On a cloudy Tuesday afternoon, two of whynow’s finest played a sick and sadistic game by the Jigsaw killer at London’s Saw: Escape Experience.
The Saw franchise isn’t for everyone. Since James Wan’s original, highly entertaining and gruelling 2004 thriller Saw, the franchise has earned itself the label of “torture porn”. This is largely due to the increasing amounts of bloodshed and overall cruelty that only goes up in each of the 9 films released so far. Saw X is scheduled to arrive this year.
James Wan’s Saw is a cult classic. Credit: Lionsgate
The basic premise of the films is pretty simple. There is a clever, sadistic killer on the loose, going by the name of Jigsaw. He teaches people lessons by placing them in bloody, violent games and traps. Usually, a sacrifice of flesh and blood is required to be freed from these. Some fan-favourite traps have included the Reverse Bear Trap, the Shotgun Carousel and the Angel trap.
So, who in their right mind would want to have a go at such a game? A lot of people, apparently. Arriving in London after successful stints around the world, Saw: Escape Experience is a multi-room escape room in which you are forced to play Jigsaw’s game.
On arrival, all participants were divided into four teams, and you head into the experience together, hopefully, lulled into a false hope of survival by the presence of others. We made acquaintances with our new teammates, and it turns out, none of us had ever been in an escape room. Excellent.
We were confident enough, though; we could smash this, outsmart Jigsaw and come out unscathed on the other side. There was also a promise of a themed bar at the end with cocktails, and honestly, if Jigsaw’s victims in the films were promised a strong drink at the end of their ordeal, many of them would have survived, at least the British ones.
We were first led into a small room with a TV. After a short video explaining the basic storyline – we were investors on a tour of a building to be turned into luxury apartments – and some health and safety rules, we got started. In the first challenge room, we were tasked with finding clues in individual stations to move forward. These were relatively easy, and our team felt confident at this point, but little did we know that confidence would be stripped away very soon.
After another room of finding clues to progress, all teams were separated into their own rooms and paths. We later learned that there are two paths in the experience; Jigsaw and Spiral. All of the rooms required us to work together as a team, which is easier said than done. This seems like a nice nod to Saw V, which saw a group of people placed in a game in which their survival ultimately depended on their ability to work together. Guess how that film ended. Spoiler alert, not well.
While the first individual puzzle appeared to be easy enough, it quickly dawned on all of us how difficult it is to complete tasks in a dark room that vaguely smells of chemical smoke and with a timer set to 8 minutes. Jigsaw, voiced by the iconic Tobin Bell, also lets you know how long you have left, which is super helpful. Nothing quite like a sadistic killer reminding you there’s one minute left on the clock.
We failed the first room rather gloriously, but no worries. Jigsaw, via a small television, assured us that we would move on and still had a chance to succeed. The next room was tiny and smelled even worse. The task couldn’t begin until we closed the door behind us, which felt strangely claustrophobic and permanent. We were then instructed that someone would have to step into an incinerator to look for clues to open the door.
Not entirely sure what came over me, but I volunteered. I stepped into a tiny room, and my teammates shut the door behind me. I was stuck and alone, feeling completely helpless and suddenly very aware that we couldn’t progress unless I found the clues in this dingy room that may or may not become my final resting place.
Panic started to set in as I did my best to describe the scribblings I found on the walls behind me, but if being shut in a tiny room called ‘The Incinerator’ wasn’t scary enough, the room began to fill with smoke. While I knew I wasn’t actually going to die here, the fear I felt was very real.
It did not help that my teammate, also a whynow employee, insisted on filming my discomfort for the company’s social media purposes. I tried to smile for the camera as I fervently tapped on the tiny window, begging my teammates to free me before I needed a change of underwear.
Thankfully, my teammates solved the puzzle, and we could all progress. I was still separated from them, and the next room required us to work together to solve the puzzle. I once again watched helplessly through a tiny window as my teammates moved around pig carcasses to balance some scales. I was frustrated; I was confident I could be of service if I were to be reunited with them, that I could somehow crack this puzzle.
Except, when the door opened to let me join them, I was humbled; I had absolutely no idea what we were supposed to do. I moved a pig carcass in a feeble attempt to appear helpful, but alas, we failed miserably again, but the experience was nonetheless exhilarating.
All the teams were reunited in the final room. Billy the Puppet made an in-person appearance, and we scrambled to follow instructions and beat the timer as the Saw-theme played in the background. For a fan, it was quite remarkable to be in such a position. It was hard to focus on the task at hand while there were so many cool things to look at, especially the poor actor in the middle of the room in a classic Jigsaw trap.
We failed again. The trap went off and sealed the fate of our beloved actor. The room was filled with regret and frustration. We were so close! But then again, where is the fun if no one dies in a Saw-themed escape room?
Tobin Bell once again lends his iconic voice to the Jigsaw killer in Saw: Escape Experience.
We managed to free ourselves from Jigsaw’s game and were greeted with themed cocktails at the exit. They were tasty and much appreciated; the Bloodbank cocktail, which was actually a cherry daiquiri, was served from a blood pouch with John Kramer as the patient name and Dr Lawrence Gordon as the physician. Again, a nice little detail for fans of the franchise.
While the game never felt as brutal as the films, for understandable reasons, the set design, scares and overall ambience more than delivered. Once it became clear that we could progress even if we failed the rooms, the stakes felt much lower than starting out. If each room had an actor in a trap and their survival depended on our success or failure, that would have resembled the Saw films more authentically. But you can’t have it all, and even with its minor flaws, Saw: Escape Experience London was a fun, entertaining and, at times, truly terrifying ordeal.
