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Saw is a horror franchise distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment that consists of seven films and two video games, published by Konami. The franchise began with the 2003 short film which was created by Australian director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell to pitch as a potential feature film. This was successfully done in 2004 with the release of the first feature film at the Sundance Film Festival. It was released theatrically the following October. The sequels were directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, David Hackl and Kevin Greutert and were written by Wan, Whannell, Bousman, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and have been released subsequently every October, on the Friday before Halloween. The creators remained with the franchise as executive producers. On July 22, 2010, Mark Burg confirmed that Saw 3D is the final installment of the series.The films collectively grossed over $848 million at the box office worldwide.

The franchise revolves around the fictional character of John Kramer, also called the "Jigsaw Killer" or simply "Jigsaw." He was introduced briefly in Saw and developed in more detail in Saw II. Rather than killing his victims outright, Jigsaw traps them in situations that he calls "tests" or "games," to test their will to live through physical or psychological torture. Despite the fact that Kramer was murdered in Saw III, the films continue to focus on the posthumous effects of the Jigsaw Killer and his apprentices by exploring his character via flashbacks.

The film series as a whole has received mixed to negative reviews by critics, but has been a financial success at the box office. While the films are often compared to Hostel and classified as torture porn by the media, the creators of Saw disagree with the term "torture porn". Writer Luke Y. Thompson of OC Weekly argued that unlike Hostel, the Saw films actually have less torture than most in the sense of sadism or masochism, as most "torture" is self-inflicted by the characters (and sometimes inevitable).