Ranking Saw II Traps

After the first Saw film did so well, it was almost inevitable that there would be a sequel. This one was pushed out roughly a year after the first one and it had a much bigger budget. So this movie has a lot more gore, more traps, and is a lot more fun.

This movie takes place in two locations. One is where the police have captured Jigsaw and are interrogating him. They are able to watch where the game is taking place, which is the second location.

This game takes place in a house with felons and the teenage son of Detective Matthews, who is questioning Jigsaw, is with them Matthews framed a lot of these felons for their various crimes.

The traps were done by Amanda Young and John Kramer.

The Magnum Eye Hole.

I was two minds about even including this trap. I've actually decided to omit 'traps' where it's more of a security measure by Jigsaw. But this one actually required someone to pay attention to the rules Jigsaw put in place, so it gets in by a technicality.

It's just simply not a good trap.

Most people aren't going to look through an eye hole while unlocking a door. So, there was a really low chance that someone would die if the gun went off. Unless there was someone unlucky enough to be standing behind the door while it's being unlocked.

Although this does set forth the theme of listening to what Jigsaw is saying. Something that pretty much no one actually does through this movie.

The Death Mask.

This trap is the one that opens the movie. It isn't a bad one by any means, it's just not terribly memorable. And considering what this person has to do, this should have been an easy win for him.

A man wakes up with what is essentially an iron maiden attached to his head. When the minute is over, it'll snap close, driving the spikes into his skull and absolutely killing a person.

The key to the device is located behind his eye and he has a scalpel to cut into his eye to remove it. I hate eye stuff but this guy keeps panicking when he gets ready to cut into it before the time is up.

So, he doesn't.

The Razor Box.

Due to Amanda Young revealing that she has turned to self-harming after her original test, this trap was likely meant for her. But they never end up getting that far where Amanda can do it. Instead, one of the other players, they are so desperate for the antidote that she tries to do it.

It's essentially a box where the syringe is awkwardly placed in the center of the box. The only way to reach into the box is by putting your arm between razors that when you pull down will start cutting the skin.

If the main trap was a better one, the player would have done a lot better at this. The mistakes that she makes are due to the fact that she's actively dying. She makes a dumb move and pretty much everyone knows how she could have survived if she was more aware.

The Nerve Gas House.

In theory, this is a great idea. A group of felons and the teenage son of the police officer that framed them, trapped together in an inescapable house. They could have stopped there and it would have been fine. Just having them trapped in the house, trying to go through these traps to get something to get out.

But then there is the added stress of having sarin gas being released throughout the house and poisoning them. They are competing to try and find antidotes that will stop them from dying painful deaths. They have two hours before they die.

Except one person dies before the two hours due strictly to the sarin gas and everyone gets weakened by the poison. It ups the tension but leads to moments like the Razor Box.

The Furnace.

It is revealed in his tape that Obi is the person that helped kidnap a lot of the people in the trap with him. There is a push from the other participants for him to get in the trap and get both antidotes that are inside. He successfully gets the first antidote and that's when things get bad.

When he pulls down the second antidote, it triggers the door to close behind and the incinerator began to fire up. Before the trap, Obi had been warned "once you're in hell, only the devil can help you". We see what this means when there is a red devil pointing to a valve that would have put out the fire.

By the time that Obi sees it, it's too late for him. Even though the others managed to break into the furnace, they weren't able to get Obi or the antidotes are. Meaning they got nothing.

The Needle Pit.

This trap was technically meant for the drug dealer, Xavier. He's the trietary antagonist in the movie and the main one in the trap. He's really not into the idea of going into the needle pit to find a key himself. That's a lot of work and he's a bad person. So, he shoves Amanda into the pit and yells at her to start digging.

It's difficult to watch because you can tell those are used needles. And we can tell how deeply embedded into Amanda's skin those needles are. To her credit, she does her best considering where she ended up. She does eventually find the key but it's too late. The door is closed and the antidote is cut off.

Eric’s Test.

All Eric Matthews had to do was sit in the room and talk to Jigsaw as the game played out. He's known for his violent tendencies and he's planted evidence on a lot of the people he has sent to jail. That's why there's a lot of pressure on him.

At any second, someone in that room could find out the identity of his son. And they'd understandably be a little upset. In a life or death situation, it's not looking good for his son.

All he has to do is sit there and listen. And he doesn't do that. Right before the ending of the game (or, when everyone finds out that the game is replaying, everything has already been done), his son is released into the room that he had been talking to Jigsaw in.

Eric is then bashed and locked into the bathroom trap by Amanda. He doesn't end up dying, he ends up breaking his foot to escape for a little while. Which leads for him to pop up in a later movie.

And that's it. I'm glad that this is the direction the series was going in, at least for the next movie. But the multi-trap multi-people is going to become a staple of the series.