It’s been a full decade since Jigsaw, that all too familiar civil engineer-cum-serial killer, muttered the famous line, “Do you wanna’ play a game?” And so, to celebrate the blood-curdling success of the franchise, Lionsgate is ushering the original Saw back into theaters for a limited time this Halloween.
Originally, the studio’s psychological horror opened on October 29th, 2004, and according to Fandango, long-term fans of the series will be able to revisit the seminal scarefest on October 31st, with select theaters showing the film at midnight on Thursday, October 30th.
Without doubt, Saw carved out (quite literally, at some points) a niche audience and spawned a host of horrifying sequels. In fact, cumulatively, the IP has been listed as the most successful horror franchise in cinematic history, pulling in over $874 million across seven films.
The film also marked the first collaboration between James Wan and Leigh Whannell, who directed and scripted the first entry, respectively. The creative pair would then go on to work on other like-minded projects such as Insidious and, in the case of Wan, last year’s The Conjuring.
For the uninitiated, Saw centres around a terminally ill psychopath, John Kramer, operating under the Jigsaw alias. With little left to live for, Kramer seeks out those who don’t appreciate the life they have and forces them to do unspeakable things in order to stay alive. More often than not, this involves the serial killer littering the grotesque torture room with tape messages and a single key for the unfortunate soul to find.
For more on the Saw re-release, be sure to check out the foreboding poster below. The film will be available to see on the big screen for a limited time starting October 31st, 2014.
