One Of Jigsaw's Saw X Traps Got The Police Called On The Film's Editors
Do you want to play a game? It's going to involve a lot of blood and a lot of screaming. After all, it just wouldn't be a "Saw" movie without plaintive wails of abject agony.
At last count, 96 people have died during the course of the ten "Saw" movies to date, most of them killed by the clanking automated slicing and dicing and smashing and twisting machines built by the vengeful machinist John Kramer, aka Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). For those who weren't around in the early 2000s when the "Saw" movies were cresting in popularity, Jigsaw, out of a sense of righteous indignation, locked desperate or wicked people into timed death traps that would kill them in a matter of minutes unless they solved a puzzle or two. Jigsaw also often gave people a means to escape, but it usually involves a good amount of self-mutilation. Think of it as the world's worst escape room. Jigsaw would often call these death traps "games," as if that made everything a-okay.
"Saw X" is currently playing in theaters, and the body count is only rising. Set prior to several of the other "Saw" sequels, "Saw X" sees Jigsaw kidnapping several medical professionals who didn't properly treat the villain's terminal cancer. Naturally, they will be set free from Jigsaw's industrial prison if they bleed a bunch and scream for their lives. The "Saw" movies would be utterly terrifying if you happened to hear their shrieks coming through the wall of the next-door apartment.
Which is kind of what happened to Kevin Greutert, the director and editor of "Saw X," and first assistant editor Steve Forner. It seems that when they were putting together the final cut of "Saw X," they ended up getting in trouble with the cops. According to a new article in NME, Greutert and Forner were in their editing suite in North Hollywood, California when the LAPD pounded on their door, demanding to know who was being tortured in there.
'Actually, I'm just working on a movie'
Evidently, the scene in question — the one that elicited the most screaming — involved a victim who had vacuum tubes affixed to his eyeballs. The screams from the scene were apparently so intense that law enforcement was called by the neighbors, who thought all the screaming was genuine — and that someone was really being tortured to death in the editing room.
As Kevin Greutert said:
"There was a knock at the door. [...] We have the doorbell video of the police walking up, [of Forner answering the door] and the police saying, 'The neighbors [have been] calling and saying someone's being tortured to death in here. And he was like, 'Actually, I'm just working on a movie ... You can come in and see it if you want.' The cops started laughing! They said, 'We want to but, you know, you're all right.' It must have been a pretty realistic performance! It's a pretty funny story ... Plus Steve is such a mild mannered guy. I can only imagine the look on his face when he realized what was happening!"
The actor who plays the man having his eyeballs sucked out is named Isan Beomhyun Lee, who appears as a custodian in a fantasy sequence. He would have to be pretty flattered, as his performance attracted the attention of the LAPD. According to his IMDb page, this is Lee's first film credit. Greutert doesn't say if the cops stayed to watch the scene or witnessed any editing, but at least everyone involved now has a story to tell. Lee in particular can probably start boasting about the believability of his scream-heavy performance. Although the lesson to be learned here might be that when it comes to editing "Saw" movies, headphones might be a good idea so as not to terrify the neighbors.
Greutert is an old hand at making "Saw" movies, as he previously directed "Saw VI," "Saw 3D," and edited Saws I through V. Indeed, the film's producers never even considered anyone else for this project. Greutert might have been used to all of the screaming and wailing one usually finds in a "Saw" flick, but the neighbors of that North Hollywood editing suite clearly were not. Of course, one might wonder what those neighbors think is happening on a regular basis. If someone's editing an alien invasion film, do they call up the FBI? Or run from their homes screaming in fear?
"Saw X" is currently in theaters.