The San Diego Traveler

Behind the Scenes of Saw IV

by Carole A. Lane on August 9th, 2007

When director Darren Lynn Bousman and producer Mark Burg came to San Diego’s Comic-Con this year, they intended to show the first five minutes of Saw IV. Unfortunately, the powers that be at the -Con said no; it was simply too intense.

Instead, they brought what they described as “a very rough cut” of a scene wherein two people wake up chained to a machine, one with his eyes sewn shut and the other with his mouth sewn shut. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination, but if this was the less intense cut, the viewing audience of Saw IV is in for quite a ride. (Some schmucks videotaped the trailer at the -Con and posted it on YouTube. The problem with this is that it could mean that the studios may stop pre-releasing their trailers at Comic-Con, ruining it for so many fans, and the YouTube copies are so bad that they Really, REALLY aren’t worth posting  or viewing there anyway!!!)

Bousman described shooting Saw IV as a fast turn-around of about 5 1/2 to 6 months. They never shut down since Saw II, and used the same crew for all of the films. He said it was like shooting one long movie, and they had quite a “family atmosphere.” Not exactly what you’d expect on the set of a horror film, is it? He also talked about how fortunate they’ve been to work with Tim Palen, author of Guts, whose work on the Saw posters has been remarkable.

Seeing Tobin Bell, who plays Jigsaw, was far less frightening in person than on film. When asked about his role, Bell explained that he approaches Jigsaw from a very technical point of view. He asks himself questions and then more questions, and creates a book with all of the the details and back story of the character. Bousman interjected that you could ask Bell anything about Jigsaw and he’d just open his book and the answer would be there.

Bell talked about how kids come up to him and tell him how much they’ve learned from his character, which clearly surprised him. He asked what they’ve learned, and they replied that it made them think about the question, “How would you live your life differently if you knew the exact time of your death?” Bell said that they “got it” and described this as “the delicate, intelligent line that is allowed to permeate the film.” Expect to see Bell in this and future chapters of Saw.

Saw IV has received a NC17 rating, and will open in theaters on October 26.

If you’d like to know what Bousman will be working on next, it WILL NOT by Saw V! He has vowed that he’s not directing it, even though the franchise will go on without him. (David Hackl will direct Saw V.)

Bousman is now working on Repo, a very hardcore, hard-R-rated rock opera that will appeal to fans of Saw. Alexa Vega and Paul Sorvino will be in it, but the rest of the very small cast had not been announced at the time of Comic-Con. (IMDB now has Paris Hilton listed, along with J. LaRose.) Repo is expected in theaters on April 25, 2008.

After Repo, Bousman said he will next work on a remake of the 1981 thriller Scanners.

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