Ending on a high note

MANILA, Philippines - Six films and $730-M later (officially, now, the Guinness World Record for Most Successful Horror Movie Series), the Saw franchise is coming to an end with the ultimate entry, Saw: Final Chapter.

ShockTillYouDrop.com scored an exclusive interview atop Lionsgate’s double-decker exhibit booth, where director Kevin Greutert and star Tobin Bell shared their thoughts on the series’ move to 3D, the franchise’s legacy and how it feels to finally offer up the last chapter.

How did you decide that seven would be the lucky number to end the franchise on?

Tobin: “Seven is my lucky number. That never changed. Seven has always been my lucky number. I don’t know. I was born on Aug. 7. That was probably why. When it became Saw 7, I thought, that works.”

Kevin: “I think it’s just really the time to finish out the franchise. The story just climaxes in the last film and why not end on a high note?”

From the footage you screened, it looks like a lot of elements that are different for the franchise. It was daylight. There was a big crowd. Can you tell me about the style of this one?

Kevin: “Yeah, we wanted the scope of this film to be much bigger than the other Saws. We wanted to keep people’s expectations very high. And we wanted to show the world of Saw expanding out beyond the dungeons and sewer systems of previous movies. It has a lot of that as well, but it also goes out into the wider world.”

Tobin, you’re continuing to play a character that has died in the series. How does that affect Jigsaw in this film?

“Well, Saw doesn’t happen in a linear fashion. As you know, the story jumps around in time. I’m in it and then I’m not in it. I’m in it, I’m not in it. There’s some incredible moments in Saw that reveal some things that happened in the time frame before Saw 3 that I think fans will really enjoy and kind of turn their heads around things that they’ve been wondering about. I’m kind of looking forward to seeing their reactions to that.”

So we are going to see more horror scenes in this one?

Kevin: “Well, it wouldn’t be Saw without the horror and gore. So, for sure, there’s new stuff for everyone that will knock them off their feet.”