A germ of this idea probably popped into everyone's head back in 2003, when Aron Ralston had to cut off his own arm with a pocket knife when it was trapped under a boulder. But it reached its full nightmarish potential in the low-budget horror movie Saw. Two men wake up in a bathroom, chained by the ankle to a set of pipes. They find two handsaws that aren't strong enough to cut through metal, but could go through bone. One has to kill the other to save his family, the other man is tasked with escaping. For either to accomplish their goal, they're going to have to cut off their own foot. This attack on the human psyche is double-fold. First of all, the person has to reconcile the fact that cutting off their limb is, indeed, necessary. They have to come to terms with that they're going to be the one to do this terrible thing to themselves, and deal with the consequences for the rest of their lives. And then they have to actually do it. Cutting through bone is tough, especially when it happens to be your own. That is a world of pain that none of us are ready for, so this scenario haunts our nightmares forevermore.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
