Jigsaw: Unpacking Gothic Genre Conventions in Saw

Anuszkiewicz, Brad
ERH 206
13 April 2015
Film Trailer Analysis
Help Received:
Anuszkiewicz, Brad
ERH 206
13 April 2015
Film Trailer Analysis
Help Received:

Jigsaw: Unpacking Gothic Genre Conventions in Saw
Modern day horror and suspense films use gothic conventions similar to that of gothic literature that entice the audience and suggest thrills. Comparatively, both films and literature make use of the sublime and the human psyche. Works from Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, and even Gilman have provided evidence of popularity and sublimity within the confines of terror and madness. An in-depth look into how the trailer for the popular and suspenseful Saw series makes use of such conventions will yield insight to how today’s modern day horror relates directly to historical literature. Saw is a suspense/horror film trilogy that encompasses a misunderstood “protagonist” serial killer who tortures his victims through their fears and engineered devices in order to exalt their character flaws and ultimately appreciate life more. Saw explicitly illustrates the conventions of redefining vivid imagery and scenery, character psyche, and the element of fear and the uncanny to satisfy sublimity in the horror and suspense genre.
The easiest convention to point out within the trailer is the use of extreme descriptive writing for the environment and violence in order to convey nature and humanity as gruesome or decayed. In relation, modern day horror films express the setting, tone, and gore in an overly detailed and vivid manner. In Saw, most of the scenes express darkness and decay—similar to that in Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher by which the narrator paints a clear picture of the setting in the beginning. The scenes of Jigsaw’s the torture chambers almost seem surreal, similar to that of Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, with shades of green Pestilence abundant and sickly decayed structures paired with old chains and bones. The trailer features numerous scenes of decaying walls and dark corners. In addition, scenes in Saw are very intense, subjecting humans trapped in the “game” to horrifying torture devices and redefining viewer discretion by amplifying violence and gore that breaches into the sublime because it’s realistic. Similarly, in Poe’s The Black Cat the narrator uses a knife to “deliberately cut one of [Pluto’s] eyes from the socket” or the following quote from Poe’s Masque of the Red Death:
“There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pet ban which shut him out form the sympathy of his fellow men.”
The second convention that is much more subtle in the trailer is the psyche of the characters. Saw’s main character, Jigsaw, is the creator of the torture devices and questionably the film’s villain who remains relatively unknown but shows extraordinary brilliance paired with madness. His psyche reflects the fine line between genius and insanity, a convention often seen in gothic works such as Aylmer in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” or Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart”. His character is in question due to his motives for entrapping human beings, particularly those with questionable personas, and subjecting them to his revelation that one’s ability to overcome ultimately reveals one’s own identity. The movie creates this character through a complex, psychological approach and, just like Poe’s narrators; the viewer is given insight and perceptions of Jigsaw’s thinking and feelings. Jigsaw actually tests his victims through extremist measures in order to exalt their own character flaws and learn to appreciate life in a greater sense—to not take it for granted—whether it be their own, or those they encounter. Though the plot delves into a revenge story, similar to that of Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, Jigsaw works deeper in the psyche and turns towards paradoxical themes during his torture-lessons to his victims.
Lastly, the Saw series as a whole describes the element of fear in a variety of defining moments for the victims, especially that of the uncanny. Though horrifying serial-killer institutions are conveyed throughout the trailer, the real fear that the directors play upon is the fiend inside and a darker romance within the confines of horror. The true targets of Jigsaw’s mastery are natural qualities of humanity and the realization of such. Hawthorne’s works dove into the dark romanticism through Young Goodman Brown and the journey of life leading to a loss of innocence and, questionably, humanity. More thoroughly, Jigsaw expresses that to “truly live”, one finds “true humanity” through this revelation of oneself. This self-realization becomes a powerful use of the uncanny—as if looking into a clouded mirror— throughout the need to overcome this helplessness.
In conclusion, the Saw series trailer and popularity expressed three classical gothic conventions of unrestricted imagery, exploring the inner-psyche of characters, and addressing fear and the uncanny. Directors and screenwriters of the greatest horror and suspense films in history explore the works of gothic writers and parallel theme to visual and audio screenplay rather than written text and what’s discovered in between the lines.