(Warning: Spoilers for the Saw franchise, including the latest film, Saw X, follow.)
Over two decades and 10 films, there’s only one major reason that the Saw franchise has managed to garner such a massive cult following: its brutal, mystifying traps. These contraptions, at first the work of serial killer Jigsaw, aka John Kramer (Tobin Bell), changed hands as the franchise went on and Jigsaw’s apprentices took over his work. While none of his apprentices could come close to the level of genius of John’s traps, they were often clever—or, at the very least, comically cruel.
According to John, any Jigsaw trap must have one crucial element in its execution: It must be winnable. Victims should have a chance at their survival. It’s the one thing that John believes separates him from actual killers and makes his mission a noble one: Surviving leads to the reformation of his victims. (The veracity of that is, of course, arguable). Any ranking of every trap in the Saw franchise must consider John’s foremost principle, but we also have to factor in the ingenuity, the gore, and the fun of it all. Any trap that gives us those four things instantly is among the series’ best. And any that don’t? Well, let’s just say there are more than a few of those.
Taking all of those criteria into account, let’s make the impossible possible and rank every single Saw trap from the worst to the very best:
The Pain Train (Saw 3D)
This trap is merely a nightmare had by John Kramer’s ex-wife, Jill Tuck, and therefore does not count as a real trap. (It’s unwinnable anyway.)
The Eyeball Vacuum (Saw X)
A good-looking trap—which explains why it was used so much in the film’s marketing, but ultimately a farce as this too was merely a fantasy trap of John’s. It’s also too easy: Break your fingers one by one or your eyeballs will get sucked out? Catch me hammering my toes too, just in case.
Hooked on Phonics (Saw III)
Jigsaw’s apprentice Amanda makes her first unwinnable trap, hooking someone by their hands, ankles, and jaw to the floor in a derelict classroom. The pain level already makes this impossible, and then we find out she also sealed the door shut. That’s just negligent job performance.
Hot Wax Boarding (Spiral)
A woman is trapped with a blade at her back while hot wax pours onto her face. The only way to stop the wax is to press the blade far enough into her spine to sever it—which won’t kill her, but she won’t be able to walk away. This trap sucks and it’s unfair! This is the second Saw reboot attempt—don’t play with me.
The Lawnmowers (Saw 3D)
This trap is merely a brief flash recounted from a survivor at a Jigsaw support group—although a floor of upside-down lawnmowers is, let’s face it, pretty boss.
The Pendulum (Saw V)
This one technically does not count either. It’s not a fantasy, but it was a trap rigged by Detective Mark Hoffman to look like a Jigsaw trap. And although it does kill a neo-Nazi, it’s not Jigsaw canon until Mark joins as one of Jigsaw’s apprentices.
Flammable Jelly (Saw)
This one is really just cruel. Cover a guy in flammable substance, put glass shards on the floor, paint numbers that will unlock a safe with a key inside it on the walls, and turn all the lights off so the only way he can get out is to hobble around? And put a slow-coursing poison in his system? Come on. It’s also a flashback, so…
Leg Wires (Jigsaw)
A life-or-death game of Operation that has no real consequences other than getting your leg spliced into three parts. So, kind of tame by Saw standards.
Shotgun Keys (Jigsaw)
A dupe that just shoots someone in the face because they didn’t learn their lesson, ultimately a lame penultimate trap for a lame continuation film.
Laser Collars (Jigsaw)
Well, here’s a slightly less lame trap from Jigsaw. A laser collar fakeout that presents the movie’s big twist. The twist is fine, but the trap is ultimately kind of drab, especially for a movie that was meant to restart the franchise.
Drill Chair (Saw)
A quick trap that Jigsaw uses as a decoy to distract the cops, getting them to help save a man from his head being drilled in. It’s fine!
Machine Gun Surveillance (Saw 3D)
A surprise trap that shoots out all of the cops who find Detective Hoffman’s hideout. Simple, but effective enough.
The Water Cube (Saw V)
Special Agent Peter Strahm aka Luke from Gilmore Girls has to stab his throat with a pen to breathe, as his head is trapped in a cube quickly filling with water. This trap is designed to be unwinnable to throw Strahm off Hoffman’s trail, but Strahm outsmarting him makes it slightly more exciting.
Metal Casket (Saw 3D)
The protagonist just has to jump over a floor with blades sticking out of it. Video game stuff, I could parkour this in my sleep.
Oxygen Crusher (Saw VI)
The two victims have to hold their breath, as every time they breathe the clamps around their chest get tighter. As someone who practices lengthening the time he can hold his breath whenever he’s bored, bring it on.
The Furnace 2.0 (Saw 3D)
This one is just too complicated. It has 60 different elements that all work at once, and at this point, I’d just give up. Sorry to my wife, I don’t think I can save either of us!
Chain Hangers (Jigsaw)
A fun one, but it flies by too quickly and is ultimately pretty simple. You get strung up on a chain unless you fly toward someone else and stab them with a needle. Cut and dry.
The Gallows (Saw VI)
Two people with nooses made of barbed wire appear before our protagonist, a crooked insurance policy salesman. He can only save one and must do so with his trivial judgment, reflecting how he performs his occupation. This franchise installment has fantastic anti-establishment traps, and this one is brutal, if less memorable than others.
The Mausoleum (Saw IV)
Two men are trapped in a cemetery, one blindfolded and the other with his mouth stitched shut. Neither can figure out what’s going on, but the one with sight wisely clunks the other one on the head, leaving him to die. It’s pretty forgettable.
The Flesh Scale (Saw VI)
Victims must cut flesh off their body and place it onto a scale to free themselves. Or, if you’re smart (like me), you could just poop onto the scale. Wouldn’t you be shitting yourself out of fear anyway? Put it to good use.
The Cycle Trap (Jigsaw)
As a giant set piece that references the spirals Jigsaw’s puppet Billy has on his cheeks, this trap functions beautifully. As a trap itself, it’s kind of tedious.
The Steam Maze (Saw VI)
A game of trust quickly devolves as the film’s protagonist has to lead one of the victims through a maze of searing hot steam, only for her to try to kill him to free herself.
The Impalement Wheel (Saw 3D)
The protagonist must hold up a weight while being pierced by spikes, otherwise another victim will be impaled by similar rods in their eyes and mouth. A bit too complicated if you ask me.
The Finger Trap (Spiral)
You're electrocuted to death if you don’t remove your fingers. Again, catch me snapping those babies off like glow sticks.
The Glass Grinder (Spiral)
A grinder crushes glass bottles while the victim watches and shoots the glass into their back. It’s at least funny, like, Jigsaw didn’t have to make them watch. Aren’t they suffering enough?
The Subway Trap (Spiral)
The victim must escape a subway tunnel he’s trapped in by biting through his tongue, which is bound to the wall. Either that, or he will be hit by the train and die. This is just an average Tuesday in New York City.
The Grain Silo (Jigsaw)
As if grain silos aren’t lethal enough, this one fills with grain and drops weapons down on you unless a person in another room can lacerate themselves and set you free. Farm life ain’t for everybody.
Shotgun Eye Hole (Saw II)
The first trap in Saw II’s nerve gas haunted house (itself a brilliant overarching trap) is pretty simple: Do as you’re told, don’t look through the peephole in a door, and you won’t get shot in the eyeball. But some people just can’t seem to follow the rules!
The Three Tunnels (Saw V)
I despise this trap because everyone who is caught in it is ridiculously daft. The tunnels that will shield them from nail bombs are big enough to hold more than one person, which the victims never realize. A shame.
The Hangman’s Noose (Saw 3D)
The protagonist must guide a blindfolded man with a noose around his neck across a few wooden boards suspended in mid-air. Guess how this one ends.
Wisdom Teeth Combination (Saw 3D)
The combination to a lock is etched on the victim’s wisdom teeth, which they must pull out to save themselves. Jigsaw is actually doing them a huge favor here, they should’ve had those things removed years ago—they could get impacted!
Razor Wire Maze (Saw)
Another quick flash of a classic Jigsaw trap: Someone tries to free themselves by hacking themselves up through a bunch of barbed wire. It does not go well.
Venus Fly Trap (Saw II)
A particularly gruesome and cruel one. An iron mask with metal clamps pointed towards a man’s head will snap shut if he doesn’t remove it with a key, which has been surgically implanted behind his eyeball. He, of course, cannot dig behind his eyeball and the mask is clamped shut. Honestly, better and quicker way to go than playing in your eye sockets like a sandbox.
The Furnace (Saw II)
A man crawls into a furnace to grab an antidote for the nerve gas poisoning the entire group. Surprise! The furnace turns on. Turning it off is possible, but only through a combination of teamwork and in-the-moment cunning, which are rare in this franchise.
Rib Snatcher (Saw III)
Here’s another one that’s just mean. A woman with hooks in her ribs can only unlock her device by retrieving the key from a vat of acid before her. But the key doesn’t stop the trap, it only unlocks the hooks. She can’t remove the hooks in time, and is unfortunately turned into an Outback Steakhouse entree.
The Love Triangle (Saw 3D)
Two men dating the same woman must fight to kill each other with hacksaws, and if one doesn’t die, the other will be sawed in half instead. It’s a pretty basic trap (and kicks off an era of questionable victim choices—what did these people do wrong?), but because it takes place in a public storefront, it’s a hoot to watch.
The Acid Needles (Saw VI)
Completely revenge-based, and deserved. An insurance policy salesman denies a man life-saving coverage, and that man’s son gets to see a bunch of hypodermic needles filled with acid injected into the salesman’s back. An eye for an eye, baby.
Close the Circuit (Saw V)
This one is right up there with the tunnel trap from the same movie: Put multiple people in a bathtub to all get a minor electrocution and open a door. Instead, one person dies to save everyone else. No one is thinking straight, which is weird, because this is a situation where you’d be so clear-headed…
The Gas Room (Saw X)
This is a pretty straightforward trap (put someone in a room and fill it with gas), but its use as the latest film’s final twist is so brilliant that it makes the scene among the franchise’s most memorable.
The Freezer Room (Saw III)
Our protagonist could have easily retrieved the key hiding behind some pipes to save a woman who is being blasted with ice-cold water, if he would only take off his sweater and use it as a separation between the pipes and his face. Unfortunately, no one is as cunning as you and I, dear reader. But this trap is fun for how much it just makes you yell at the screen.
The Meat Rack (Saw III)
Up there with the most brutal traps in the series, this one is somehow still pretty simple. Retrieve a key to save a man, or the machine he’s strapped to will start turning, breaking all of his bones. It’s absolutely vile to watch this one play out, which is why it’s also one of the franchise’s best.
Quadruple Shotgun (Saw)
Danny Glover steps over a tripwire and gets blown to bits by shotguns. Sad, surprising, and scary.
Blood-Boarding (Saw X)
John Kramer and a literal child get waterboarded, except with blood. It’s gory and disgusting, but all part of John’s larger plan, which is pretty genius. As a set piece, it’s enthralling to watch.
The Fish Hook (Saw 3D)
I’ll admit, I love this one. A victim is bound to a chair, and the key to their contraption is in their stomach, hanging from a fish hook and lure. The protagonist must slowly lift the key out of their mouth, while the hook pierces their stomach on the way up. If the victim screams, pointy metal rods get closer to their head. It’s evil, and so much fun.
The Eyeball Splicer (Saw IV)
A rapist gets what’s coming to him: his eyeballs gouged out and his limbs ripped off. As Ina Garten would say, “How easy is that?”
The Organ Donor (Saw IV)
An abusive husband and his wife are stuck together by metal rods, which will each pierce a different vital organ if removed. The wife gets sweet revenge by saving herself and watching her piece-of-shit husband die. I love it when this franchise makes bad things happen to terrible people.
The Radiation Machine (Saw X)
A woman must save herself from having her face burned off by a cancer radiation machine by breaking her hand and ankle to free herself from the chains that keep her suspended in mid-air. It’s pretty simple yet wildly effective in its context.
Scalpel Hands (Saw X)
A man wakes up with scalpels taped to his hands and pipe bombs strapped to his arms. He must cut out the pipe bombs with his lil’ scalpel hands to live, and watching him hack away at himself is so vile it could make me throw up right now. So, I love it.
Shotgun Collar (Saw III)
A trap that continues through the whole movie, what fun! If a doctor doesn’t surgically remove the fluid from John Kramer’s brain, or if she tries to escape, a shotgun collar strapped around her neck will go off, blowing her face to bits. What’s even sadder is how it actually does go off at the end of the movie. But all heroes don’t wear capes, some wear collars.
The Brain Weight (Saw X)
Whenever the franchise does brain stuff, it’s particularly hard to watch. Such is the case with this trap, where a man must cut open his cranium and remove a piece of his brain large enough to satisfy John Kramer and free himself.
Knife Chair (Saw IV)
This is in the fourth movie, but it’s technically John’s “first” trap. He snares the man who hit his wife and caused her miscarriage in a chair, where he can only free himself by pushing his face hard enough into knives. We stand with Jigsaw on this one!
The Keys of Life (Saw V)
The fifth Saw has a wickedly clever game afoot, and the first trap is a ton of fun. Each person must grab their own key, but the devices they’re strapped to will pull another person backward toward blades that will decapitate them.
The Hair-Puller (Saw IV)
The less I say about this, the better. A woman’s hair braid is in a machine that is rigged to pull the braid unless the protagonist can free her. One of the most stomach-churning because of how viscerally any viewer can just feel what’s happening.
The Glass Coffin (Saw V)
Only sort of a trap, but a fun one. Detective Hoffman lowers himself flat into the ground to survive two walls that are closing around himself and Agent Strahm. Hoffman lives, but Strahm is crushed.
Reverse Bear Trap (Saw)
An iconic trap that introduces us to Jigsaw’s most beloved apprentice, Amanda. Amanda must dig through a man’s stomach to find the key to a device clamped around her jaw. If she doesn’t, it will rip open her face and kill her. Amanda frees herself just in time, becomes one of the few people to escape Jigsaw’s trap, and makes horror movie herstory.
The Shotgun Carousel (Saw VI)
Such a blast—literally! A playground carousel spins, and the protagonist—an insurance salesman—must apply his own frivolous policies to save two of the six random people that his business may affect.
The Marrow Sucker (Saw X)
The most gasp-worthy and brutal of the latest set of traps. A woman must cut her own leg off and suck the marrow from her bones into a beaker on a scale, or she’ll be decapitated by a second saw! It’s ghastly, which means my theater had an absolute blast.
10 Pints of Blood (Saw V)
The best from the fifth installment, our victims learn that they were supposed to be working together this whole time. If they had, they’d each only have to give a little bit of blood to fill a beaker and free themselves. Instead, with two people remaining, they must endure major blood loss with a brief chance of survival. But that’s a chance they just have to take.
The Needle Pit/The Razor Box (Saw II)
Two traps worthy of being thrust together, I don’t care what you say! The Razor Box has earned a reputation of being a trap for dummies, but it was in a house filled with nerve gas—of course, the poor woman stuck her hand into the box without thinking! On the other hand, Amanda practically hops into a pit of hypodermic needles to try to find the nerve gas antidote, and it makes for one of the most scarring, completely iconic traps in the entire franchise’s history.
Sawing Off the Foot (Saw)
You just can’t mess with the best. The trap that started it all and gave the franchise its name, and the final part of the most brilliantly executed game in the entire series. The two men trapped in a derelict bathroom realize that their only chance at escape is sawing off their own foot to free themselves of the ankle cuff that has kept them chained there for hours. It’s brutal, horrific, and such a satisfying ending. Even the franchise’s attempts to retcon the events of every movie can’t make this trap any less magnificent. It is still Jigsaw’s finest work, and proof that there is no one who can do Jigsaw better than John Kramer.
Keep obsessing! Sign up for the Daily Beast’s Obsessed newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
