cinematic roots of: ‘Saw 3D’

No movie springs from a vacuum. There are always influences from past examples of the genre, from the previous work of the filmmakers and stars, even from similar films that don’t quite work. If you want to understand where a movie is coming from, take a look at where it’s coming from.

In Saw 3D, the latest go-round in the torture-porn franchise, crazy person Jigsaw brutally punishes those people he believes deserve it. This flick sprang from (among other films):

• Hostel (2005), in which American tourists in scary Europe are targeted by perverted businessmen who pay to torture them.

• I Dismember Mama (1972), the classic horror flick about punishing those whom some madman believes has earned it; here, the bad guy had serious mommy issues.

• Boxing Helena (1993), in which dismemberment goes arthouse in this tale about a demented surgeon (Julian Sands) who chops off the limbs of the woman he is obsessed with (Sherilynn Fenn) and keeps her in, yup, a box.

• Misery (1990), for a bit of gender reversal on the violence; Kathy Bates holds her favorite author, James Caan, hostage by breaking his ankles.