Saw+Films+Make+a+Killing,+Literally

=Saw Films Make A Killing, Literally=

James Thrasher
If you’re an amateur filmmaker on a budget, a lot can be learned from the success of the Saw franchise. The first film, simply titled “Saw”, was filmed over 18 days with a budget of just $1.15 million. The reason for the films success rests on the fact that its “not just a slash ‘em and kill ‘em picture…it’s a thinking man’s horror movie with a moral center.” The first film, whose distribution rights were bought by Lionsgate Entertainment, was planned to have been directly released on video, as opposed to a theatrical release. However, after the movie sold out 3 straight nights at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, Lionsgate decided to release it in theaters, but not before the movie was edited further. Its original version had received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, but in order to maximize the audience the filmmakers wanted to bring the rating down to R. Oren Koules, a member of the production team explained, “we pointed out that there really wasn’t a lot of gore, and that the violence was mostly implied…frame by frame we showed the censors that the doctor’s foot hadn’t been cut off. We didn’t have money for special effects.” The film brought in $18.3 million its first weekend, and ended up grossing $55.2 million. Fans found it to be a refreshing horror film because it had moved away from the norm of mindless, seemingly endless slaughter. “Horror fans sensed they were getting in on something innovative and legitimately terrifying.” The series of pictures, none of which has ever had a production budget of more than $10.9 million, is said to have brought in more than $1 billion when including international sales and revenue from DVD sales, television, and merchandising.

The benefits of low-budget special effects are seen clearly with the “Saw” franchise. Horror films are one of the few genres that can actually succeed in creating a blockbuster film with such limited funds. As seen with other low budget horror films such as “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity”, the success of the film depends more on the writing and directing side, as opposed to providing stunning special effects. In his book, Stanley Baran talks about films that have had astronomical budgets of $250-$350 million. Included in these films are titles such as “Titanic”, “Spider Man 3” and “Transformers”. If a production company tried to make “Transformers” on a $10 million budget, the film would probably be garbage and not attract a large audience. On the other hand, if a horror film like “Saw” had a $200 million budget, there would probably be wasted funds because it simply doesn’t cost that much to produce a quality horror film. The positive and negative consequences of a special effects budget are applicable to movies depending on genre. As it has been shown, a small budget for a horror film is usually a positive, while an equally small budget for an action thriller would be a negative. It all depends on what kind of film is being produced.

Baran. S.J. (1984). An Introduction to Mass Communication. Addison-Wesley. Lidz, F. (2009, Oct. 21). Limbs Pile Up, and Money, Too. NY Times.