Sharpen your bone saws and keep an eye out for reverse bear traps — it’s time for a Saw marathon. Created by horror maestros James Wan (The Conjuring) and Leigh Whannell (Insidious), the iconic franchise’s first, eponymous movie premiered in 2004 and spawned nine bloody follow-up flicks over almost 20 years. The series follows the machinations of John Kramer (Tobin Bell), aka Jigsaw, a serial killer who punishes those he deems immoral by imprisoning them in brutal, elaborate traps that force them to hurt themselves — or others — to survive. If you’re looking to join in on his game, read on to learn more.

Saw

Two men, Adam (Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), wake up in a dirty, fluorescent-lit room with their ankles chained to a wall. Terrified, they search for clues and discover cassette tapes that contain instructions: Adam’s tells him to survive by any means, and Gordon’s orders him to kill Adam because, if he doesn’t, his wife, Alison (Monica Potter), and daughter, Diana (Makenzie Vega), will die. When the men try and fail to free themselves, Gordon comes to a horrible realization: They’ve been taken by Jigsaw (Bell), a serial killer who places his victims in intricate, deadly traps — which he calls games — that force them to inflict pain on themselves and others to escape. There’s no way out but to play along. This modern horror classic, written by Whannell (Upgrade) and directed by Wan, also stars Danny Glover (The Dead Don’t Die), Michael Emerson (Person of Interest), and Ken Leung (Avatar: The Last Airbender).

Saw

1h 43m   R   2004

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Saw II

The Jigsaw Killer’s only known survivor, Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), finds herself in her tormentor’s clutches once again when she’s locked in a house with seven other people. Jigsaw — whose avatar is a ventriloquist puppet with red spirals on its cheeks — appears on a television screen and informs his captives that they have two hours to escape before a nerve agent that’s filling the house kills them. Hidden throughout the house are antidotes … but the  clues to finding them might be more deadly. Donnie Wahlberg (Blue Bloods), Erik Knudsen (Bon Cop Bad Cop 2), Franky G (Manito), Emmanuelle Vaugier (Big Sky River), Glenn Plummer (South Central), and Beverley Mitchell (7th Heaven) also star in this sequel, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Repo! The Genetic Opera) and co-written by Whannell.

Saw II

1h 32m   R   2005

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Saw III

Jigsaw is dying and has taken an apprentice in this threequel, directed by Bousman and written by Whannell, based on a story by Whannell and Wan. Determined to save Kramer so he can complete his latest trap — torturing a man (Angus Macfadyen) who’s consumed by vengeance — the killer’s pupil kidnaps a doctor, Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), and tasks her with keeping him alive. It’s simple: If the terminally ill Jigsaw dies before his final game is complete, Lynn dies, too. Dina Meyer (Johnny Mnemonic) also stars.

Saw III

1h 48m   R   2006

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Saw IV

Saw IV, directed by Bousman, picks up immediately after the events of the previous film and follows Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Officer Daniel Rigg (Lyriq Bent), who are called in to solve the Jigsaw Killer’s latest — and seemingly final — crime. Working with FBI agents Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Lindsey Perez (Athena Karkanis), they follow clues left behind in a series of recordings. But the mystery only deepens as the investigators learn more about Jigsaw’s tragic past with the help of his ex-wife, Jill (Betsy Russell).

Saw IV

1h 32m   R   2007

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Saw V

Agent Strahm and Detective Hoffman return in this fifth installment, directed by David Hackl (Daughter of the Wolf). As Strahm digs even deeper into Jigsaw’s history and learns more about his crimes, he realizes the most recent murders are part of a much larger plot. His curiosity has unforeseen consequences when he learns about a former ally’s true nature. Meanwhile, five new strangers fight for their lives in another intricate trap.

Saw V

1h 32m   R   2008

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Saw VI

Jigsaw’s games continue through his heir, who — using instructions left by the serial killer — sets up an elaborate trap to punish an insurance executive, William Easton (Peter Outerbridge), whose company denied coverage for medical treatments. Strapped to a deadly carousel, Easton must choose which of his employees to save. This sixth entry is directed by Kevin Greutert (Jackals).

Saw VI

1h 30m   R   2009

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Saw: The Final Chapter

Author Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) becomes a local celebrity after falsely claiming to have survived one of Jigsaw’s traps. But when he’s caught up in a real one, he has to try and save the people who helped him craft the elaborate lie, as well as his wife (Gina Holden). Meanwhile, Kramer’s ex-wife, Jill, enacts revenge on her former husband’s protégé — with potentially deadly consequences for everyone. Elwes reprises his role as Dr. Gordon from the first movie in this flick directed by Greutert.

Saw: The Final Chapter

1h 30m   R   2010

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Jigsaw

Jigsaw has been dead for a decade, so when a body turns up bearing a clue that points to the killer, detectives Brad Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie) and Keith Hunt (Clé Bennett) are stumped. As a new game kicks off, involving five people trapped in a barn, the investigators question their team’s loyalties after one too many coincidences. Is this a copycat? Or something more sinister? Peter and Michael Spierig (Predestination) co-directed this eighth installment, which was co-written by Josh Stolberg (Piranha 3D) and Pete Goldfinger (Kappa Kappa Die).

Jigsaw

1h 31m   R   2017

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Spiral: From the Book of Saw

This spin-off, directed by Bousman and co-written by Stolberg and Goldfinger, stars Chris Rock (Rustin), Max Minghella (Babylon), Marisol Nichols (Riverdale), and Samuel L. Jackson (Unicorn Store). It follows Detective Zeke Banks (Rock), who, with his new partner, rookie William Schenk (Minghella), investigates a death that appears to be the work of the long-dead Jigsaw. When another body turns up, Banks’s fellow officers begin questioning his possible connections to the case. And when his father, retired chief Marcus Banks (Jackson), gets caught up in the mystery, Zeke has to question everything — even his own mind.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw

1h 33m   R   2021

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Saw X

Bell and Smith reprise their roles as John Kramer and Amanda Young in this 10th movie in the Saw franchise. Set between the events of Saw and Saw II, Kramer travels to Mexico, where he’s been told he can receive an experimental treatment that might cure his cancer. When the procedure doesn’t go as expected, Kramer enacts revenge the only way he knows how: by subjecting those responsible to one of his torturous games. Synnøve Macody Lund (Ragnarok), Steven Brand (Teen Wolf), Renata Vaca (Our Times), and Michael Beach (Rim of the World) co-star in this installment directed by Greutert and co-written by Goldfinger and Stolberg.

Saw X

1h 58m   R   2023

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