Summary

• Takeaway 1: The Saw franchise features a range of traps, from easy to impossible, that keep fans captivated.
• Takeaway 2: Some of the franchise's iconic traps can be beaten without Jigsaw's intended solutions, while others are impossible without luck or malfunction.
• Takeaway 3: The traps in the Saw series vary in complexity and effectiveness, with some being relatively easy to survive and others designed for murder.

The Saw franchise offers a wide variety of traps from the easiest Saw traps almost anyone could escape to the impossible Saw traps that are basically a death sentence. With nine movies released over the span of 17 years, the Saw series has become a staple of the horror genre. Though the films vary wildly in of quality, the intense levels of gore featured in each installment ensure that fans will never relinquish their morbid fascinations while debating the easiest Saw traps and impossible Saw traps.

With the latest installment Saw X arriving to continue the franchise, there are sure to be new and horrific Jigsaw traps to test the unfortunate victims. While the films often feature cerebral and complex plotlines, some of the franchise's iconic traps don't hold up under close scrutiny. Most can be beaten without utilizing Jigsaw's intended solutions, though a few are flat-out impossible to survive save for some sort of malfunction or an incredible amount of luck.

2 Easy

The Ceiling Jars Trap (Saw V)

Saw V's traps as a collective could be considered the easiest as it is revealed at the end that the group of people put through the various tests could have all survived had they worked together. However, Jigsaw seemed to correctly guess that putting these terrible people together would cause them to slight each other for survival rather than help each other.

The group of victims are introduced in the first trap which has them chained by the next and gradually pulled towards spinning buzz saws. There are keys hanging nearby that the victims must retrieve but only one can go at a time. They spend a lot of time fighting with each person wanting to be freed first, leaving one with no time to free themself before being pulled into the buzzsaws. However, it is later revealed the keys were all the same meaning one person could have retrieved one and simply ed it down the line.

The Pig Vat Trap (Saw III)

Saw III focuses on the character of Jeff who is sent through a maze of traps in which the people in danger are all people he blames for his son's death. One of those people is the judge who gave a light sentence to the drunk driver who ended up killing his son. The judge is chained to the bottom of a vat which is gradually filled with liquefied pig carcasses. Jeff can stop it by burning some of his son's old belongings.

While it is certainly an emotional toll to pay, giving up the last physical reminders of his child, it is a really easy thing considering all the other painful and torturous sacrifices Jigsaw's victims are asked to make. It is even comedic how slow Jeff is in deciding to burn the objects as a man drowns in pig guts.

The Mausoleum Chain Trap (Saw IV)

Saw IV introduces a trap that pits two men either together to help each other or as opponents. The two men are chained to a winch that is dragging them toward a painful death. The solution is simple as one of the men has the key on the chain collar around his neck. However, he cannot see it as his eyes are sewn shut and the other man can't tell him because his lips are sewn shut.

This breakdown in communication causes the blinded man to attack the muted man, thinking he's his captor. The muted man is forced to kill the blinded man and retrieve his key. However, once he does so, he rips the stitches out of his mouth and screams. Had he just done that to begin with, things would have gone a lot smoother and they could've escaped.

Reverse Bear Trap (Saw)

The first movie in the Saw franchise also features perhaps the most iconic trap. Jigsaw's reverse bear trap appears several times throughout the nine-part series with differing results. The look of the trap and its potential is immediately terrifying. However, though it may have a maniacally intriguing aesthetic, it probably wouldn't be all that difficult to beat.

The first person to be subjected to the trap is drug addict Amanda who is forced to cut an immobilized man open to find a key implanted in his abdomen. However, though it may be difficult to tell from her perspective, the trap's operations depend on several gears and some exposed wiring, which could easily be tampered with. While she would still need the key to remove the device from her head, she could easily render it harmless.

The Glass Grinder (Spiral)

Compared to the other entries in the Saw franchise, 2021's Spiral featured a relatively small amount of traps—most of which were essentially unwinnable. That said, the glass grinder trap seen in the latter half of the movie was arguably one of the easiest in the entire series. Much of the outcome hinged on Ezekiel Banks' willingness to forgive Peter Dunleavy, but, as is seen in the movie, Banks could have used the trashcan that was used to conceal the key to block the flying glass shards and buy him enough time to save his ex-partner. They wouldn't have escaped unscathed, but they definitely would have escaped.

The Needle Pit Trap (Saw II)

One of the most legendary and most brutal traps in the Saw franchise is actually one of its easiest to beat, and, in fact, Jigsaw's captives would have bested it had they acted immediately upon entering the room in which it was housed. Intended for Xavier, the victim must rake through a pile of needles to find a key that would unlock a room containing an antidote syringe.

Xavier opts to literally throw Amanda on top of the pile, but he could have instead wrapped himself in the thick blanket from the bed in the room and used the fabric from his shirt to cover his hands, thereby mitigating much of the damage he would have had to sustain. Of course, Amanda's safety was not his primary concern.

The Shotgun Collar Trap (Saw III)

Though undoubtedly an iconic piece of machinery, the shotgun collar trap from Saw III is perhaps the easiest stand-alone trap to disarm. Intended to ensure that Dr. Denlon keeps Jigsaw alive long enough to see the conclusion of Jeff's game, the shotgun collar is programmed to detonate if Kramer's heartbeat stops. This sounds like an effective means of motivation, but the firing mechanisms on the collar are all clearly exposed. The hammers which caused the shotgun shells to fire could have been blocked, effectively disarming the device. Despite being a brilliant brain surgeon, Dr. Denlon doesn't consider this and is eventually killed by it.

The Murderers' Trial (Jigsaw)

Canonically the first of Jigsaw's games to take place in the Saw timeline, Kramer's first large-scale test was riddled with flaws. Perhaps the serial killer was still going through his growing pains and had not yet perfected the tricky challenging tests. While many of the traps were fun to watch, completing them wasn't necessary.

It may sound like a nitpick, but Kramer's game takes place primarily in a barn, and, unlike the dilapidated house from Saw II, it doesn't appear to be escape-proof. In fact, sunlight can be seen pouring in through the gaps in the barn wall in some scenes, meaning that the test subjects could quite easily use some of the farm equipment lying around to smash through the walls, escaping with nothing save for the small scratches they received during the first test.

1 Impossible

Classroom Trap (Saw III)

The majority of Saw traps require the victims to subject themselves to unspeakable pain in order to free themselves, thus testing their resolve. However, some of the sacrifices being asked of them are pretty much as deadly as the trap itself. Such is the case with this horrific classroom trap in Saw III.

A man finds himself with chains piercing several parts of his body, including his arms, jaw, and ankles, which he must remove before a bomb goes off. While ripping the chains from his arm and legs is painful yet doable, the massive chain through his jaw would surely have killed him if he removed it. Yet when the cops come to inspect the crime scene after the main is killed by the bomb, they find the door welded shut, suggesting he was never going to escape.

The Brazen Bull (Saw 3D)

Saw 3D has the highest kill count in the Saw franchise and this one is the most brutal. Not only is the poor victim, Joyce, subjected to likely the most painful death in the franchise, but she is also completely innocent with her only crime being that she was married to a man who lied about being a Jigsaw survivor.

Joyce is also one of the victims whose fate is totally out of her hands. She must rely on her husband, Bobby, to perform the trap he lied about being subjected to. He is forced to attach hooks to his chest and hoist himself up to release Joyce's chain. However, the trap Bobby lied about surviving proves unbeatable and Joyce is locked inside a brazen bull and burned alive.

Silence Circle Trap (Saw 3D)

This trap from Saw 3D might not initially seem like it is impossible, but what is being asked of the victim is far too much. A woman finds herself strapped to a device with her mouth forced open. Four metal spikes are aimed at her throat. The only way to free her is for another man to retrieve the key which is in her stomach and attached to a fishhook. But if she screams, the spike will impale her.

There might be some who assume that they would be able to hold in their screams if their life depended on it, but it is unlikely that anyone who has their insides pulled out of their mouth couldn't do so without making a noise. Add to that the fact that her mouth is open the whole time and she would not be able to stifle any scream anyway.

Water Cube Trap (Saw V)

A fan-favorite trap from the later entries in the Saw franchise, there's no denying that, no matter how implausible, Saw V's water cube trap works well as a memorable set piece. By the time Peter Strahm found himself in the trap, he had already failed his test, as he was initially supposed to show restraint and await backup rather than proceed with his investigation.

Though he ultimately survives the Saw trap, he only does so by resorting to some extreme means, using a pen to puncture his windpipe to keep from drowning. It's undoubtedly a high point of the film, but there's a very slim chance that this would work in the real world.

The Angel Trap (Saw III)

Saw III sees Amanda as Jigsaw's replacement, overseeing Kramer's games as the mastermind lies on his deathbed. Unfortunately, she fails to live up to her master's legacy, not interested in putting the victims through tests but rather subjecting them to traps that couldn't possibly be won.

The flawed designs of Amanda's games were on full display during the Angel Trap sequence at the beginning of the movie. It's meant to punish Allison Kerry for the crime of merely investigating the Jigsaw case. Kerry must submerge her hand in acid to claim a key that would unhook her from the machine attached to her ribcage. However, the key is actually functionless, and, save for an incredible amount of luck, the trap couldn't be beaten.

The Laser Collar Trap (Jigsaw)

While John Kramer claims that he doesn't think of himself as a murderer because his victims all had a chance to survive, the same could not be said of Logan Nelson, Jigsaw's secret first disciple. Like the others who have become John's followers, his traps are strictly tools for murder.

After recreating Kramer's first game, which originally took place in 2003, Nelson performs a mock execution on himself using a homemade laser collar device. This draws a confession from Brad Halloran, who is trapped in an identical device. Halloran should have been freed after itting to his misdeeds, but Nelson allows him to be killed anyway, proving that his intentions were, from the beginning, to murder the detective.

The Hot Wax Trap (Spiral)

More or less removed from the events of the first eight Saw movies, Spiral sees a copycat killer attempt to enact his own brand of justice upon the city's corrupt police force. Though Jigsaw is not in Spiral, the killer inspired by Jigsaw has some creative and brutal traps in store for the victims

The third trap showcased in the film sees homicide detective Angie Garza strapped to a table as hot wax is poured on her face. The wax will eventually harden and suffocate her, though she's told that, if she uses a blade beneath her head to sever her spin, she can save herself. This is virtually impossible to survive, however, as performing the intended action would almost certainly prove lethal.

The Pendulum Trap (Saw V)

Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Pit and the Pendulum," convicted murderer Seth Baxter is strapped to a table and told that a bladed pendulum will slice him in half in a minute's time. The only way to escape the trap would be to push two buttons on either side of him, the act of which would also crush his hands.

Baxter does as he's told, but the pendulum doesn't stop. In actuality, this trap wasn't designed to be won and was instead part of an elaborate scheme for revenge orchestrated by Mark Hoffman. The corrupt cop staged it as a supposed Jigsaw trap so he would not be suspected of killing Baxter.