For some horror fans, the Saw franchise has become more frustrating with every entry, but for others, all nine movies are great thanks to the constant twists and turns. Everyone can agree that the first Saw movie from 2004 is the best one thanks to the shocking twist at the end.
What happens at the end of Saw and what becomes of the main character, Adam Stanheight (Leigh Whannell)? The final scenes of Saw are so memorable because they ask a philosophical question that is deeper than the horror genre sometimes gets, and there are many reasons why fans return to this film again and again.
What Is The Twist Ending Of Saw?
Saw opens with Adam trapped in a bathroom, and throughout the movie, he sees a corpse in the room. This is a dark, horrifying, and miserable nightmare that speaks to how gruesome the franchise can be. In a surprising twist, the corpse stands up and it's John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer, played by Tobin Bell. This wasn't what Adam or audiences were expecting, and this will always be one of the best movie plot twists.
Jigsaw explains to Adam that if he was smarter and faster, he could have gotten the key for the chain on his ankle in the bathtub, but it fell down the tub's drain. Adam grabs the gun that belonged to Zep Hindle (Michael Emerson) and attempts to kill Jigsaw, but Jigsaw shocks Adam's ankle chain.
There are several Jigsaw killers in the Saw franchise, including some copycat killers, but John Kramer will always be the strongest one. His motivation is clear and absolutely brutal: he wants people to feel pain so they want to live and will think more positively about their everyday existence. He feels that while everyone will find a will to keep living if they are close to being killed, they often get caught up in their busy routines and don't think about how lucky they are. This is a unique motivation for a horror villain to have since it delves into philosophy and the meaning of life. While the Saw films are super violent, they do include this powerful thought.
Does Adam Live At The End Of Saw?
Saw has one of the best horror movie main characters in Adam because he's relatable and audiences watch the movie through his lens. He's a photographer who represents the question at the core of the movie: how far will people really go to survive? From the beginning of the movie, fans wonder if Adam will die at the end of Saw, and the ending does suggest that Jigsaw kills him. After Jigsaw shocks him, he leaves the room, and it seems like Adam is finished.
The sequel Saw II, which was released in 2005, shows Adam's dead body, and in Saw III from 2006, Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) kills Adam with a plastic bag because she knows that he doesn't want to feel this pain anymore.
Knowing that Whannell is responsible for some of the best horror films makes Adam's character even more thrilling to watch. He co-created the Saw franchise with James Wan and wrote several of the films. Whannell also wrote and directed Insidious: Chapter 3 and The Invisible Man and besides playing Adam, he appeared in Blumhouse horror franchise Insidious as Specs.
How Does The Ending Compare To The Saw Franchise?
While some movies have illogical and confusing plot twists, the ending of Saw makes sense and feels like a smart way to finish the story, at least until the next entry in the horror franchise. This is definitely the most compelling and powerful ending of any Saw movie, although Saw II also includes the twist of learning that Amanda has teamed up with John Kramer after she has been able to live through his sadistic and terrible games. This still isn't as thrilling about seeing John get up off the floor, but it comes closer than the other movies do.
Saw III and Saw IV, which was released in 2007, don't have exciting conclusions, although 2008's Saw V has a brutal ending that involves Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson). As the horror franchise continued, the endings got more and more violent, but they didn't match the clever twist ending of the first Saw movie from 2004.
The ninth movie in the franchise, Spiral, was released in 2011 and tries to include the same kind of shocking twist. Fans learn that Detective William Schenk (Max Minghella) is the killer and he is able to get away. Since he was working with Detective Ezekiel Banks, known as Zeke (Chris Rock), this was pretty surprising. While Saw might not be a horror franchise with deep lore, the ninth movie does attempt to do something interesting and gets some credit for that.
Still, none of the Saw endings match the first one, as it's completely unexpected to realize that the killer has been near Adam the entire time. Nothing will feel quite this chilling.