10 Most Dishonest Editing Cuts In Film History
8. Zepp Is An Actual Psychopath (But Not Really) - Saw
The first Saw is a deliciously effed-up thriller best remembered for its bevy of nutty plot twists, one of which only really works because director James Wan resorts to some blatantly continuity-derailing editing tricks.
Throughout the film, we see Dr. Gordon's (Cary Elwes) wife and daughter being held captive by a shadowy figure, eventually revealed to be an orderly at Gordon's hospital, Zep (Michael Emerson).
The obvious implication is that Zep is either the Jigsaw killer himself or an accomplice, made no more evident than by a scene where he points a gun at the head of Gordon's wife and uses a stethoscope to listen to her heartbeat rising, with a clear degree of pleasure no less.
This is, obviously, only something a total psychopath would do, but it makes no sense at all once the end of the film reveals that Zep was just another pawn in Jigsaw's (Tobin Bell) game, and simply doing what Jigsaw ordered him to in order to survive.
You can argue that Jigsaw told him to check the wife's heartbeat - for some reason - but even within the skittish logic of the Saw franchise, that's a pretty epic reach.
This is one of those scenes that plays fine in the moment, and you'll likely be so awestruck by the film's twists that you won't think too hard about the logic, but on a second viewing, seeing Zep acting genuinely sadistic makes no sense whatsoever.