The Jigsaw Killer is one of the most famous horror movie icons of all time. After getting diagnosed with terminal cancer, John Kramer becomes obsessed with testing people’s survival skills in a series of deadly games. He picks up the identity of the Jigsaw Killer, and although he eventually dies, Jigsaw’s various protégés continue his games throughout the Saw franchise.
Veteran actor Tobin Bell has portrayed Jigsaw since the first “Saw” film in 2004 and also voices the Billy puppet seen throughout the franchise. Nearly 20 years after making his debut as Jigsaw, Bell is still playing the notorious serial killer. Bell reprises his role as Jigsaw in “Saw X,” which hit theaters on Sept. 29.
How Many Saw Movies Are There?
There are 10 Saw movies so far. Although “Saw X” is the 10th installment in the franchise, it actually takes place between the first and second films. In “Saw X,” Kramer desperately tries to find a cure for his terminal cancer, but once he realizes it’s too late, he takes out his frustrations on a group of con artists who gave him false hope.
If you want to see “Saw X” but aren’t familiar with the previous films, check out all the “Saw” movies in order below, then keep reading for a brief synopsis of each film in the franchise.
“Saw” Movies in Order
- “Saw” (2004)
- “Saw II” (2005)
- “Saw III” (2006)
- “Saw IV” (2007)
- “Saw V” (2008)
- “Saw VI” (2009)
- “Saw 3D” (2010)
- “Jigsaw” (2017)
- “Spiral” (2021)
- “Saw X” (2023)
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"Saw"
“Saw” centers around the Jigsaw Killer trapping two of his victims – a photographer named Adam (Leigh Whannell) and an oncologist named Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) – inside a bathroom by chaining their ankles to pipes. Jigsaw tests the pair’s will to survive by leaving behind two hacksaws, which the men realize they must use to saw off their own feet in order to escape.
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"Saw II"
In “Saw II,” the Jigsaw Killer locks eight people in a factory that’s filled with a toxic gas. The group must pass a series of deadly tests in order to get the antidote. They only have two hours until the gas kills them, and Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) and his team try to catch the Jigsaw Killer before time runs out.
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"Saw III"
After the Jigsaw Killer becomes bedridden, his apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith) kidnaps Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) and forces her to perform a lifesaving surgery on him. While Dr. Denlon tries to keep the Jigsaw Killer alive, Kramer forces his latest victim, Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) – whose son was killed in a car accident – to complete a series of tasks that will test his ability to forgive.
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"Saw IV"
In “Saw IV,” Jigsaw is now dead, but his games continue. This time, Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Officer Daniel Rigg (Lyriq Bent) must work together to pass Jigsaw’s tests to find their two missing colleagues.
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"Saw V"
After Detective Hoffman survives Jigsaw’s games, he is seen as a hero and gets a promotion. While everyone believes he closed the Jigsaw case, FBI agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) is convinced Hoffman has become Jigsaw’s new apprentice.
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"Saw VI"
Detective Hoffman continues Jigsaw’s legacy by kidnapping a group of insurance executives and forcing them to partake in a series of brutal games at an abandoned zoo. The only person who can save them is their corrupt boss, William Easton (Peter Outerbridge), whose company was responsible for refusing to pay for treatment that could have saved Kramer’s life years prior.
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"Saw 3D"
“Saw 3D” centers around a man named Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery), who became famous for lying about being a survivor of one of Jigsaw’s deadly games. After his wife, Joyce (Gina Holden), is kidnapped, Bobby wakes up to find himself a real Jigsaw victim. He’s told he has one hour to complete a series of tests, or else Joyce will die.
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"Jigsaw"
Despite it being a decade since Jigsaw died, his games live on. His latest victims are a group of five people who are trapped inside a barn. Over the course of the film, they realize they were selected to partake in Jigsaw’s games in order to atone for their past sins.
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"Spiral"
In “Spiral,” Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner, William Schenk (Max Minghella), work together to investigate a series of murders done by a Jigsaw copycat killer. After suspecting that anyone around him could be the killer, Banks goes to his dad, retired police chief Marcus Banks (Samuel L. Jackson), for help on the case.
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"Saw X"
“Saw X” is set in between the first two “Saw” films. It centers around Kramer traveling to Mexico for a medical procedure he hopes will cure his cancer. However, he soon realizes the procedure was all a scam, which leads him to trap the con artists in one of his deadly games as revenge.
