MY Saw: Legacy Opening

Figured it would be fun to do a bit of a writing exercise and give some ideas for the opening scene, given all that we know thus far (ex: barn). I'm writing this stream of conscious, so forgive me. I do know, however, that I don't wish for this to be like a typical Saw film.. as I genuinely do think they became really *beep* awful as they went along. This needs to be more cinematic, not like some really bad Nine Inch Nails music video with flashy cuts that make me want vomit and have a seizure simultaneously. I mean, of course it will be a tad bloody.. but I guess I'm talking stylistic changes, you know? Anyways-- I guess I'll start writing now.

Cue Lionsgate logo
Cue Twisted Pictures logo

Ext. Night
We descend upon an old, wooden barn nestled in the middle of a rural landscape in the midst of autumn. The wind seems to howl, kicking up torrents of dead leaves. Oak trees dance in eerie ballets. Whacking against the sides of the barn.

Int. Barn. Cont
Rows upon rows of sheep populate the wooden stocks. Bahing, obvious distress from the screaming wind. Trees dance outside the windows, from which pale moonlight pours in.

As the camera settles upon the middle of the barn, something catches our eye. A man. Clad in boxers and, well, nothing else. Seated in an old, rusty chair. He dons a thick metal vest, covering all of his chest-- except for a small slit, revealing about 2 inches of his rib cage. Next to his feet, lays an additional pair of sheers. Connected to the vest is a thick chain. The kind you'd see connected to the anchor of a massive cargo ship. This is BEAU, he is roughly 50 years old.

A PROJECTOR is situated before him on a table, connected by orange extension cords. Duct taped at the connected plugs to avoid short circuit. A white sheet hangs from the ceiling as a make-shift screen.

In the upper eaves of the barn, sits a LANTERN, connected to a trip wire of sorts. On the far end of the trip wire, is an automatic cutting device (machine-operated).

A timer goes off, kicking on a PROJECTOR. Ztztztzt! The film reel can be heard spinning, as this projector is quite old. A high-pitched frequency emits, causing Beau to stir and, eventually, open his eyes. The blanket is lit up.

Beau: (Groggy) What.. what?

He inhales sharply, feeling his ribs hit the suit of metal. His eyes then flutter open.

Beau: .... - wha-- is this?

His hands slam onto the suit. Desperately attempting to pry this thing off. His hands then find the chain, feeling the extremely heavy weight.

Beau: HELP.

The sheep go wild.

Beau: Jesus *beep* Christ-- PLEASE HELP.

Unlike your traditional Saw film. These pleas seem VISCERAL, GUTTURAL, REAL. So real that you believe Beau's vocal cords must hurt like a bitch. His face turns red with screaming, his eyes water with fear--- and then--- The PROJECTOR KICKS ON, revealing Billy for the first time in 7 years. The footage appears a tad cleaner, but, nonetheless, familiar. He seems to be against a new background. Sitting on a table, various junk in the background.

In addition, UNLIKE, your traditional Saw film: the cuts are nowhere near as chaotic. Instead with longer takes, swift camera movements that build atmosphere.

-- Yet his voice does indeed sound, understandably, different. Most bass-y, more modulated.

Billy: Hello Beau, I want to play a game..

Beau realizes full-well what this is. He lives in a world where Jigsaw is a famed killer, ignorance simply isn't possible.

Beau:.. No... NO NO NO..

Billy: Right now you find yourself in somewhat of a hot seat. A position you must be quite used to, given your controversial reports on victims of the Jigsaw killings..

Beau's face immediately grows confused. Jigsaw killings? How could this tape be so self-referential?

Beau: (Breathing labored) What?

Billy:.. But tonight, I offer you a chance to become closer to your subject material. At your feet, you will find a pair of sheers. Which should be quite useful in order to retrieve the key that will release you from that vest. The location of the key should be evident, given how well I highlighted it.

Beau looks to the chain as the camera moves out. He touches the slit on the side of the iron vest.

Billy:.. The goal? To blow out that lantern before the timer hits 0. If you fail-- well let's just say it will make a hot story (chuckles).. Live or die, Beau.

The wind outside the barn continues to pick up. The trees rattle. The camera slowly tracks in on Beau as--

Billy: .. Make your choice.

The projector clicks off, a floodlight slams on. Connected to a post holding up the hay loft.

A timer above the projector begins to countdown from :90. As Beau screams for help, help that he very well knows isn't coming anytime soon. His gaze moves to the eaves of the barn, glowing orange from the lantern flame. The sheep stir in the background. The wind howls, blowing through the roof, causing the flame to flicker a tad.

:80. Beau feels the slit again, attempting to feel around the inside of the vest for a possible key. Instead, he merely hits a fresh, bloodied patch of stitches. A sign that the key is actually in there.

:75.

Beau: *beep*.. *beep*..

He begins to sob. Snot running out from his nose onto his lips. He trembles, slowly bending down to pick up the old pair of sheers. His hands shake. He attempts to use the sheers to pry open the lock on the vest. No use. A small piece of the sheers break off, showing that maybe these things aren't what they used to be.

:60. He takes a deep breath, allowing the tip of the sheers to the touch the slit of skin. He exhales sharply. Attempting to gain control of himself. He continues to shake.

Beau: No no no..

He allows the sheers to fall limp in his grasp, his hand hangs by his side as he covers his eyes. Crying. Suddenly- his hand shoots out. The grasp on the sheers now TIGHT.

:50.

PLUNGE! He stabs the sheers into the stitching. Opening them up, breaking the stitches, as he releases a blood-curdling scream. CRNK!! A rib seems to snap. Blood teems from the wound, running down the iron vest and onto the hay/dirt floor.

:40.

Blood continues to spurt from the wound in thick torrents as Beau allows the gore-covered sheers to fall to the floor. A shaky hands reaches up to the wound, he sticks two fingers in. Searching around all of the gore for a possible key.

:30.

He screams in pain, immediately retracting his hand. Blood pouring through his fingertips. He stomps his foot on the ground in pain. His legs growing shakier by the second. His skin losing color. The wind howling.

:20.

He sticks his hand in again. Digging deeper, the screaming louder. The sheep continually stirring. Finally- a glimmer of gold and he pulls out a key. He releases a weakened scream, given how much blood he has lost.

:10.

His shaky hand brings the key to the lock. Click! The lock comes out, the heavy chain falling to the ground. The vest unlocks and falls to the ground with a heavy thud. He tries to move as quickly as possible to the ladder. But he is way too weak.

:05.

Beau: NO please I made it.. I made it-- I mad-- i- it.

He grips the ladder, attempting to climb it. But his arms are shaky. His stomach in knots. He starts to cry as--

:00.

Snip! The lantern falls onto the hay floor. Froommmm! The entire floor goes up in flames. Beau watches from the floor as the entire roof gradually becomes engulfed in flames. The sheep going wild in the background as an eerie orange flow takes over the entire structure.

Beau falls to the dirt floor, on his back, blood gushing from his side. As--- the roof proceeds to start caving it. Orange embers landing all around Beau, even on his legs and chest. Singeing his flesh as he weakly tries to push them off. Patches of his chest growing blistered and red.

Ext. Barn

BSHHH! The whole thing caves in as the sound of sheep grow dimmer and dimmer. Along with Beau's weak screams that abruptly end.

TITLE: Saw VIII: Legacy
- The title sequence is to take place over news footage of past Jigsaw traps. Revealing corpses still stuck in the twisted devices.. or blood puddles surrounding the devices victims escaped from. News reports of victims ("Where Is Detective Eric Matthews?") Inter-spliced with the title cards.












Film Enthusiast. Student. Human.