The Saw franchise is extremely well known for its usage of gore and violence, and the newest entry Spiral: From the Book of Saw is no exception. However, there was one gruesome scene in Spiral that was actually deleted. Now director Darren Bousman has described the scene, which was actually shot for the film but left unused.
As explained in an interview via Bloody-Disgusting:
“We cut an entire scene out, an entire trap scene,” Bousman reveals. “Which was a huge kind of bummer for me. We were having huge problems with the MPA this time. And I’m not even sure why, because I don’t think in any respect this is the most violent Saw film. But I think it may be the most widely accessible Saw film in the way you have two huge superstars [Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson] plus Max Minghella bringing a whole different side of audiences. I think the MPA was really on the offensive when they heard we were coming in.”
He further explained that because the scene was deleted, the character involved has now technically become a survivor in the film. This, Bousman teases, suggests that the character could return in another film. As stated:
“There was a scene that took place in the third act, I won’t say who it was but another character dies,” Bousman continues. “And it was by far the most gruesome, 100%. It was also the most mean-spirited. We’re like, ‘The movie can completely exist without this scene.’ And we ended up losing it, in the very end, I would say the last week before we locked the edit. I’m happy for that actor because he now survived. Now he can come back if there’s another one.”
Finally, Bousman concludes with the following statement:
“There were a lot of traps that didn’t make the cut, that we had ideas on, but there was only one trap that was shot that ended up getting cut. A guy’s face is completely… his entire face has come off. There was definitely some gore that was cut out.”
It’s interesting to hear that the trap was so gruesome that they simply deleted the scene from Spiral. Of course, it’s also nice to hear that they had so many different ideas that went unused. It illustrates just how much potential there is left in the Saw franchise, so it’ll be exciting to see how another sequel could push the boundaries even further.