Shorts that inspired features: Part five

Long before it became an overblown, convoluted excuse to kill people off in elaborately gory ways, the Saw franchise began life in 2003 as a simple Aussie short film. Now known as Saw 0.5, the nine-and-a-half-minute horror centres around a police interview with traumatised David (played by the film’s writer Leigh Whannell), explaining in detail how he managed to escape death at the hands of a (now infamous) torture trap.

Through flashbacks we are soon introduced to Billy, the creepy yet snappily dressed doll on a tricycle, and when David is kidnapped and left locked in a dark room, it’s not long before his predicament is revealed. With a reverse bear trap locked securely to his noggin, he must quickly find the key, which turns out to be hidden in the stomach of the unconscious man lying next to him. If he fails, the timer will run out and his head will split wide open, leaving him with one hell of a migraine.

So simple in its execution (pun intended), this simple story is a far cry from the later, often laughable Saw sequels. Drawing on inspiration from their own dreams and fears, Leigh Whannell and out-of-work director James Wan bashed out a script for a feature length horror, but wanted to film one scene to give them something to pitch to studios. So, with a very minimal budget a few stand-in actors (including Whannell himself who was a TV reporter at the time) and a fully functioning bear trap, they cracked on with the very first chapter in the Saw saga that was to become Saw 0.5.

With the short wrapped in just over eight days, Wan and Whannell struck a deal with production company Evolution Entertainment who didn’t hesitate in giving them $1.2 million to make the full-length film. With Whannell again starring in the film, this time opposite Cary Elwes and Danny Glover, it was originally intended that Saw would head for the straight-to-DVD bargain bin. However, it received such high applause at the Sundance Film Festival that it earned a proper cinema release. It eventually went on to make 80 times its own production budget at the box office and a sequel was swiftly green lit.

In the seven years since its inception, the Saw franchise - love it or hate it - has become the highest -grossing horror series of all time, culminating with the final 3D chapter last year. Saw 0.5 proved to be an excellent introduction to a series which ultimately got lost in a bloodbath of its own sickening ideas. Still, not bad going for a couple of bored Aussies suffering from some seriously twisted nightmares.

Happy Halloween, folks - sweet dreams mwah ha ha ha ha...

Rob Young