All films in this iconic horror franchise are now streaming (Picture: THA/Shutterstock)
If you like playing games, then you’ll be thrilled to learn the entire Saw franchise has landed on Netflix.
All 10 films from the hit horror series known to make viewers physically nauseous are now available to stream on the platform, perfect for longtime obsessives to revisit and for thrill seekers in need of a new binge.
Created by James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the eponymous first instalment was released in 2004 and kick-started what would become a pop culture phenomenon.
Saw has been expanded into various merchandise over the years, plus television series, video games, comic books, music, and even theme park attractions.
As the fifth-highest-grossing horror franchise of all time, sitting ahead of Scream and Final Destination, it’s safe to say its legacy is solid – over 20 years later, TikTok users still dedicate videos to analysing its traps and discussing theories.
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The series revolves around fictional serial killer John ‘Jigsaw’ Kramer, played by movie legend Tobin Bell.
Enter the Saw universe at your own risk (Picture: Twisted Pictures)
His introduction in Saw (2004) is brief, but we soon get to know more about the man behind the murders and why he’s so furious at people wasting their lives or taking them for granted.
Rather than just killing his victims with his bare hands, he decides to test them, forcing them into life-threatening situations that push their survival instincts to the max.
Whether it be physical or psychological torture, each trap – which is often somewhat representative of its target’s life and problems – is even more grim and near impossible to defeat. If they can do so, however, Kramer believes that is their ‘rehabilitation’.
It’s safe to say the traps and devices do not make for comfortable viewing, as characters are seen to be publicly executed by chainsaws, sliced open by lasers, removing their own eyeballs, and twisted repeatedly in crucifix-like contraptions – and that only scratches the surface.
But if blood and gore don’t faze you, then Saw promises a wild ride of action and surprises – just ask anyone who contributed to it grossing more than $1billion (£750m) worldwide.
Reactions to Saw
The series follows John Kramer (Tobin Bell) and his morbid games (Picture: Twisted Pictures)
Most Saw viewers will have a favourite, not to mention a definitive ranking of best to worst.
Writing on Reddit, Mirathemoo says one trap made them ‘gag until [they] induced a headache’, while aprettyawkwardbird says ‘the realistic traps are the scariest sometimes’.
PicklesAreMyFriends describes scenes as ‘nauseating’, and InvisibleElectron calls them ‘unbearable’.
As for critics, the ‘deceptively clever’ nature of Saw’s story has long been praised, and while reviews have slated the ‘filth’ and ‘distasteful’ butchery in the past, horror fanatics can’t get enough.
The Saw story explained
We enter the Saw universe with the first film, which begins as two men awaken chained up in a bathroom on opposite sides of a dead body, each given specific instructions to kill the other.
What’s your favourite Saw trap? (Picture: THA/Shutterstock)
Saw II was released in 2005, following a detective and his team who attempt to rescue eight people trapped in a factory by the killer known only as Jigsaw. The group must tackle a series of brutal games; meanwhile, Detective Eric Matthews races to save his son, Daniel, who has been captured and is at risk of death in the house being pumped with gas.
The following year came Saw III. Delving further into a bedridden Jigsaw’s personal story, he orders his apprentice, Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), to kidnap a doctor to keep him alive. Simultaneously, Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), a fellow victim, faces his own tasks.
In Saw IV (2007), SWAT Commander Rigg is roped into the games and must follow a blood-drenched trail to find his two missing colleagues. Throughout the film, gruesome flashbacks offer further backstory to how Jigsaw came to be.
Which is your favourite Saw film?
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Saw V (2008) continues with Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), an apparent heir of Jigsaw who not only wants to protect his secret, but also maintain the killer’s legacy by continuing the games.
Released the year after, Saw VI sees the FBI close in on Hoffman, but he sets another sick game in motion that exposes Jigsaw’s wider scheme. Soon enough, investigators realise that the murders are actually part of a more intricate plot, risking their own lives in their quest to solve it.
Saw 3D landed in 2010 and would become the last movie in the franchise for seven years. It sees a group of Jigsaw survivors (not that there are many) come together – but author Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) turns out to be a fraud, eventually finding himself part of a real game where he must save his wife.
The ‘deceptively clever’ nature of the franchise’s story has long been commended (Picture: Twisted Pictures)
After a Saw sabbatical, Jigsaw was released in 2017 and is the only movie not to feature Bell. A decade on from Kramer’s death, a new string of murders bears all the markings of Jigsaw, asking the question: Is he back?
Spiral was released four years later, involving a Jigsaw copycat killer and an investigation led by Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock), who finds himself at the centre of the morbid games.
Finally, Saw X (2023) sees the return of Bell and is set between the events of I and II, diving into a whole new untold chapter and exposing the events that birthed Jigsaw.
Will there be another Saw film?
Unfortunately, Saw XI was axed in early 2025, having been due for release last September.
The game is not necessarily over, though, as fans were given fresh hope when Blumhouse bought Twisted Pictures’ stake, and Lionsgate said it would continue to be a partner on the Saw films.
We’re still awaiting an official announcement of an 11th Saw, but it looks like it’s not 100% dead after all.
All 10 Saw films are now streaming on Netflix.
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