MovieChat Forums > Saw III (2006) Discussion > Did the Rack torture freak anyone else o...

Did the Rack torture freak anyone else out?

posted 15 years ago by TheCoolness
48 replies | jump to latest

Hello everybody,
I have seen the first three saw films. The first and second ones weren't too bad, however, the rack torture on the third one was disgusting and I found it quite sickening, almost emotional. The image of the guy's head twisting around has stuck in my brain ever since I watched it about three months ago... Does anyone else have the same feeling?
P.S. could Jeff have saved the guy on the rack? I mean, do you actually think there was a place for the key?

[–] zwixxx 15 years ago

I switched over for the whole rack duration so thankfully I don't have no lingering images. At the mention of rack I immediately thought - stretch, ow!!, stretch, argghhh!, stretch, crunch 'n' snap, bleeergh!, splatter, .... drip .... drip .... drip - so lunged for the remote.
Guess I must be getting old.

[–] jtchick 15 years ago

The rack was supposed to be emotional. The man was being crucified for what he did. And he was forviven but not in time and the man who chose not to set him free had to deal with that for the rest of his life; however short a time that might have been.

[–] beckeis 14 years ago

And it wasn't as if the guy wasn't emotionally tortured in the first place for having accidentally killed the boy. It was an accident and it was clearly shown that he was crying and devastated by what he had done. He did not deserve to be put in that rack, with his fate being decided by a man who could not forgive (even if he eventually did when it was too late).

[–] ruminerpianogrl 14 years ago

I felt so bad for that guy. You're right, you could tell his life was changed entirely when he killed the boy. He didn't need to endure such a horribly, gruesome death. But nobody answered the OP's other question: do you think there was a place for the key to fit in?

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[–] sugarlullaby-1 14 years ago

I also felt bad for the guy. I think the boy dying was the black guy's fault as much as it was the father's fault. In the brief flash back in the middle of the movie, you see that the kid got away from his father and rode right into the street and the dude hits the kid. With the guy being drunk, he probably didn't have the mental capacity to react in time to stop. But, with that being said, the father should have been watching the kid more closely, and kid shouldn't have darted into the street like that. So the kid dying was not all the black guy's fault, it was just a series of unfortunate events, carelessnes, and bad luck.

[–] Princess_Of_SAW 13 years ago

yes it was, he was driving drunk, and in a residential area so he shouldn't have been going so fast that he killed the kid.

i felt nothing when the black guy died, i would not have even tried to save him....and even if the judge said i'd be an accomplice, i'd just say 'fvck you, you save him then'

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[–] ThoseLittleRabbits 9 years ago

how do you know he was drunk. please die *beep* racist

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[–] grinch031 14 years ago

I'm pretty desensitized to violence in movies but the bones breaking in his legs I just couldn't bare...LOL. That was definitely one of the toughest torture scenes for me to watch.

[–] obsessedmovies 14 years ago

The Rack is the only Saw trap I can't stomach.

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[–] forthesafetyofpuppies 14 years ago

Aye, it's the only real look-away point in the series for me. Not so much the Exorcist-twist of the neck - because that's killing him and providing relief - but the arms and legs. Eek. Plus, the actor does a grand job of conveying the horror.

The only other moment is Straum's arm snap when the room closes in on him Temple Of Doom style in Saw 5.

[–] ianmitchell-45214 9 years ago

I gotta admit, quite a few of the traps throughout the series made me squirm, sweat and look the other way.

I remember the torture rack scene all too well. Yeesh, talk about traumatising. It didn't help that the judge had previously been in an equally uncomfortable trap beforehand. Seeing the judge tied down by the neck while pig guts fill up over him is an awful way to go.

The other saw films all had at least one trap that managed to make me feel very uncomfortable. The first Saw had the dentist chair and the reverse bear trap. I've rewatched the film not long ago and the dentist chair no longer works on me but first time around I was horrified.
The 2nd Saw film had that man in the furnacey thing, I think. Didn't like that one at all.
The 4th one and 5th one had a few too, which were either gross or horrible to imagine being in. One of them had that cop with the water box on his head. I vaguely remember that part with the same cop being crushed in a room with enclosing walls. Ugh! Never in any other films have we ever seen that trap work on someone (except for maybe 13 ghosts).
I can't remember which one but the blonde woman in he hair trap made me very uncomfortable.
Also, one of the saw films had 5 or 6 people wake up in a room with a noose around their neck. They had to smash open a glass box or lose their head. The woman that doesn't make it really looked like she was genuinely panicking for her life. I hate that part.

The Saw franchise gets a lot of criticism from people but the films worked on me. At least one elaborate trap lingered in my head afterwards. Especially the torture rack in Saw 3.

[–] ryoki9-1 14 years ago

i totally agree.i thought i was going to be sick.had to cover my eyes AND ears.sad also.

[–] aliasnogli 14 years ago

It's definitely the one that creeped me out the most. It's the close up of his head and twisted neck after it's been turned 180 degrees.

[–] filmbuff1974 14 years ago

Without a doubt the most repulsive and cruelest torture device in the whole franchise. Amanda must have thought up that one!

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[–] YouFightLikeACow 14 years ago

This trap, and for some reason the Pendulum trap in Saw V, are the only traps that I have trouble watching.

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[–] shannondaly1 14 years ago

The Rack scene TOTALLY freaked me out - I waas nearly sick and I came out the movie theartre literally shaking

I only have to imagine being in that and I fell like I'm gonna throw up

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[–] yusef-ghanima 10 years ago

no, john said in the tape that he's very proud of this device, not amanda.

[–] Tayte 10 years ago

I thought the first one was worse to look. (guy attached to chains & the bomb)

[–] houstonhacker 9 years ago

I was amused and entertained by the rack. crank crunch crack

[–] Mechan1calAn1mal 14 years ago

Interesting topic. Yes, I felt exactly the same way and my dumbass went to see this IN THE THEATER BY MYSELF (except a handful of random moviegoers) because everyone else was either working or doing something else that day. Movies don't tend to bother me but this one was disturbing. It's the only one I won't watch anymore and it pisses me off because it's still a good story.

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[–] by_candlelight 14 years ago

It was HORRIBLE! I can't imagine the pain you would suffer on the Rack. And how slowly you would have bones snap, and the neck slowly being broken.

Gives me shudders thinking of it!

[–] jnericsonx 14 years ago

Listen to the Tobin/Shawnee commentary-when that trap comes up, even Tobin goes "Oh boy", or something like that, and comments on how Shawnee is not looking at the screen right now. That trap is the worst, namely cause I have a phobia about breaking bones, legs, etc.

[–] xxsilverrevolverxx 14 years ago

It's the only trap I have issues with, that and the saw blades in SAW V with the blood sacrifice.

To answer your PS, Jeff definitely could have saved the black dude... he just took too long.

As for there being a place for the key... **Possible SAW IV Spoiler**

Since there's a flashback in SAW VI showing Hoffman's involvement in the construction of The Rack, there's a small chance that the trap could have been rigged to not be stopped by the key OR there not being a matching keyhole. However, I think if Jeff had gotten the key and made it in time, he could've saved the guy.

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[–] oprlvr33 13 years ago

I honestly only compared this scene to the many Vietnam and Korean War POW horror stories my dad and uncles told, when I was a kid. I cannot fathom anyone (or soldier) having to suffer through such physical and emotional trauma.