The eight films of the Saw franchise are soon to become nine, as Chris Rock produces and stars in his own revival of the graphic horror series. Most dismiss the films as random scenes of torture and violence, but looking beyond the surface, there is a mind-bending story full of twists and turns. From surprise villains and secret apprentices to Jigsaw's own (admittedly pedantic and philosophically empty) motives for crafting his intricate deathtraps.
That isn’t to say these storylines are perfect, though. Far from it, in fact. We’ve collected just 10 of the biggest plot holes across the entire franchise.
Lawrence Shouldn’t Have Been A Suspect
Lawrence was one of the original suspects when the police were trying to crack Jigsaw's identity. However, this doesn’t really make any sense. He is a doctor, with very long, hard hours that his workmates could easily confirm to the police. The complex crimes the killer was committing were, obviously, very time-consuming. Time is the one thing Lawrence didn’t have, and you’d think the investigation might have taken into consideration that either Lawrence crafting traps and kidnapping victims was physically impossible, or that he would be doing it overnight and therefore be so tired all the time that he wouldn’t be able to do his job.
Michael Shouldn’t Have Known
Early on in Saw II, we see Michael Marks engaged in a particularly brutal trap. He has a ‘death mask’ on his head and a very small amount of time to escape from it, and he fails.
However, just before it closes on his head, he drops to his knees and screams just seconds before he dies. There isn’t any way he would have known this was about to happen, though. The timer was on the side of the mask that he couldn’t see, and Jigsaw hadn’t told him how long he had to escape.
How Was Timothy ID’d
Timothy was ID’d as the driver in a hit-and-run incident in Saw III. However, it doesn’t seem like there is any way he actually could have been identified as the guilty party. It is made quite clear that Danica was the only witness, and she didn’t come forward to explain what she knew. This means no one else saw, and therefore there was nothing that could have allowed this crime to be traced back to Timothy.
Who Saved Eric?
In Saw III, we see a character called Eric Matthews smash his way out of a trap by bashing his foot down until it slipped out. However, directly after this, he is in a lot of pain and obviously struggles to get away with his life. He obviously manages to live, because the character appears in Saw IV and Saw V.
It is never explained who helped him put a brace on his leg and stopped him from certain death back during his escape. The only possible explanation is that Lawrence helped, but the fact that Lawrence survived his ordeal wasn't even revealed until Saw VII.
The Years Don’t Add Up
Saw IV shows a flashback in which John Kramer abducts Cecil Adams. They’re at a festival celebrating Chinese New Year. In particular, the Year Of The Pig. The Year Of The Pig happened in 1995-1996 and 2007-2008, which doesn’t match up to any of the information about Kramer’s cancer diagnosis. Apparently his diagnosis was in 2003, and this kidnapping took place just afterward. Four years certainly isn’t "just after," so the timeline doesn’t make sense at all here.
Strahm’s Phone Is In An Evidence Locker
Any competent agent would know what is happening with their case at any given time. Dan Erickson knew that Peter Strahm’s phone was locked away in an evidence locker, so Strahm himself shouldn’t have been able to get to it, and someone else could be using it.
Despite this, when Hoffman steals the phone and calls Erickson, Erickson picks up and assumes Strahm is ringing him. Then again, this particular phone seems to have magical powers anyway. Early in the film, Strahm himself claims to have no signal, despite having full bars.
Simone And Eddie’s Pointless Trap
Even though Saw VI was a massive disappointment in comparison to the rest of the franchise, it has one particularly cool trap. Simone and Eddie are stuck in one of Jigsaw's games and are effectively forced to cut off their limbs in order to tip the weight on a scale.
Rather than cutting off their limbs, all they really needed to do is drop the tools they were using down and tip the scales that way. This probably would have worked a lot better, because the tools look pretty heavy.
Why Didn’t William Try To Use The Safe Switch?
Saw VI also introduced the shotgun roulette, which forced six people to choose two to save, and four to die. They’re on some sort of carousel, which continues to move until all six of the shotgun cartridges are used.
However, they quickly find out that the ‘safe switch’ mechanism on the gun allows him to fire the bullets in a safe direction, instead of killing the people involved. For some reason, they don’t think of this, even though the gun would theoretically be safe as soon as they’ve dumped all six bullets.
How Did The Game Work Exactly The Same?
Jigsaw was a brilliant way to revive the Saw franchise after seven years. It was billed as a sequel and seemed like a sequel, but the twist revealed most of what was shown was actually a prequel. However, the whole idea behind this was that the game 'played' was the same. Logan, however, couldn’t predict the exact same outcome. In order for it to work out the way it did, various unpredictable things (that weren’t necessarily designed to happen) had to occur again, based on luck. For example, Malcolm had to die in the bucket head trap, and Carly had to inject herself with acid in the exact same place.
Doctor-Patient Confidentiality
As such, his access to this information wouldn’t be possible in the real world (without a court order) and the storyline of Jigsaw shouldn’t have been able to progress in the same way.