The brainchild of then Sydney-based filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the first Saw film launched what has now become the Guinness Book Of World Records holder for ‘Most Successful Horror Franchise’ – and that’s not even to mention the thousand gory imitators that it spawned.
Now, for the highly-anticipated eighth instalment of the gruelling horror series, directing duties have been returned to Aussie hands – Jigsaw, a continuation of the Saw story, has been helmed by Australian-raised identical twin brothers, Michael and Peter Spierig, who, after the release of their critically-acclaimed sci-fi thiller Predestination (starring Ethan Hawke, Noah Taylor and Sarah Snook) were left thirsty for a challenge.
“When we first read the screenplay, written by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger, we were actually very surprised at how compelling it was,” Michael says. “There was a lot of interesting stuff already in the script: there were new things and different elements that we thought could be really exciting to be involved in. Then we pitched some ideas on tone and style and traps – all those kinds of things. It was very collaborative and very inclusive from the beginning, so we were pretty excited to jump into it.”
I assure you there are a lot of crazy traps, and all the aspects we think the Saw fans are looking for
Set for release seven years on from the release of Saw 3D, Jigsaw sees the franchise’s trademark twisted scenarios, bone-chilling suspense and terrifying traps ratcheted up to an all-time high. As the story opens, a series of distinctly Jigsaw-esque murders are terrorising citizens and leaving the police baffled, as they embark on a hunt for a man they long believed to be dead and buried. Has serial killer John Kramer been resurrected to once again embark on his mission to remind us to be grateful for the gift of life, or are one of his protégés playing a wicked game of their own? No matter the outcome, the twins insist that we are in for a fright fest.
“It’s pretty wild,” says Michael. “I assure you there are a lot of crazy traps, and all the aspects we think the Saw fans are looking for. We’re definitely not shying away from the horror aspect as well. It’s definitely a wild ride and has the themes that the fans are familiar with – but hopefully we’re offering something new too.”
“Saw has a long history and a lot of very dedicated fans, so of course it was always a little scary to tackle something so loved,” Peter says. “We certainly wanted to make something the fans would enjoy, but at the same time we also didn’t want to do the same old thing. We wanted to make sure that it was different and unique, and it’s a bit of a balancing act to do that.”
“There are definitely moments of levity in this film,” Michael adds. “It’s perhaps not as bleak – it’s certainly not a comedy by any means, but there are some lighter moments here and there.” He laughs. “I do promise it will be intense though.”
It’s definitely a wild ride and has the themes that the fans are familiar with – but hopefully we’re offering something new too.
The German-born brothers grew up in Sydney and Brisbane, and discovered a love for filmmaking at a young age. Always drawn to the edgier side of movie making, their directorial debut at the age of 12 was shot on location in their backyard with a cast of teddy bears and a cache of fireworks for the big explosion scene. “There’s something fascinating about coming up with twisted ideas, and a design team having to actually figure out how to make them,” Michael says.
“We designed and built a lot of things [for Jigsaw] and we tried to do as many of the stunts and action scenes for real as we possibly could, without anyone getting hurt obviously.” Michael laughs. “As a fan of the films, it was quite surreal but a lot of fun coming up with this crazy stuff.”
The brothers’ first feature film, Undead, was a low-budget horror comedy that was funded by their life savings, and went on to screen at 17 film festivals, including Edinburgh and Montreal. By the time it came to be distributed in cinemas, Undead was released through Lionsgate Films (home to the Saw franchise) and marked the beginning of several successful collaborations to come.
“Michael and I have written and directed together for 15 years now,” Peter says. “And we do like to work with the same people as often as we can. We’ve used the same cinematographer on four movies, our make-up effects guy we’ve known since we were at TAFE, and a producer that we work with I’ve known since grade six.
“Filmmaking can be a really tough process. But when you’ve got people who are all working towards the same goal and everybody is pleasant, that’s the kind of situation you wanna be in – though it isn’t always like that. I think Ethan Hawke is someone we’re going to work with again – and of course Sarah Snook.”
Indeed, Snook has already been lined up to star in the brothers’ next project, the supernatural thriller Winchester (due for release 2018) that also so happens to star a little up and comer named Helen Mirren. “Helen’s incredible,” Michael says, his voice a little awed.
“Not only did she find the true life story of Sarah Winchester really interesting – as we did – but I think Helen also believes she was a fascinating human being in her own right. The myth of course is that as the heir to the Winchester fortune, she was haunted by all the people killed at the hand of the famous rifle. We’re actually doing the post-production for it now, and the performances are chilling.”
Jigsaw screens in cinemas nationally on Thursday November 2.
