Event: SAW 6!

Last Updated on July 26, 2021

I have to honestly say that since the beginning, I’ve been a huge fan of SAW as the story has always remained fresh throughout all the previous five films and the carnage of each one just keeps getting better and better. Which is why I was very honoured to be invited to the first official press party in Toronto for the much-anticipated SAW VI . The movie has its wide release on October 23, 2009 and I had a chance to sit down with most of the cast and crew to talk about the latest installment in the franchise for JoBlo & AITH.

It was truly a pleasure to sit down with everyone as the SAW group has become quite the family since most of them have been involved right from the beginning which makes for a wonderful chemistry and mood between all. I sat down with Jigsaw himself (Tobin Bell) who was absolutely fantastic to talk too. From stories of how Sydney Pollock taught him to take off his jacket with one finger in “The Firm” to how great it was to work with Shawnee Smith again, there was never a dull moment with Tobin as he was just a great guy to be around. I also spoke with director Kevin Greutert about various aspects of the film and he was also a very down-to-earth guy and after the interview, all we could do for 10 minutes straight was talk about the new “Star Trek” and how awesome it was. Others I spoke with included the stunningly gorgeous Betsy Russell, newcomer Devon Bostick and more so check out what each of them had to say from the party below.

Tobin Bell

So where are you guys based out of again?

Mostly in Montreal but we have people all over the place for interviews and events in general. Lots of fun.

I do remember talking to your organization below. The names of these websites, you don’t forget em’ for sure like Bloody-Disgusting.com (laugh) and whatever other crazy names you can think of.

The actual site that this kind of interview would be featured in primarily is the sister site called “Arrow in the Head” which is our horror news website”.

(Big Laugh) That’s great.

Alrighty, so you’ve got two days left of filming at this point. How are you feeling about the new installment so far?

I had a good time. I had a great time working with Peter Outerbridge and ummm, with Betsy Russell as well who’s great (points out to the cast in the party and smiles). It’s been really great with this one.

So I hear in this latest film that the overall scheme of Jigsaw will finally be revealed. What do you think?

Hopefeully. I mean, you definitely get a window into John’s mind and you get a special timeline in this film as to what’s going on. I’m always trying to tell more of the story and to tell the audience what he does and why. His relationship with Detective Hoffman moves further in the story as well. Did you see SAW V?

Yes sir.

Well there’s a scene in SAW V where Hoffman is sitting almost exactly how he is sitting right now. (Points to Costas Mandylor sitting in a chair for another interview)

Just minus the double-barrelled shotgun to his chin. (Laugh)

Exactly. Well what did you get out of the two films about the connection between Jigsaw and Hoffman? What’s the connection between the two?

Obviously Hoffman losing his sister in a brutal way and then John Kramer losing his child to the drug addict who preyed on his wife’s kindness. This sense of “see what I see” and “feel what I feel” is definitely what drew them together.

Yes and that was talked about quite a bit in that scene in SAW V and it becomes so important later on as we build on the characters.

With each film that comes out, do you find that John (in his flashbacks) is becoming more like a teacher of life than a simple kidnapper and brutal killer that we felt in the beginning?

Well, you’re always trying to create the opposite with a character. I mean what’s the point. You want to create conflict and you know, human beings have so many different sides to them. Why play the obvious? He’s gonna do what he’s gotta do. He doesn’t have to… justify what he does and he believes clearly that what he does it right even if it is horribly brutal. People do horrible things and they feel justified in their mind all the time and that relates so much to today’s society. Especially when the morale compass has gone off (Makes funny hand gesture). And uh, sometimes people just suffer from these or have some kind of breakdown and this all relates very much to John…he’s definitely having one. (Laugh)

It’s true. John’s ideas and beliefs can relate so much to today’s audience and people who take so many things for granted in their life.

Exactly. Exactly. It’s messages like that one that people are starting to catch onto in the films. I remember a specific scene that I had in SAW IV with the character named Cecil (the drug addict responsible for the loss of John’s baby) and John has to perform a necessary evil (in his mind anway) in order to save this man. It ultimately doesn’t end good for Cecil but the message is still there. It’s just like when I talk about the stranded motorist who gets help from someone and that person gets taken out by a semi-truck going by. People then lie, steal and cheat and that’s the opposite side where people do bad things and they get a reward for it. However, Karma can catch up on you. John is willing to live with what he is doing even though he suffers through the pain of it and that is further explained in SAW VI.

Awesome. So we’ve all heard that the great Shawnee Smith is finally returning back to the screen. Can you give us an idea of what’s going on there?

(Laughs) Good. Where did you hear that from?

From our site and a few other news sources on the net who were all excited that she signed on.

Shawnee is very…as you know…so important. Her character (Amanda Young) is one of the main pillars of the SAW VI story and everybody should be excited about it. It’s so great that she’s back in it and fans should be very excited to see her again. I will definitely say hello to Shawnee from JoBlo. She’d love that. I will tell her that she has fans at JoBlo.

I also heard that a new video-game is coming out. Did you have any involvement there?

(Laugh) Yes I did. I actually went into a study and did some of the voice work for it. There were times where I would agree or disagree with lines being read so I’d give my input that way. It was a lot of fun though.

So I guess it’s safe to say that John isn’t fading away in any medium then?

I’m not planning on fading away anywhere. I’m gonna keep going and make sure the SAW story stays strong for a long-time.

How’s it been working with Kevin (director)?

He’s been fantastic so far. I feel very comfortable with him. He’s a great editor and he’s very thoughtful and kind as well. And by thoughtful, I mean kind and patient with the actors and crew. I like that a lot about him. He’s given me a couple of tips about a few things during the film that I felt helped out a lot and he’s overall a very smart guy.

Well thanks again for your time Tobin.

Thank you! Great talking with you.

Kevin Greutert (Director)

Wasn’t the head-guy for “Arrow In The Head” in SAW II? A cameo from a fan-site?

Yeah, he played the “Video Techie” in it. His name is John Fallon.

That’s the guy. I think it was a couple of close-ups with lines. It was great.

Since you’ve been the editor for the first five films, I’m sure you have a unique vision of how you’d like the film to turn out.

Yeah, very much. We’ve got two days left to shoot. Yesterday, I watched Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” on DVD and then today I watched “Star Trek” in the theatre and already I want to re-shoot a bunch of my scenes.

“Star Trek” was incredible.

Well, it’s the visual style that was fantastic. I love that dirty, messy and energetic way of using the camera. It wasn’t chaotic like some but it definitely pushed the envelope like the Bourne films. A really great editor for it named Christopher Rouse won the Academy Award for it.

He deserved it.

Oh yeah, he definitely did and an action film like the last Bourne movie is something that not all editor’s take seriously. Real editing is about a character drama. If you can take something chaotic and make it work in terms of the story-telling, then you’ve succeeded. I’ve tried to put this into SAW VI and I’m very happy with it. You’re not always perfectly happy and you might always think that you could have done more with it.

Yeah, every director always cringes about something in their films in the end.

Exactly and that can be a tough thing for sure. I really like close-ups but when you’re on the set, people will tell you to remember that this person’s face is going to be 70-feet tall on a movie screen and maybe you should back off and I’m like…maybe we can back off (hesitantly). On our shoot day yesterday with Tobin Bell…well…(Laughs)…it’s really hard to describe without giving a spoiler but it’s an extremely close-up shot of Tobin’s face. He starts walking from across the room and I used a very wide-angled lens so there’s an immense exaggeration in the scale of the character as he walks up to the camera. He then says a very significant word (Laughs).

(Laughing) Something that the fans are aware of already?

No, it’s completely new. And there were whispers in my ear like “It’s too big” and “You’re too close” and I’m like well let’s just do it anyway. It worked so well in “Star Trek” with it being like 40% close-up shots that really told the characters emotions so well.

“The Dark Knight” is one of the best examples I can think of as well. The Joker’s reveal during the bank robbery where his face appears on a giant IMAX screen. Amazing!

Very much so. All that said, the film is coming. I don’t want to talk about it like its over even though we have two days to go but its coming along. I’ve brought on Andrew Coutts who was the Assistant Editor while I was the main and for SAW VI, he’ll be main editor while I’m directing. I’ll have some say in how it’s pieced together but he’s the main guy.

It’s been a pretty smooth shoot?

Oh yeah, it’s gone really well. Not to say that its been easy but it’s been great. So many learning curves along the way.

And you’re working with Shawnee Smith as well who is making a big return. Is she important to the new storyline?

Oh yes! (Laughs) Yeah, going into this, we absolutely have to have Shawnee Smith in this movie. First off, there’s too much stuff that is unanswered and her character is my favourite other than Jigsaw of course. I’m trying to bring more answers from her past to this film and if I succeed with the movie, I think it will be a great human drama.

So with the new SAW video-game coming out, do you know if there will be any tie-in with the storyline of SAW VI?

You know what, the video-game is a completely seperately entity. I only know the smallest details. When we were working on the first SAW, there was some news articles that we put together for a montage scene for Detective Tapp (Danny Glover) and one of the author’s names was Oswald McGillicutty which was an inside joke between my wife and I. At one point, they saw the name and thought the name was ridiculous but apparently the name has been turned into a character in the game. As well, they were planning on making the character look like me but the game studio had already designed the character. (Laughs)

(Laughs) That’s awesome.

But as far as the game goes, I’m only aware that the storyline itself does involve Detective Tapp in the first SAW but that’s about the extent of what I know so far.

Any thoughts on when we’ll be seeing the first teaser trailer for the film? The teasers are becoming legendary as each new one is so unique.

Ummm…I don’t know. I was to make one to play this weekend but I haven’t had a chance to get into the editing room to do it yet. Usually it’s done before Comic-Con and it comes out sometime in July. I’m very excited to do it though and it’s a great tease for the audience.

Well I really appreciate your time and good luck with the movie.

Thanks again!

Betsy Russell

So how involved are you in the story for SAW VI?

I am much more involved in this one than I was in SAW V. We finally get to find out what was in the box that was shown in the last movie.

Oh man, that was going to be my last question for you. (Laughing)

(Laughs) Yeah, well I can’t tell you what’s in the box but you will find out in this movie for sure and it’s great. It’s hard to figure out what to say without revealing too much. If I told you what’s in the box, why bother even coming to see the movie?

It’s that important?

(Laughs) Oh yes but I’m still not telling.

How has your time on the set been going?

It’s great, I love Toronto but I really do miss my kids. I live back in Los Angeles so it’s a big thing for me to travel all the way here for a while. I’ve been here a couple of weeks at a time but its been great. Kevin is great and he knows what he wants for sure.

Will there be a lot more time between your character (John’s ex-wife) and Tobin Bell in terms of your past relationship that is shown in flashbacks?

Oh yeah, there’s going to be a lot more of that. As well, you’ll finally see where my character is really going. Will she be good or will she be bad? Is she going to the dark side or isn’t she?

Well thanks a lot! By the way, loved you in “Private School”. (Smiles)

(Laughs) Thank you very much!

Devon Bostick

So how does it feel to be jumping into a huge horror franchise like SAW?

It feels great since I love the other films so it’s very exciting.

Can you give us a few details about your character in SAW VI?

I play an angry teenager named Brent. Me and my mother are in a trap together and we have a big decision make.

Does your character have a major part to play in the overall story?

Oh yeah, definitely. I’m there in the end, that’s for sure.

How’s it been working with Kevin?

He’s been so great and he’s made everything so easy. He can really bring the darkness and the tone. He also gives the actors the time they need because it’s not always easy to go to that “emotional place” that you need to be for scenes like in SAW VI.

So overall, you’re definitely happy with how its been going?

Yes, very much. I think everybody is going to love this one and it’ll be very successfull. It has a huge twist at some point that will be great. I worked with Peter Outerbridge and he’s amazing. He’s just fantastic and he really brings in a lot of truth to this very screwed-up situation. It’s great!

Awesome, thanks for your time!

No problem. Thank you!

David Hackl (Director of “SAW V”)

So having been the production designer of the SAW films since the beginning, how do you think this latest installment is going so far?

It’s funny. There was a lot of people going “Uhh…SAW VI…why?” and what not but with this new movie, I love the story. I do love the other movies as well as they’re mine.

The franchise is your baby.

Yes, it’s mine so I love it. The cast is great, the production design is terrific. Overall it’s going to be a great movie. We’ve put a lot of sweat into making them good. With this crew and cast being part of a small family, it makes it easy for others to voice their opinions and everyone will listen to them as a result. It makes for a great mood sets the tone very well in the beginning. If there was ever a person on the set who was driven by ego, they would most-likely get run out by the family.

How do you feel SAW VI will be different from all the previous films?

Not a lot of differences but things have improved. The traps are stupendous throughout the entire film. The production designer has put together some amazing sets that sets the mood perfectly. It’s amazing how truly mechanical these traps are as well and it’s very difficult. You have to design the trap, build it and get it on set while making sure that it doesn’t kill someone for real. These traps can be dangerous if they’re mistreated. It’s a lot of engineering. It has to be visceral. When you look at the trap, you have to know exactly what’s going to happen the moment you see it as the audience.

That’s one thing that I love about SAW is that it’s very practical whereas a lot of horror movies these days like to rely on CGI scares and so on. “The Descent” being one of my favourite examples.

Exactly and films like that make the audience think and believe what is really happening. It’s sad when people say that a franchise can only go downhill because it’s clearly not the case. Look at “Batman Begins” and “Star Trek”.

I’ve heard that SAW VI is going to be the bloodiest one yet.

Oh yeah, it’s pretty bloody. In the opening scene, I actually said to Kevin that there’s no way that he’s going to get the scene past the MPAA. He laughed and said “I know, I’ll get some alternate shots” but truly, it’s pretty gruesome and leaves a lot to the imagination as well. You don’t always see it but your mind just wanders and can make you cringe. In the end though, it’s Tobin who has kept the whole thing together and always has throughout the franchise as he’s the greatest.

Thanks very much for your time!

My pleasure!