Parents Guide for
Saw (2004) More at IMDbPro »

Note: The number at the beginning of each section refers to how much explicit content of that kind there is in the film on a scale of 1-10. The fraction at the end of the last section is the total sum of the sections over the highest sum possible (50) and is therefore an approximation of about how explicit the film is a whole.

Sex & Nudity: 2



Dr.Gordon is shown having an affair with his secretary (they prepare to have sex..but they dont). It is very discreet.

A few sexual jokes made by Adam throughout.

A male rushing naked for 5 seconds, however the film speeds this up so fast, that you can't see anything unless you watch it in slow-motion.

Violence & Gore: 8

- A live person's intestines are pulled out of his body after he has been disemboweled with a knife. This is very brief, but quite gory, but the actual disembowelment is off-screen we just see the bloody knife come up and down.

- A man is shot by four shotguns above him.Its is mostly off-screen, but blood splatters onto the wall next to him, and we see plenty of blood when he falls over, and we also see still images were part of his head is missing.

- A man crushes another's head with a toilet lid. Though the actual head is not shown, the blood can be seen gathering on the toilet lid, and it is quite convincing.

- A cloaked person slits a man's throat. This is very brief. - A man is shot in the back but he is alive

- Many people are seen with pieces of their skin cut out in jigsaw-puzzle shaped pieces. Its quire gruesome.

- A man is shown mangled in a razor wire room with skin and blood everywhere. It is mentioned that the man cut himself so deep that traces of his stomach acid were found on the floor. We briefly see him crawling through the razor wire screaming, but it is in fast motion with fast cuts from many different angles.

- Offscreen a man ends up burning alive and his burned, charred body is shown.

- A man is shot in the arm. Blood is seen on his shirt later when his stands back up.

-A man saws off his own foot. Most of this action is shown off-screen, we just see the saw break the skin and some blood spray. For the rest of the scene we just see his face as blood sprays on his shirt. Its quite disturbing.

Profanity: 8

30-40 f-words.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: 3

Adam is revealed to be a smoker and is shown smoking once.

A woman admits to have sold drugs.

Frightening/Intense Scenes: 9

The main theme of the movie is that a man sets up people in traps. They have to badly mutilate themselves or others in order to be set free.

A woman has to cut open a man who she thought was dead.

A man saws off his own foot.

This is a very intense and suspenseful film throughout.

An idea of how accurate the TECE (below) is: 5-10 is a little-kid suitable, G-Rated type of film (i.e. Care Bears, Sleeping Beauty); 10-15 is going to be a little harsher, but not by much (i.e. The Incredibles); 15-20 could be pretty high up there (i.e. Indiana Jones), 20-25 is going to pretty darn adult (i.e. The Dark Knight); 25-30 is going to be a film most likely not suitable for anyone under 17 (i.e. Braveheart); 30-40 is going to be an absolutely, positively adults-only film (i.e. THIS), and 40-50 is going to be hard R to NC-17 (i.e. Pulp Fiction).

Total Explicit Content Estimation: 31/50.