Influences

Over the years, I have watched my fair share of films. Most of which have been of the romantic-comedy genre, which is seen as a typical genre for a girl. However, as I've branched out to various different films, I've come across a genre which surprised me but also evoked a lot of interest, that is horror.

The Saw Franchise

Background

Saw is an American franchise that first began in 2004. The series surrounds around a character called Jigsaw Killer who decided to trap his victims in situations he refers to as 'tests' or 'games' in order to test them through physical or psychological torture  rather than killing them.

So, how does this type of film appeal to its audiences?

It may appear baffling that people like to watch torture films, however, for the audience it is targeting, the brutality of the situations and the being in a position of life or death can intrigue 15-25 year olds.

The reasoning is that the focus is less on the suspense and more on the way the victims suffer. This may appear to sound bizarre however, the audience is able to gain a sense of interest through watching the testing situations because the victims are placed in a situation where their life depends on them. The interesting part? This allows the audience to feel emotions of shock which leads and adds to the curiosity. 

The curiosity urges us to ask questions which we want to know the answers to and films such as these, which may not be logical and highly fictional, though gives us some sort of explanation or a way to allow our brains to make sense of it all.