Chapter 120: Dumbfounded

The rare cool morning in Los Angeles made Daisy feel refreshed as she walked into the cinema. She approached the counter, glanced at the schedule, and took out a ten-dollar bill.

"Saw, please! One ticket, thank you!"

With the ticket in hand, Daisy walked towards the screening room. She had gone to great lengths to find this cinema showing "Saw" after being intrigued by the information she had seen online. After researching the film and seeing Murphy Stanton's name, she remembered the interesting film from the St. Denis Film Festival and was eager to see what this fascinating director had created next.

In Long Island, Luis Gonzalez was already seated in the theater, surrounded by members of his small group. Many were discussing the film's potential—whether it would surprise them like the pictures they saw online or if it would be just another gory horror film.

As the movie started, they found it to be different from what the online images suggested. This difference wasn't because the film was bad; on the contrary, it was even more terrifying and intriguing.

"I want to play a game..."

Following this line were scenes of extreme torture, which weren't senseless but seemed to serve as justified trials. The antagonist's rationale, although twisted, intertwined themes of appreciating life and valuing freedom, making his words oddly convincing.

A fat man crawled through a barbed wire maze, with sharp wires slicing through his thick fat and piercing his body. The man screamed like a pig being slaughtered, his blood and gaping wounds making even the audience feel chills. Yet, to survive, the fat man had no choice but to keep moving until he couldn't anymore, hanging on the barbed wire like a steak ready to be cooked.

The scene then cut back to the perspective of a few police officers, with flies buzzing around the cage. The fat man, drained of blood, had turned a ghostly white, his skin and wounds looking eerie and terrifying.

Despite the lack of close-up shots, Daisy covered her mouth, and a few others nearby made similar gestures.

The theater wasn't crowded; there were only a dozen or so people. It was clear that the gruesome and terrifying killing methods had frightened them.

Two people were captured and forced to cut off flesh to weigh against each other, with the lighter one being drilled to death...

These new methods were still traditional gore horror techniques, shocking Luis Gonzalez, but what impressed him more was that these were not just random killings.

"People mostly don't know how to appreciate life..."

These high-sounding reasons, as if the killer was acting for the victims' benefit, set these elaborate death traps.

Although the suspense and the mastermind's scheming and identity intrigued Daisy, some gory scenes made her turn away. When a victim chopped off his left hand to weigh it, she saw two boys nearby crying in fear.

"It's... it's too scary..." one boy was trembling.

The other boy, wiping his tears, said, "This director must be a psychopath, he's really twisted!"

Despite their words, their eyes were glued to the screen, unwilling to leave.

Two girls of similar age to Daisy sat nearby, munching on popcorn, watching the gory scenes with relish.

"Hmm... good... good..." one of them murmured, "It's been a long time since I've seen such a good film."

What was horrifying to others seemed like delicious side dishes to her.

The two girls were engrossed, but their popcorn chewing and comments disturbed the others.

A man in his forties, clearly annoyed, finally said, "Can you keep it down?"

In another film, talking might be excusable, but this movie was so captivating, with suspense and tension built up so well, that any noise spoiled the atmosphere!

Such an outstanding film deserved a good viewing environment!

One girl wanted to retort, but the other pulled her back, pointing at the screen. The girl obediently closed her mouth, choosing to endure for the sake of the film.

Nothing was more important than watching this movie properly now!

In the Long Island cinema, there were only about twenty spectators, half of them members of Luis Gonzalez's group. Their reactions varied.

Luis Gonzalez was excited. A gory horror film with excellent logic and suspense brought him immense enjoyment. Most importantly, he noticed one thing: all the victims were white!

Yes, all white! Those damned whites! The inexplicable satisfaction in Gonzalez's heart was something only he understood.

The tall, thin black man on his left was wiping cold sweat from his forehead, his face paler than usual, making him visible even in the dark.

The fat man on his right had been pressing his stomach since the barbed wire maze scene, as if he himself had been stabbed and was leaking stomach acid.

Further down, another man was constantly drinking water, having emptied his own bottle and most of the fat man's large bottle. Clearly, he was overly nervous, the reason for which was obvious—the film on the screen.

"Who could the mastermind be?"

Halfway through the film, Luis Gonzalez voiced his thoughts. The fat man next to him guessed, "I think it's the hospital orderly."

The thin black man disagreed, "I think it might be the doctor himself."

The man who had been drinking water swallowed hard, stammering, "A-A-Amanda's trial... was too easy and not deadly."

Everyone had their own guesses, but no one suspected the suicide victim lying on the floor of the secret room.

This wasn't just human nature; the film's camera work contributed too. In scenes of the secret room, the focus was always on James Franco's doctor and Seth Rogen's voyeur, while the suicide victim was blurred in the background.

This was a technique to guide the audience's thinking through cinematography.

In a cinema near Columbia University, Kara Faith tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, turning her gaze away from the brutal scene on the screen. She wasn't a horror fan and only came because this was her friend's film.

Although she didn't like it, as a media professional, she recognized the film's merits. Besides the copious gore and twisted killing methods that made her nauseous, the suspense and the mastermind's logical setup were quite impressive, much better than the sensational "Hard Candy."

Especially the latter, which seemed to have developed its own theory with a hint of religious undertones.

Would this film succeed? This was Kara Faith's primary concern.

She knew Murphy and understood that his current desire for success was primarily commercial, meaning box office success. The box office depended on the audience, and for this film to succeed, it needed to attract viewers.

From the moment she sat down, Kara Faith had been observing the audience. Perhaps those who came to watch this kind of film already liked horror, or perhaps the film was genuinely compelling. Now, sixty minutes in, not a single person had left.

On the contrary, everyone she could see was engrossed in the movie.

While other aspects were uncertain, keeping the audience captivated was a good sign, wasn't it?

"Look, the killer is the orderly after all!"

In the Long Island theater, the fat man pointed at the screen, where the character had revealed himself. "I guessed right! It's the same old routine."

The others remained silent. Luis Gonzalez thought the fat man might be right. The film had set up great suspense, but it might end in a typical Hollywood fashion, anticlimactic.

The subsequent plot developments, however, left them dumbfounded.

As time ran out, the orderly failed to kill the doctor's wife and daughter and was instead injured by the wife. He fled desperately, with the late-arriving black police officer in pursuit.

Meanwhile, the doctor, hearing his wife's voice and the sound of the orderly's gunfire through his cell phone, finally snapped. His already strained nerves broke completely, like a camel collapsing under the final straw.

He shouted and struggled wildly but couldn't free himself from the shackles on his foot.

The voices continued, regardless of his screams. His voice grew fainter, his face twisted in desperation, and then a hint of determination appeared in his eyes.

Grabbing the saw, he tied his shirt around his leg and bit down on his shoe, staring at the leg with the shackle.

"Oh, my..." Daisy exclaimed, "He's not going to, is he?"

Luis Gonzalez covered his mouth, the fat man next to him held his head, and the black man looked incredulous...

Was he really going to saw off his leg?

Even Kara Faith was captivated. Could a man who had erred really sacrifice himself for his family?

Could that unreliable guy have shot such a reliable scene?

The truth unfolded on the screen. The doctor pulled the saw, and blood gushed like a fountain...

The doctor's agonized screams filled the theater. If that wasn't enough, the sound of the saw grating, blood splattering, and bones being sawed...

These sounds were not loud but were piercing, making it impossible to ignore. Paired with the visuals, they created an extremely oppressive effect.

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