Who shit in the toilet?
We began the month by checking our reflections in Marina Sargenti’s Mirror Mirror and continued with a return trip to high school in Robert Rodriguez’s The Faculty last week. This week, we’re celebrating the release of Spiral: From the Book of Saw with a discussion of James Wan‘s influential debut film Saw!
In the film, photographer Adam Stanheight (Leigh Whannell, also the film’s screenwriter) and oncologist Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) regain consciousness while chained to pipes at either end of a filthy bathroom. As the two men realize they’ve been trapped by a sadistic serial killer nicknamed Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), flashbacks relate the fates of his previous victims. Meanwhile, Dr. Gordon’s wife (Monica Potter) and young daughter (Makenzie Vega) are forced to watch his torture via closed-circuit video.
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Episode 126 – Saw (2004) feat. Jenny Nulf & Lindsay Traves
Hello Zep, we want to play a game! So grab your blue filter and reverse bear trap because we’re talking James Wan’s debut film Saw! Joining us for the discussion are former guests Jenny Nulf (Fatal Frame and The Handmaiden) and Lindsay Traves (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm)!
Join us as we discuss the film’s “torture porn” moniker and how it served as a reaction to 9/11 (and other things) during the Bush administration. We’ll discuss the film’s legacy and admire the franchise’s adherence to its own continuity (for the most part).
We ask important questions like: Did Gordon actually cheat on his wife? Is Jigsaw actually a murderer? Would he be convicted in a court of law? What project management software does he use? And who shit in the toilet?
Plus, Jigsaw dioramas, sexy Billy the Puppet costumes, Trace’s Cary Elwes impression and that. Fucking. Ending.
Cross out Saw!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re heading to Hollywood to check out the necrophiliac pleasures in Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for tons of additional content! In May we’re doing a Ghosts ‘n Zombies theme with episodes on new films like Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead and Simon Barrett’s Seance, and episodes on “older” films like Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake and Mike Flanagan’s Ouija: Origin of Evil!