Interview: Saw VI’s Creative Team

Welcome to part 2 of our Saw VI interviews (part one with the actors can be read here)! It should go without saying, that as another Halloween approaches, so does another Saw film. Recently, Lionsgate had a Saw VI media day at the Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Maze, that Killer Film attended. So we hope you enjoy our round table discussion interviews, with the crew behind the film; Kevin Greutert (the director), Marcus Dunstan (screenwriter on the film, as well as the previous two and The Collector), and Mark Burg (producer on all of the Saw films).

By Senior Writer Jon Peters and Melissa Molina.

Killer Film: Was there anything you learned from any of the previous directors (James Wan, Darren Bousman, or David Hackl) that helped you in making your directorial debut?

Kevin Greutert: Yes, absolutely. You know because I spent so much time in the cutting room with the previous directors. We’ve talked about all this stuff up and down and the history of movies and horror. So yeah, I had a huge advantage in this film that Darren (Bousman) and James (Wan) and to some extent David (Hackl) didn’t have so absolutely, I’ve learned a ton.

Killer Film: Why do you feel that the MPAA has been a little more lenient with the Saw films as opposed to other horror flicks?

Mark Burg: Who says they’re lenient? (laughs) Where are you coming from? You don’t know how many times we go to them and it’s like “cut this, trim that, cut this, change this”. It’s not like we give it to them, and they go “stamped, great, your off!”

Killer Film: I didn’t mean that, but I know there’s uncut versions. What I’ve seen is that the Saw films get away with a little bit more than I’d see in like the new Friday the 13th.

Marcus Dunstan: They might be a little scared of us. (chuckles)

Mark Burg: I don’t know, we have a hard time with them. It’s not easy, there’s a lot of stuff that we look at and then I complain to them, and say “Well, wait a second, did you see the last Rambo movie? What about this, there was a guy who got his head chopped off, and blah blah blah. There’s another guy running around with one arm, I can’t do it but he could? “It’s a battle. It’s a give-and-take, but I think maybe now we just numb their senses a little bit to the point of “great, just do them.”

They don’t really give you notes, they’ll just say “we object to these scenes.” But they won’t say “cut this, cut that, cut this” because it’s that give-and-take. Then you’ll go back, you’ll cut a couple of frames out, give it to them. First, they watch the entire movie, then they watch the individual scenes they have problems with.

Killer Film: Is there anything you wish you could’ve done with Jigsaw or Saw in general that due to something unforeseen, you couldn’t?

Marcus Dunstan: Well, actually the benefit of the Saw world is the fractured time line. We can do anything in that sense. If we really would like to do it, if everyone agrees and is on board with it, there is the liberty. The only boundary is the imagination of the people behind it.

Is there anything we should expect out of Saw VII as well?

Kevin Greutert: It answers the question definitively “why make a Saw film in 3-D?”. It answers it right away, it answers loud.

Mark Burg: It’s like once you start a 3-D movie you have to continue. You know, once we do Saw VII it’s kind of hard for them to go back to 2D.

Marcus Dunstan: Saw VIII in black and white. (laughs) It’s a talkie.

Mark Burg: Saw VIII in 4D! (chuckles) We have Saw VII; were working on a script, so let’s hope that Saw VII turns out well so there can be a Saw VIII.

Saw VI opens Friday! Come back for our review, only on Killer Film! Got something to add? Feel free to leave comments or contact the writers via their emails!