How Saw X Got The Cops Called On The Movie Editor

It's always a good idea to make friends with your neighbors — especially when your work might lead them to believe you're the Jigsaw killer.

As experienced "Saw" franchise director Kevin Greutert revealed in an interview with NME, one of the torture scenes in "Saw X" was apparently so brutal that it got first assistant editor Steve Forner in trouble with his neighbors and local law enforcement. Appropriately, the scene in question involves the poster trap for "Saw X" — aka, the "eyeball trap."

The continuity-laden "Saw X," set between the first two films, depicts a John Kramer (Tobin Bell) who has recently learned that the progression of his brain cancer has left him with only months left to live. In the film, Kramer (Tobin Bell) catches one of the hospital's custodial staff attempting to rob an unconscious (and seemingly mortally ill) patient. In a moment of impotent rage, he imagines torturing the custodian as Jigsaw, by strapping the man into a machine that will force him to individually break all five fingers on one hand — or be punished by having his eyes sucked out of his head by an industrial vacuum.

It's without question one of the most unforgettable moments of "Saw X," with that single scene delivering a genuinely impactful character beat, some subtle foreshadowing, and the meticulously agonizing violence that fans expect and delight in. Due special recognition for the scene's effectiveness is actor Isan Beomhyun Lee, who gave a grounded and mostly isolated performance as the thieving custodian. His acting was so convincing, in fact, that when Steve Forner was editing this exact scene, his neighbors thought he was torturing someone in his apartment.

While editing audio for the eyeball trap scene, neighbors of Steve Forner — presumably unaware of what he did for a living — became concerned that the "mild-mannered" artist was torturing someone in his home. As a home video camera reportedly captured, LAPD officers responded to the disturbance call and knocked on his door, at which point a startled Forner answered, likely hoping that his excuse of working on a movie wasn't one that real serial killers employ. 

According to Forner, the cops told him that the neighbors had rang them up accusing him of violently torturing a real person. After explaining that he was simply cutting together a scene for a horror film, Forner even invited the officers in to watch the sequence for themselves. The realization was enough to send the cops into a fit of laughter, before they politely declined the invitation and left Forner to his bloody workload. Though Forner was likely at least a bit shaken, the ordeal seems to greatly amuse Greutert, who served as the lead editor on the first "Saw" film back in 2004.

"I can only imagine the look on his face when he realized what was happening," he marveled to NME.

In a morbid sort of way, it's almost impressive that "Saw X" was able to elicit such a strong reaction through its audio alone — though Jigsaw's antics have historically proven to impact audiences in such a way, more than you might expect.

The "Saw" franchise is well known for its exceptionally gratuitous gore, most of which is delivered through excruciatingly drawn-out sequences of torture. By the time the third installment arrived in 2006, there was enough of a risk of genuine injury that The Guardian reported that a British ambulance trust issued an official advisory upon its release. "People need to be aware this film is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted," stated East Anglian Ambulance Trust spokesperson Matthew Ware. "As well as collapses, we have had reports of people running screaming from the cinemas."

"Saw III" features some of the franchise's most gruesome traps, folded tightly into Jeff Denlon's (Angus Macfadyen) game, in which he must save the lives of those responsible for the death of his son and as well as the miscarriage of justice that followed. Notably, many of the traps were designed to be unwinnable by Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), such as the dizzying Angel Trap that executes Detective Allison Kerry (Dina Meyer). Equally disgusting are the Rack, the Freezer Room, and the opening Classroom Trap, all of which could easily send an unsuspecting viewer running for the toilet.

Ware continued, "Every now and then a film comes along that some people find hard to stomach. 'Saw III' appears to have sent film-goers over the edge." Assuming (and hoping) that those individuals reporting distress were not seriously harmed, it's hard to imagine Lionsgate could have paid for better publicity (on a budget of $10 million, "Saw III" grossed $164 million worldwide). And while "Saw X" arguably has more going for it than any previous installment in terms of narrative heft, it's comforting to know it didn't have to sacrifice its headline-making violence in the process.