The most brutal trap from the Saw films is widely considered to be the infamous needle pit, but Saw 3D’s Horsepower Trap puts it to shame — here's why.
The Saw horror movie franchise has built its reputation off of the twisted forms of barbaric justice that get administered by the deadly Jigsaw, John Kramer. The first Saw film helped put visionary filmmaker James Wan on the map, but the sequels increasingly upped the stakes—and gore—for the morbid stunts that Jigsaw’s victims have to endure.
The Saw sequels were instrumental for the boom in torture-friendly horror from the 2000s, and the franchise’s first sequel delivers one of its toughest scenes to date. Saw 2’s needle pit tasks Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) to wade through a pit of used syringes to find the key that will open the next room. It’s an idea that’s hard to even think about without cringing, but despite its reputation, there’s actually another Jigsaw trap that’s even more disturbing.
Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton’s Saw 3D goes for broke; this is most evident in the movie’s Horsepower Trap. The elaborate stunt involves a car, four victims, and a massive amount of carnage. Evan, the trap’s primary target, is superglued to the driver’s seat. Evan has only 30 seconds to pry himself off and pull a lever that’s connected to the motor, otherwise the lives of Kara, Dan, and Jake will also be lost. Kara’s head gets crushed by a tire, while the speeding car tears off Dan’s lower jaw and arms before it collides into Jake. There’s exceptional pain for everyone involved; the trap punishes these four people for their racist, skinhead ways. Saw 2’s needle pit is viscerally painful, but the Horsepower Trap feels like a true Rube Goldberg masterpiece from Jigsaw.
Another important detail here is that the Horsepower Trap is a stunt that Dunstan and Melton had wanted to put in a Saw movie for years, but it was consistently considered to be too violent, even for a Saw movie. This helped the trap build up an urban legend around itself. Many believed it was only allowed in because Saw 3D was supposed to mark the end of the franchise. This graphic set piece is, in many ways, a parting gift from the directors to the fans — this is why it's so much more involved than other stunts. Saw 2's needle pit still incites massive wincing, but it's an idea that was deemed safe, even during the franchise's infancy. Additionally, Amanda gets thrown into the needle pit with zero time to think up a plan, but there are actually ways to mildly circumvent this horror. Both the mattress and the room’s wooden door could be used as a protective landmass against the needles.
It's also worth considering that the original plan in Saw 3D was for Evan to survive this trap and wind up in the hospital, but scheduling conflicts vetoed this plan. The Horsepower Trap is brutal and destructive, but its survival factor is also crucial to its success. If Evan had made it through the ordeal then he'd also have the guilt of his three friends’ lives on him in exchange for his survival. It's easy to focus on the extreme nature of Jigsaw's stunts, but their aftermath and the rehabilitation that they cause are just as integral as the trap itself. There's more lingering trauma associated with the Horsepower Trap, and while many people have fears associated with needles, Evan's trauma would be even more substantial — even the sight of a car might cause him to break down. Jigsaw warps Amanda’s mind, but it’s not the needle pit that causes her to break. Saw 3D didn’t turn out to be the end of the Saw franchise, and there’s even a new sequel on the way. However, the Horsepower Trap is still the biggest trap that’s been attempted and may one day gain the same sick appreciation that’s associated with Saw 2’s needle pit.
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