'Will Always Be My Baby' (Exclusive): Saw Director James Wan Reveals His Favorite Jigsaw Trap as First Film Turns 20

James Wan is looking back on 20 gory years of Saw

Published Time: 29.10.2024 - 17:31:11 Modified Time: 29.10.2024 - 17:31:11

James Wan is looking back on 20 gory years of Saw.

In a conversation with PEOPLE surrounding the milestone anniversary of the horror classic, the filmmaker — who got his big break with Saw in 2004 alongside co-creator and screenwriter Leigh Whannell — reflected on its impact.

As Saw fans know, the first movie spawned an additional nine trap-laden feature films. But one contraption from the original Saw, which is the only movie in the franchise that Wan, 47, has directed, still stands out as his favorite.

"It's really the jaw trap," says Wan, referring to the ReverseBear Trap built by villain John Kramer/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) and first worn by the character Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) in the original film, before going on to make additional appearances throughout the saga.

In Saw, Amanda wakes up with her jaws attached to the trap. She has seconds to retrieve a key from the belly of a barely conscious man next to her to unlock the trap before it rips her head apart — and succeeds with little time to spare, rendering her the first known survivor of Jigsaw's "games."

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"I mean, that one has become so iconic. Obviously, it ended up being on the poster, so that one is the most ... that one would probably mean the most to me," he adds.

In fact, even before Saw was released in 2004, the Reverse Bear Trap was featured in the predating short film that Wan and Whannell (who also starred as Adam in the movie) made in their native Australia "that got us the funding for the feature."

"We picked that particular scene, the scene with the jaw trap, just because we figured that it would really capture people's attention," Wan -

tells PEOPLE. "And sure enough, when we made the short, the producers in town who saw it were like, 'What the hell is this?' "

"They're like, " 'We don't know what the hell we're looking at, but this is fascinating.' And so for me, that will always be my baby," he adds.

Since Saw, Wan has become one of the most well-known and prolific filmmakers in the modern horror landscape, having gone on to create other iconic franchises like The Conjuring and Insidious, the latter also alongside Whannell.

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Other credits to Wan's name, from directing to producing and story writing, include Dead Silence (2007), Annabelle (2014), The Nun (2018), Malignant (2021), M3GAN (2022), Night Swim (2024) and, most recently, an adaption of Stephen King's Salem's Lot, now streaming on Max.

He is also producing another King adaptation, The Monkey, due for release in February 2025, and will be directing his first-ever horror remake with The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Looking back at Saw's legacy specifically, Wan tells PEOPLE he "never" thought it would inspire one sequel, "let alone" nine. And he still feels "very lucky" that he and Whannell, 47, were "given this opportunity" to make Saw into something that became such a phenomenon.

"We just thought that we were making this low-budget, straight-to-video movie, but for it to break out the way it did at Sundance and then theatrically when it came out, and to go on to have the life that it has, it's incredible," he says. "It's an incredible journey, and I will always be very, very thankful."

Saw is streaming on Max and Peacock.

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