From a carousel of death to the iconic reverse bear trap, here are some of the best deaths in the Saw franchise.

Kicking off the hit franchise in 2004 with Saw, which was surprisingly tame in comparison to how gruesome the series eventually gets. Nonetheless, there are still some terrifying traps in its first movie, with the razor wire maze, the flammable jelly trap, and of course, the infamous reverse bear trap. These traps, however, pale in comparison to the grisly traps we are introduced to later on in the franchise, such as The Brazen Bull, The Shotgun Carousel, and The Rack, which have led to many gruesome and violent deaths. So, let's take a look at some of the best deaths in the Saw franchise.

Related: Saw Movies in Order: How To Watch Chronologically and By Release date

In true Saw fashion, we are left with a shocking and unexpected twist, with horrifying visuals and the horrific sound effects of bones breaking and blood splattering. Like every Saw movie, Saw V blasts the tense, but at the same time exciting Zepp Nine theme, resulting in a death scene with a heck of a lot of shock value.

Better known as the glass coffin trap, this shocking scene sees Special Agent Peter Strahm as he comes face-to-face with a glass coffin, which he and the audience assume is a trap for him. It isn't long before Hoffman tries to sneak behind him; Strahm sees this in the reflection of the box and grabs Jigsaw's disciple before throwing him into the glass coffin. Strahm begins to boast of his victory, but the glass coffin begins to lower into the ground as we quickly learn that the glass coffin wasn't actually the trap, and was instead the only way he would have survived. The walls begin to enclose, leading Strahm to climb and shoot his way out, before being horrifically crushed by the walls.

More commonly known as the pendulum trap, this death scene is filled with blood, guts, and horrific screams as convicted murderer Seth Baxter sees his demise in this inescapable trap. The pendulum trap was loosely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 short story The Pit and The Pendulum. This gruesome death scene results in one of the goriest traps in the entire franchise, especially in the unrated director's cut.

Created by Mark Hoffman, as revenge for his sisters murder, the scene sees Seth Baxter shackled to a table with a bladed pendulum swinging above him. To escape he must crush his hands with the weights next to him as the pendulum swings closer and closer. Unlike many other victims of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), Seth Baxter actually succeeds and crushes his hands, leading us to believe he has escaped the trap, but the pendulum doesn't stop swinging, and soon slices Seth in half, splattering his guts all over the walls.

This scene takes inspiration from the sadistic medieval torture device; the brazen bull. Resulting in a truly haunting and devastating death scene, as Bobby is forced to watch his innocent girlfriend burn to a crisp, as we hear her spine-chilling and torturous screams.

As the final test of Bobby's game, he is forced to save his girlfriend, who is strapped on her hands and knees on a metal podium. Bobby is tasked with piercing his pectoral muscles with two meat hooks, to lift himself up and connect two electrical wires together, all in under one minute. Bobby nearly completes the test with seconds left to spare, but at the last second his pectoral muscles rip causing him to fall and fail the final task. This leads to a giant metal pig-like mechanism forming around his girlfriend before heating up, creating a sort of furnace. Bobby is forced to watch as his girlfriend is burned alive, without being able to save her, and Bobby must endure hearing her haunting screams and cries for help.

While not the goriest death scene in the franchise, this scene is still, nonetheless, among the most terrifying and horrific deaths in the series. As opposed to the tortured screams and intense music that the Saw franchise is best known for, the scene is filled with an intense and haunting silence. Matched with the slow editing, this scene is among the most intense scenes in the franchise.

Bobby Dagen, the main protagonist of Saw 3D, is introduced to his second test, where he is met with his publicist Nina, who is strapped down to a chair with four sharp, metal rods aiming at her throat, with a piece of string falling out of her mouth. Bobby is tasked with pulling the string out of Nina's stomach, which is attached to a fishhook. While having your insides skewered by a fishhook is bad enough, the real catch is that if Nina makes any noise, the metal rods will come closer and closer to her throat before eventually piercing her and killing her. Understandably, Nina couldn't stay silent, resulting in her death.

This scene helms one of the most diabolical and vicious traps of the franchise. The blood and gore in the scene had to be censored in the theatrical cut. As always with the Saw movies, the scene is filled with fast editing and intense music, adding a layer of tension, to the already horrifically tense and gruesome death scene.

Known as the angel trap, we see Detective Alison Kerry as she is hanging from the ceiling with a harness and contraption that is attached to her ribs. Alison must stick her hand into a jar of acid, to grab the key that lies flat at the bottom of the jar, to release her from the contraption. She manages to retrieve the key on her second attempt. With the flesh of her hand burnt off, she tries to unlock the harness, but she soon discovers that the key to the lock doesn't fit, and the trap was made to be inescapable. The scene ends on a devilishly great shot, as the contraption pulls Allison's ribs apart, showing us some gory imagery of her ribs looking like wings, hence the name; the angel trap.

This scene boasts the biggest kill count of any scene in the Saw franchise. While not being as visually as sadistic or horrific as previous Saw traps, the concept of the trap is just as messed up and horrifying.

Forced to choose who lives and dies on this carousel to death, William Easton can only choose two of his employees to survive, leaving the other four to be shot in the chest with a shotgun. It's a simple concept and may not be as gruesome as other entries on the list, but this scene is certainly one of the most creative scenes and traps in the franchise.

The reverse bear trap is possibly the most iconic trap in the whole franchise, appearing in many of the movies, whether it's in the background, or on some poor soul's head. In its first scene, it's fastened to the head of Amanda Young in Saw. The trap was since passed on to Detective Mark Hoffman, who narrowly escaped the trap, and also Jill Tuck, Jigsaw's wife, who didn't come out so lucky. For years, fans have been waiting in anticipation to finally see the grisly results of this simple but terrifying trap. Saw 3D finally gave fans what they had wanted, with a brutal and gruesome result.

In the scene, we see Jill Tuck being chased by a blood-hungry Detective Hoffman. Jill finds a place to hide, while Hoffman searches the room for her. Accidentally making a noise, Hoffman finds Jill and then knocks her to the ground, causing her to go unconscious. She then wakes up with the reverse bear trap strapped to her head, as the timer begins to tick. We then witness her struggle with no way to escape. Until finally, the reverse bear trap springs open, leaving us with a simple, but gloriously gory kill. John Kramer would not be happy!

Claimed to be one of the most violent deaths in horror movie history, this spine-chilling scene will make even the most hardcore horror fans squirm in their seats. While there is little blood in the scene, it is the nature of the trap and how Timothy dies that causes many to consider this scene unwatchable.

The unsettling scene sees Timothy, the man responsible for the death of Jeff Danlon's son, as his arms, feet, and head are twisted in ways bones should never be able to twist. The haunting screams, the horrific effects, terrifying music, and fast-paced editing culminate in creating the most disturbing, horrific, and best death in the series.

Olly is a self-proclaimed film critic and professional nerd, who probably knows way too much about movies 🎬