Not for the weak of the heart is the Saw movie series. Six installments, including 2 spinoffs, have been produced since the 2004 release of the first Saw, each of which has increased the cruel behavior of Jigsaw, the serial murderer who serves as the story’s main antagonist. However, the first film continues to be the most audacious of the lot because of its breathtaking turns and the startling extent to which the characters would go in an attempt to stay alive.
Now, quite a few torture-based horror films have attempted to cash in on Saw’s fame but have fallen short. The focus of these movies is typically on grossing out viewers rather than genuinely delving into the psyche of the characters. The finest Saw-inspired movies accomplish both goals in one go: they make you squint your eyes and marvel at how twisted the antagonists, and their victims are. At its core, Saw is a tale of survival, and it is genuinely horrifying how far the main protagonists would go to escape Jigsaw’s grasps unscathed.
The films listed below include both ones that drew inspiration from the Saw franchise & others that came first. These films will all give you huge Saw vibes, from the nightmare maze that the protagonists of The Escape Room should through to the boundary-pushing terror of Said Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Movies like Saw were groundbreaking. Nothing like it has ever been seen before. It created a new genre that is still well-liked today with its excellent narrative and dismal environment.
1. Vacancy
The tense and spooky subject of being imprisoned is used in the 2007 film Vacancy. The American horror-thriller movie, which also stars Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, is directed by Nimród Antal.
The story centers on David & Amy Fox, who, due to a series of bad circumstances, find themselves in a hostile hotel. However, the TV’s movie selections are limited to slasher films shot in the same space. The pair may find a way out after realizing they are being observed in order to avoid becoming the next targets of the cult film series.
2. Hostel
Hostel, a movie that can make you never wish to leave your apartment again, was the first to capitalize on Saw’s success. A group of pals looking to hook up look for a hostel in Slovakia while traveling throughout Europe in order to meet the purportedly attractive ladies who reside there. Instead, they discover a dangerous game intended to capture unsuspecting visitors and torment them for amusement.
3. Escape Room
The popularity of escape rooms has skyrocketed recently, but what happens if you were vying for more than just prestige when you visited that staged room filled with mysterious codes? This 2017 gem’s idea involves a group of pals being imprisoned inside an escape room encounter that is entirely real.
4. Cube
In a chamber that is a portion of a cube-like construction with lethal traps, many strangers awaken. It becomes apparent that the group has a connection that they were blissfully ignorant of as they attempt to find their path to freedom, and one of them discloses their dark motives.
It’s a shame that this 1990s series didn’t find greater popularity because this horror film has held up so beautifully over the years. The film has several characters who are placed in specific traps, just like in Saw. But Cube is even eerier since it makes its setting so cramped that even the spectator would feel confined.
5. Devil
Before settling on the bathroom, Saw’s creators considered locking the main protagonists in an elevator. Devil, a movie that is entirely narrated by having its actors imprisoned inside of an elevator, tells us what could have been.
With a theme like this, we are left wondering which of these individuals is the killer as characters violently disappear throughout the film. In contrast to Saw, Devil has such a paranormal undertone since it becomes apparent that the devil himself is seeking to murder these individuals, whose terrible pasts have made them deserving of a reckoning.
6. The Collector
There are so many clever turns in The Collector. A would-be thief doesn’t anticipate finding an affluent family already broken into and bound when he breaks into their house in the hopes of making some quick cash. He also doesn’t realize that the previous intruder has set up boobytraps throughout the house to murder anyone who attempts to protect the occupants.
7. Untraceable
Do you want to discover the extremes that come with online fame and social media? Untraceable illustrates the horrifying ramifications as it tells the tale of a teenage murderer who, driven by an obsession with garnering viewers, murders his victims in a wide range of ways and broadcasts them live online.
As you may be aware, Saw has its own, more inventive traps; similarly, Untraceable’s traps adhere to the idea of the murder as the villain tries to play fast and loose with the authorities hard on his tail. The pursuit keeps things interesting and the deaths may be rather unnerving.
8. You’re Next
A cult-favorite horror movie that is comparable to the Saw series. You’re Next, which was directed & composed by Adam Wingard, had its global premiere in 2011 at the International Film Festival of Toronto.
The storied movie follows the estranged Davidson family as they are attacked by a group of masked assailants while on a trip to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The lead cast includes Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, and others.
A writer gets involved in a vehicle accident in a rural place, and a crazed fan who has become fascinated with him steps in to save him. With her consistently terrifying performances, Kathy Bates earned her well-deserved Oscar for the movie Misery.
The simple backdrop of Misery is what makes the movie so spooky despite having a major cast of just two performers. The antagonist is tormenting the poor man while coercing him into writing her a novel. She is also playing mind tricks with her victim. The protagonist is also striving to escape as the plot ends in a bloody and vicious battle for survival in this cat-and-mouse-type movie.
9. Final Destination
A guy had a premonition that predicted his demise and the deaths of dozens of people. Even though he stopped it from happening, he learns that death is now hunting down those who survived. The main character fights for his life as others start dying in horrifying ways.
There is a separate article rating all of the kills in this series. Because the concept of death planning the deaths of the major characters has a Jigsaw-like feel to it, Final Destination will resonate with Saw enthusiasts.
10. The Strangers
When a young couple comes home, they discover that three masked killers are following them, forcing them to fight for survival against unidentified foes. The simple idea of The Strangers is strengthened by the scares, which are delivered in unsettling packaging rather than always in a gory manner.
Similar to the previous Saw, the suspense surrounding the antagonists’ identity heightens the spookiness because they never reveal their names and simply seek to enjoy chasing the main protagonists. When it’s necessary, the blood will flow, but for the majority part, you’ll be anticipating the bad guys’ next move with your breath caught in your throat.
11. Would You Rather
On the pretext of a charity gift, a mystery benefactor invites several visitors to a party. However, when they arrive, they discover that the guy is mad and intends to have them play a sadistic game of “Would you rather,” in which only one person would be permitted to survive.
Given that there is just one scene and all of the guests pass away all at once until there are merely two remaining for the conclusion, it is similar to a shortened version of Saw. There isn’t much to the film other than watching the excruciating methods by which characters pass away, yet there is a thrill in attempting to guess who will live.
12. Seven
The shouting sentence “what’s in the box!” is well known to everyone who grew up during the 1990s or the early 2000s since Se7en was groundbreaking at the time. The story revolves around a psychotic killer who uses the 7 deadly sins as his central motif in order to elude capture by law enforcement.
The murders are shown in the movie in vivid ways as the characters try to figure out the main narrative while dealing with the frequent and gory homicides that occur along the route. In later movies, Saw also used themes to illustrate its traps, but Se7en was the first to do so.
13. Scream
The Scream movies always have a “whodunnit” theme, which the Saw series also had. Yes, it’s a slasher movie, which renders it a bit of a break from the slower-moving Saw flicks.
Uncertainty about the source of the violence makes things scarier, and each Scream film uses a tried-and-true technique to do this. For those who don’t know, the plot centers on a young woman named Sydney, who plays a key role in a sequence of murders that occur nearby as a mysterious “Ghostface” killer seeks to cause mayhem.
14. Exam
Even though this movie technically isn’t a horror movie, it resembles a Saw movie quite a little. In Saw II, we saw how a set of people would have to work together to discover a remedy, and in Exam, a collection of people are attempting to solve a puzzle in order to win a big reward.
The story unfolds in real time as the plot deviates from the main characters’ standards for decency in order to reveal the mystery over the course of an hour and a half. The cast gives outstanding performances, and the entire running time of the movie leaves you wondering. It concludes with a twist that is virtually identical to the one in Saw, placing the icing on a satisfying thriller.
15. The Purge
What would you do if you could commit whatever crime you wanted without being punished one night a year? Four people will be put to the test in “The Purge,” a sci-fi thriller that explores one household over the span of one night, to discover how far they would go to defend themselves when the cruel outside world intrudes into their house. In a nation where crime is rife and jails are overcrowded, the government has permitted an annual 12-hour period during which all unlawful conduct, including murder, becomes permissible.
You cannot call the cops. Help is halted in hospitals. On this particular night, the populace governs themselves without considering punishment. One family struggles to decide who they will embrace when a stranger arrives at the door on this night that is rife with violence and crime. A robber breaks into James Sandin’s gated neighborhood during the yearly lockdown and sets off a series of incidents that might tear a family apart. It is now up to James, his partner Mary, plus their children to survive the night without evolving into the monsters they are trying to hide from.
16. Till Death
Till Death, the crime drama in which Megan Fox appears transports viewers on an exciting, spooky, and captivating journey. S.K. Dale, a promising new director, crafts a compelling drama with Emma, a married lady at its core. Megan’s character is revealed during the voyage as she navigates the obstacles in her path. By the end, she finally understands her marital life, just like a perfect protagonist.
When Mark surprises Emma with a romantic evening at their remote lakehouse on their 10th wedding anniversary, she is shocked since she feels stuck in a stagnant marriage with Mark. The following morning, however, when she discovers herself bound to Mark’s lifeless body, everything is different. Emma, who is stranded and alone in the middle of winter, discovers that this is simply the commencement of Mark’s evil scheme and that, to stay alive, she must battle the hired murderers who are coming to put her to death.
17. The Silence of the Lambs
Movie The Silence of the Lambs Jodie Foster plays Clarice Starling, a brilliant student at the FBI military academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) asks Clarice to meet Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a talented psychologist who is also a dangerous psychopath sentenced to life in prison for many murders and cannibalism. Crawford thinks that Lecter could have information on a case, and therefore that Starling, a beautiful young lady, might be the perfect lure to entice him.
18. Audition
“The Audition” has a subtle tension running through it. Sharp worried sensations periodically interrupt the movie’s normally leisurely pace, even though most of it appears like a delicate family and teacher drama. These emotions eventually spiral out of control, driving the main character of the movie to a genuinely puzzling climax that doesn’t feel earned or justified. It almost seems like the conclusion of a completely another movie.
The storyline of “The Audition” centers on the challenging life of Anna, a frazzled violin instructor. She then begins working as a teacher at a prestigious institution where competition between faculty members and students is common. Anna recognizes ability in a gentle and reticent youngster named Alexander who is one of the several aspirants in the queue of kids wanting to be admitted. Unfortunately, she transfers to her new pupil as well as her younger son, Jonas, who starts to hate Alexander for the amount of attention he steals from Anna, and the pressure she formerly put on herself to perform. Up to the film’s depressing conclusion, the additional turbulence causes problems in Anna’s marriage to her spouse Philippe and reignites some past affections with a colleague teacher, Christian.
19. Nine Dead
In the 2009 Metaphysical Mystery thriller Nine Dead, featuring Melissa Joan Hart & William Lee Scott, nine people who appear to have no relation to one another are abducted, and they are warned that one of them would perish every ten minutes until they could reveal the identity of their kidnapper.
20. Intruders
“Intruders,” once known as “Shut In” on the festival circuit, is an engaging home-invading thriller with fast-paced action until it isn’t. Like numerous genre movies, “Intruders” has trouble with its climax, and instead of being an exciting game of hunter and prey, it ends being more akin to “Saw.” The compactness of the initial half is due to the fact that filmmaker Adam Schindler is stronger with actors than many other new horror directors.
21. Ready or Not
One sentence from the film’s unrelenting second act, “Fucking wealthy people,” pretty well sums up “Ready or Not.” Those words spat out via a set of bleeding teeth, go directly to the core of this violent dark drama that exposes the 1% by bringing us inside a tribe that would rather kill than give up their good fortune.
It’s a devilishly hilarious late summer surprise. This film primarily explores the idea that wealth is always a devil’s bargain, even though there are other nefarious factors at play as well. The plot revolves around the peculiar moral rules that keep families together. It might be risky to inherit it, and it can be lethal to marry into it.
Grace marries her life partner in the lavish home that belongs to his family, causing her to be overjoyed. The only catch is that she must also hide from dusk till daylight as her new in-laws use firearms, crossbows, and other weapons for hunting her down. As Grace tries valiantly to survive the night, she swiftly finds a way to flip the tables upon her emotionally stunted relatives.
22. The Game
A rich San Francisco financier is given a chance to take part in a strange game, and his life is completely flipped around as he starts to wonder whether there could be a secret plot to ruin him.
Successful banker Nicholas Van Orton likes to stay to himself. Nicholas grudgingly agrees to play in a customized, real-life game when his distant brother Conrad visits on his birthday carrying an intriguing gift. Initially innocent, the game becomes more and more intimate, and Orton starts to worry for his survival as he avoids agents from the unidentified game’s creators. With nobody left to rely on and his money gone, Orton must go within himself for the solutions.
23. Circle
More of a science fiction mystery film, Circle. One of those films where a bunch of strangers is cooped up and attempting to figure out what’s going on. The film does get into larger issues like what it means to be a person. The protagonists must contend with racism, prejudice, and morality as they attempt to understand what is happening. One crucial issue is posed at the conclusion of the film: Would you sacrifice everything to preserve yourself or the group?
In a weird, dark chamber, a group of unknown individuals found themselves arranged in a circle. One of them is zapped after a few minutes and passes away. They must now ascertain their location and the situation. The strangers eventually understood that they were participating in some type of evil game.
24. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Sally (Marilyn Burns) and her crippled brother Franklin go on an investigation after learning that their grandfather’s tomb may have been damaged. They find a bunch of insane, deadly misfits residing next door after making a side trip to the ancient farmhouse where their family formerly lived. The survivors must use every resource at their disposal to flee as the group is assaulted one at a time by the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface, who is covered in a human skin mask.
25. Misery
Stephen King seems to have a quiet but evident ability to find terror in commonplace events. According to my theory, he begins with a grain of reality from his personal life and pushes it as deep as he can toward the macabre and surreal. Consider “Misery,” which tells the tale of a novelist who becomes the hostage of his so-called “No. 1 fan.” She has the hero in her hands, and he is working under a particularly torturous and brutal deadline since he hasn’t completed a novel to her taste.
Writer Paul Sheldon is saved by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse who professes to be his greatest admirer, following a terrible car accident. Annie takes him to her isolated cabin to heal, but when she learns Sheldon is murdering the fictional character she loves, her devotion takes a terrible turn. As Sheldon arranges his escape, Annie becomes more and more aggressive as she pressures the author to adapt his writing to fit her deranged desires.
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