Saw: Every Movie's Main Game Ranked

Game: Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam Stanheight (Leigh Whannell) awaken chained in a dilapilated bathroom. The test is simple: Gordon is told to kill Adam by 6 o'clock or his wife and daughter will be murdered.

All these years later, the game that started it all is still absolutely spectacular.

As a gnarly, brutal and painfully suspenseful psychological thriller that drives everyone involved right over the edge, and as a nerve-jangling showcase for Leigh Whannell's smart writing and James Wan's brilliant direction, this game is an absolute tour-de-force that is as disturbing as it is endlessly compelling.

The first Saw film is a simpler affair that's devoid of the excessive flashbacks and convoluted storytelling that plagued most of the sequels, so this game occupies almost the entirety of the film's run-time. As such, it was so important to get this central plot-line right, and it's arguably thanks to how good this central game is that the franchise's first film is still the best, despite the best efforts of movies like Saw VI and Saw X.

And of course, even the thought of that ending is enough to give one the shivers.

There are slight logic issues. Lawrence and Adam, obnoxious though both were, hardly seemed deserving of this level of brutality (they weren't criminals or anything), and the game felt unfairly rigged against Adam. That's why it's not at number one, but ignoring those minor quibbles, this game is absolutely terrific.