20 Mind-Blowing Facts About The Saw Franchise

12. The Needle Pit In Saw II Was A Nightmare To Set Up

Spiral from the Book of Saw Chris Rock
Lionsgate

In Saw II, each of Jigsaw's victims are being poisoned by a slow-acting toxin. Near the end of the film, the survivors discover the antidote is in a pit filled with thousands of used syringes.

The Needle Pit may be considered to be one of the best traps in the series but it was the most complex scene in the entire franchise to set up. First off, the crew had to order a staggering 120,000 syringes (That was the easiest part). They then spent four days replacing all the needle points with fibre tips to ensure the actress in the scene, Shawnee Smith, didn't stab herself. As an extra precaution, gelatine and water was poured into the pit to make the syringes extra slippery.

But no matter how careful one is, something can always go wrong. One day, some real needles fell into the pit, forcing the production to cease until they were located. This means the crew had to literally find a needle in a stack of needles. That was probably not fun.

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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows