Save the Cat Goes to the Movies (6 page)

Fun and Games:
Separately, Naomi and Martin look into the tape and discover its bizarre properties. The “fun” includes being able to pluck a fly out of the picture while watching it. We learn about the girl on the tape — that her mother died mysteriously, and that a lemming-like plunge by some prize thoroughbreds at their farm once made headlines. Naomi is also beginning to experience bloody noses and an image-bending effect when someone takes her photo. The curse of watching the tape is turning real, yet this adventure is still in its discovery phase.

Midpoint:
The “stakes are raised” when Naomi’s son watches the tape. Now he too is at risk. Though the kid has special powers, apparently his skills were on “PAUSE” when he popped the tape in. Naomi discovers her son did this as A and B stories cross: Martin calls to say photos of him turned weird — he is cursed as well.

Bad Guys Close In:
An actual ticking clock is heard as Naomi and Martin bid goodbye to David and hit the road to continue their investigation. Time is running out. The two learn more about the little girl responsible for the spooky VHS. In addition to a bad case of split ends, she could project bizarre images from her brain
onto videotapes and photographs. Her parents committed her to an asylum and we feel sorry for her — even sorrier for Naomi, who is beginning to have the same effect on horses the girl had.

All Is Lost:
Naomi confronts a member of the family at the farm where the girl was raised. The Dad, Richard Morgan (Brian Cox), may have survived physically but is warped by the experience with his psychically powerful daughter. This “Half Man” realizes the curse won’t end and kills himself by electrocution in a bathtub (water is another motif). All hope dead, Naomi appears to be out of luck. No one is left to help her solve the mystery.

Dark Night of the Soul:
Naomi and Martin find the room in the barn where Brian and his wife kept the little girl. The decor includes every parent’s favorite pacifier: a TV set.

Break into Three:
Martin sees something hidden behind the wallpaper of the little girl’s room: a clue! Thus, A and B stories intersect once more and propel us into Act Three.

Finale:
The clue leads the pair back to cabin #12. It’s the place the teens first watched the video. Naomi and Martin realize the cabin sits atop an old well where the “sin” was committed — the girl was dropped in to die. They uncover the well and Naomi promptly falls in. Naomi is reunited with the girl’s spectral self and the curse ends. The girl’s body is given proper burial. But the curse is not over. David realizes the joke’s on Mom: The girl is evil and Naomi released her! Unaware of this, Martin meets his end when the girl crawls out of his TV and attacks him. Naomi finds Martin’s body.

Final Image:
The only way to break the curse is to pass it on. Naomi makes copies of the VHS to save herself and her son. This guarantees not only their safety — but a sequel!

Who says you can’t make a hit movie for $500,000? That’s reportedly the cost of this James Wan-directed indie, the first in this franchise. The film proves that when creativity is in play, financial restriction can be as much an inspiration as a handicap. Beyond the producer’s delight at having to pay for only one set — and the bonus of putting the co-screenwriter (Leigh Whanell) to work as the co-star — at core you still need a story. It must be one that resonates for a jaded horror audience that has seen it all, and needs a reason beyond “have sex and die” as the “sin” that scares. How can you shock the unshockable? How can you use sin as a means to terrify in a world where sin is relative?

You create the “Nihilist Monster.”

You create Jigsaw.

Jigsaw seeks out his victims who have no awareness of what they’ve done to deserve their fate, and pits one against another in games of life and death. Few survive to tell the tale of what they learned, but by the end each is highly aware of why they were chosen. When Cary Elwes comes to in his basement prison wondering not only how he got there, but
why
, he begins to review his life looking for what he did wrong. Is he a bad father, a bad husband, a bad doctor? We soon discover we have more in common with Cary than we think. We too have to examine our lives, ’cause if we don’t, Jigsaw will!

MITH category: Nihilist Monster

MITH cousins:
Peeping Tom, American Psycho, Cabin Fever, Audition, The Others, Lost Highway, The Village, The Grudge, Identity, The Host

SAW

Written by
Leigh Whannell
Story by
James Wan
and
Leigh Whannell

Opening Image:
As lights come up, we are in the monster’s “house” — the basement prison that will be our setting. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and another man, Adam (screenwriter Leigh Whannell), are in a bad situation. Each is chained by the leg in an opposite corner. Lying between them — a body. Great start!

Theme Stated:
Cary says: “We need to start thinking about why we’re here.” Cary’s on to the “Nihilist Monster” theme: the sin of ignorance, and an even bigger theme: Why are we here, in this life?

Set-Up:
Cary, a doctor, introduces himself to his cellmate. Neither recognizes the “dead” man. They note the clock on the wall and a tape recorder. Working together, they snag it and push “PLAY.” Meet the third component, the voice of “Jigsaw,” a killer who plays games with his victims and turns one against the other.

Catalyst:
At Minute 12, the puzzle that sets this dance with death into motion is presented to Cary. He has till six on the clock to kill Leigh, or his wife and kid will die.

Debate:
So what should Cary and Leigh do? They notice they’ve each been given a hacksaw, the idea being that there is one way out of this: They each could saw off a foot and escape … but you’d have to be crazy to do that, right? At Minute 16, Cary adds a piece of the puzzle: “I think I know who’s done this to us.” In a flashback, we see a series of headlines about the Jigsaw killer and the murders he committed. All are deadly games where the victim is given a “lady or the tiger” choice. We also see Cary interact with an odd custodian at his hospital — “Zep” (Michael Emerson), who will figure into the ending. When Cary’s fingerprints are connected to the murder, at Minute 22, he becomes a suspect. The cop investigating is Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover).

Break into Two:
Back in the basement at Minute 29, both men know what the killer is after. This is about “sin,” and figuring out theirs will be how they solve the mystery and survive. Cary says: “I’ve been thinking about the last thing I said to my daughter.” In further flashbacks (a technique which, given the set-up, leaves the filmmakers no other choice), Cary does not seem to be a great Dad … but he’s not horrible either. Is
this
his sin? When Cary plays “This Little Piggy” with his daughter, it foreshadows what will happen to his own little footie.

Fun and Games:
The “promise of the premise” starts to unfold. This is a game and they follow the clues that have been left for them. Back in the basement, Leigh asks to see a photo of Cary’s family and Cary tosses his wallet to him. Inside the wallet is a photo of Cary’s wife (Monica Potter) and child, bound and gagged, but Leigh keeps this info to himself. In flashback we see what happened: A stranger who was hiding in Cary’s house kidnaps his daughter and Monica. We also see someone observing this event — it’s Danny Glover!

B Story:
Danny is the cop who tracked down Cary and suspects him. The B story is how Danny becomes the damaged and obsessed “Half Man” of this saga. In yet another flashback, Danny and his partner (Ken Leung) discover Jigsaw’s lair. There, they find a scale model of the basement Cary and Leigh are in — and another victim. The cops get the drop on Jigsaw, but he gets away, slashing Danny’s throat and killing the others.

Midpoint:
The “stakes are raised” at 1 Hour when Cary begins to suspect Leigh. And when Leigh shows Cary the photos of his kidnapped wife, the urgency to escape intensifies. Cary begins his slide to insanity; he realizes the “time clock” isn’t just about
his
life but his family’s. He’s still got to figure out “why he’s here.”

Bad Guys Close In:
Cary tries to get clever and trick the man who is observing them through a closed-circuit monitor. He pretends to “kill” Leigh by poisoning him, but Jigsaw isn’t buying and electrocutes the screenwriter/actor. Stunned but alive, Leigh reveals he knows a lot more. He is a photographer, assigned to catch Cary in the act of adultery. We now replay the events of the night before and see that Cary was about to meet an assignation at a sleazy motel.
A-ha!
Finally his sin will be revealed! But at the last minute, Cary changes his mind. This sequence also explains Leigh’s connection to the mystery: Danny hired Leigh to spy on Cary.

All Is Lost:
Cary knows what his “sin” is: not appreciating his life. But it looks like it’s too late to change his ways.

Dark Night of the Soul:
Cary laments his mistakes: “How did I get here? I had everything in order.”

Break into Three:
Suddenly Cary has an idea about who’s behind all this: Zep, the custodian at the hospital. When the phone rings and Cary speaks to his desperate wife and daughter, he knows he must save them. His insanity grows when he hears gunshots. A and B stories cross as Danny catches the “kidnapper,” but Zep gets away — and Danny pursues.

Finale:
As a frantic and very bizarre climax unfolds, we see Zep is not the killer, but a victim — and just a part of the game, assigned by Jigsaw to kill Cary’s family in order to live. Danny is killed. So is Zep. And, completely insane, Cary begins to saw off his own foot to save his family. By the time he hobbles away, only Leigh is left. But the filmmakers have a last surprise.

Final Image:
The “dead” man on the floor isn’t. The “monster” is alive, and as Leigh watches, Jigsaw rises to go. “Game over,” he says, closing the door and entombing Leigh in his “house” forever.

Tom Hanks and company go “on the road” in
Saving Private Ryan.
And just like the story of Jason and the Argonauts, it’s not about the “Golden Fleece” — it’s how those who go on the journey are transformed.

Talk to any cavemen about what tale they’d like to hear around the ol’ campfire and three out of five Neanderthals agree: More road stories!

There’s something about recounting what occurs when we leave home to go foraging for food — or look for a better cave. What happens “out there” fires our imaginations, and gives us pointers about what to expect. The bottom line of what makes up the story type I call the “Golden Fleece” is this truism: It’s not the destination that matters … it’s what we learn about ourselves along the way.

The term “Golden Fleece” comes from the Greek myth about Jason and the Argonauts. In that tale, the fleece is the thing Jason has been sent to retrieve in order to become king. To do so, Jason collects a team, including Hercules — the Vin Diesel of his era — and off they go, leading to many adventures until Jason finally confronts himself and gets his reward. The “Fleece” is the object of the hunt, the goal of the journey, and like many stories in this genre largely a “McGuffin,” a thing that sets the quest into motion, but has less meaning once achieved. And it’s an oft-told tale. From Greek myth we get not only the story of Jason, but also Homer’s
Odyssey;
from Chaucer, the
Canterbury Tales;
and from modern literature, James Joyce’s
Ulysses
and William Faulkner’s
As I Lay Dying.
This story tradition has carried over to movies, of course, and includes some journeys that may surprise you.