How A Real-Life Health Scare Birthed The Entire Saw Franchise
It makes sense that one of the most sadistic horror movie franchises of all time was inspired by the process of dealing with the healthcare system. In an interview with The AV Club timed to the release of "Saw 3D," writer and first film star Leigh Whannell spoke about the origins of Jigsaw, explaining that the idea for the killer came to him while he was waiting to get an MRI.
Whannell told the outlet that franchise co-creator James Wan came to him with an idea for the first film's beginning and end, but it was up to Whannell to flesh out the details surrounding the movie's major twist. "Basically the conundrum was, 'Okay, two people are stuck in a room, they've been put there by somebody. Who put them there and why?'" Whannell recalled. The answer came to him when he ended up stuck in a room, too — but in his case, it was the waiting room of a neurologist.
Inspiration struck in a neurology waiting room
The filmmaker explained that he was suffering from frequent migraines at the time, and was undergoing the process of getting his brain checked out to make sure nothing else was wrong. "I think I was 24," he said. "I was working at a job I didn't like very much and I was getting these migraines every day." As a self-described hypochondriac, Whannell decided to get tests done to find the source of the headaches. He told the outlet:
"I had an MRI, and it was such a weird experience to be just sitting there in the waiting area of a neurology ward, being nervous about getting an MRI. And that really was the impetus for the [Jigsaw] character. I started to think, 'What if you were given the news that you had a tumor and you were going to die soon? How would you react to that?'"
The line of thought inspired Whannell to imagine a man "who had been given a time limit" in the form of a terminal diagnosis, and who chose to "put people in a literal version of that [situation]." From there, the iconic villain played by Tobin Bell began taking shape. "Instead of a doctor telling you, 'You have a year to live, make the best of it,' this guy would put people in a situation and say, 'You have 10 minutes to live. How are you going to spend those 10 minutes? Are you going to get out of it?'" As odd as the idea sounds, it became an elegant solution to the question Wan's premise posed; in a way, Jigsaw became a demented version of a doctor delivering bad news to a patient.
'It was very scary and it was my first proper look at mortality'
No matter how far (and how creatively) the "Saw" franchise strays from its original path, the series always seems to come back to Jigsaw and his death sentence. The most recent film, "Saw X," became an instant favorite among fans and critics. It also revisited John Kramer's initial diagnosis and treatment, reminding viewers that the American and international healthcare systems can be breeding grounds for heart-pounding horror.
According to Whannell, though, it all came back to mortality. "It was weird to be 25 and sitting in a neurological ward and I'm surrounded by people who actually had brain tumors," the writer told The Writing Studio. "It was very scary and it was my first proper look at mortality. I really wanted to get my health back and it really hammered it [home] how important good health is. If you've got that, you've got everything." No offense, John Kramer.