What kind of movies scare Saw icon Tobin Bell? ”Bad ones,” the actor replied, ”particularly with the rising cost of tickets.” The answer was just a glimpse during the short presentation at Comic-con of the man who has chilled audiences for four years, and will add a fifth notch to his belt this fall with Saw V.
The cast and crew on hand was pretty amazing considering the half-hour scheduled time for Saw V to be presented, which included a few comments from everyone present, as well as a teaser and clip from this year’s sequel. Among those available to add in their two cents were Saw staples Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, and David Hackle (who has moved from production designer to director), writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, newcomer Julie Benz, and more. One theme remained pretty constant throughout the presentation - Saw scares even those involved with making these movies.
Take for instance, Julie Benz. The actress said she was terrified on the set during filming of Saw V. Scott Patterson talked about a particularly terrifying trap that had him more frightened on one day of filming than the rest of his life. The movie’s producers admit that the trap was a particularly challenging one - one that had to be done practically because using cheats like stunt doubles or green screen effects wouldn’t have worked. Patterson admitted that, after the first take of filming, he was hyperventilating and had gone into shock. That’s pretty terrifying.
The trap Patterson talked about is featured in the teaser for Saw V, which was shown to the SDCC audience. Although it doesn’t reveal much, and is highlighted by clichéd phrases (“His gift is life”), it certainly continues the feel of Saw. At the time I wrote this, the teaser had made it’s way online (producers challenged the audience that they expected to see it online by 9:15 - this was an 8:30-9:00 panel), which I’ve embedded below… assuming it hasn’t been taken down.
As far as the length of the saga, the producers say they know how many films they want to make, and how the story should be told, but they keep taking it one movie at a time. The hope is that audiences will see Saw V and leave with a nagging question that will then lead to Saw VI being made.
Aside from the theme of terror, the cast had a surprising amount of respect for figurehead Tobin Bell. Patterson gave a touching speech about how the man leads the cast and is on set even when he’s not filming. Considering his role could, at this point, be as little as a voice on a tape recorder, that’s an admirable trait. Several of the cast had fantastic things to say about Bell, and you really get the feeling that he wants these movies to be as spectacular as they can be.
For the fourth year in a row, an exclusive clip was shown to the SDCC audience, showcasing one of the traps from the movie. Jump to the next paragraph if you don’t want this spoiled. This trap was a kind of Pit and the Pendulum, with a convicted murderer awaking chained to a slab. The familiar visage of Jigsaw on the television informs him that he is being punished for his murders, especially in light of his short prison sentence due to a technicality. Above him is a pendulum, which will cut him apart within sixty seconds. All he has to do to stop the swinging blade is place his hands into two vice grips, which will crush the tools of his crime (yes, that unbalanced sense of justice from Jigsaw is still there). Cue the swinging blade and the terrified look of the convict as he debates what action he’s going to take. I have to say, I’m pretty impressed at how we saw the criminal place his hands in the vices and pull them out again, seriously trying to figure out how to get out of this without crushing his own hands. Finally he places his hands in and we hear the gut-wrenching sound of bone crush as blood spurts. But did he stop the pendulum in time? We don’t know… because that’s where we’re left hanging (I’m guessing no). Interestingly, there was an absence of that MTV style editing I’ve often disliked in the Saw franchise. Did a new director bring us a new visual style?
Although the Saw V panel was short, a lot was crammed into it and I can’t help but leave it a little more excited about this year’s upcoming sequel. For those interested - the real answer Tobin Bell finally gave (as far as what movies terrify him) included the original French Diabolique and Jacob’s Ladder.
For all of our 2008 San Diego Comic Con criminally complete coverage go here.
