectively preventing the trap from springing all the way open. The bear trap shreds his right cheek, but Hoffman survived the ordeal, eventually making his way to an abandoned hangar to stitch up his gaping wound.
#4: Gordon Cauterizes His Wound
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“Saw 3D” (2010) The end of the first “Saw” famously sees Gordon hacking off his own foot with the provided hacksaw to escape his shackle and find help. The movie ends on an ambiguous note, with viewers quite literally left in the dark regarding Gordon’s fate. Fans were finally provided an answer in “Saw 3D,” and said answer was quite genius on Gordon’s part. Shortly after crawling out of the bathroom, Gordon cauterized his bleeding foot stump on a steaming pipe. The pain caused Gordon to pass out, but the cauterization was nevertheless successful. He was soon found by Jigsaw, who treated the wound and outfitted Gordon with a prosthetic.
#3: John Recruits Gordon
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“Saw 3D” (2010) Gordon’s survival wasn’t the only shock that we received in “Saw 3D.” Not only did the doctor live, but he became an accomplice of John Kramer’s! Jigsaw earned Gordon’s trust by supplying him with medicine and a new prosthetic for his injured leg. Gordon then used his medical knowhow to help Jigsaw with various tests. He placed the key behind the eyeball of Michael Marks and stitched the faces of Trevor and Art, among many other surgical tasks. It’s likely that Jigsaw couldn’t do this himself, so it was very smart of him to earn Gordon’s trust and bring him into the operation.
#2: Simone Amputates Her Arm
“Saw VI” (2009) Simone was a victim of the brutal Pound of Flesh trap, alongside her overweight business partner, Eddie. The two were outfitted with some type of deadly head device and tasked with cutting off pieces of themselves. The person who accrued the most flesh would “win”, and the other would die via the head device. Eddie begins cutting off strips from his stomach. Simone is much smaller than Eddie, but also much smarter. She wraps a tourniquet around her arm and cuts it off with a provided meat cleaver. The entire arm was obviously heavier than Eddie’s stomach flesh, and Simone survived.
#1: Strahm Gives Himself Windpipe Surgery
“Saw V” (2008) Hoffman may have gotten one over on Strahm, but that doesn’t change the fact that Strahm performed the smartest act in the entire “Saw” franchise. Not to mention one of the ballsiest. For his test, Strahm’s head was placed inside a glass cube, which quickly filled with water. Once the water completely filled the cube and submerged Strahm, he took a pen from his pocket and stabbed himself in the throat, successfully performing a tracheotomy on himself. It allowed Strahm to breathe underwater, and it bought him enough time to be saved by the arriving paramedics. It’s amazing what the mind and body are capable of when in life-ending distress!
