"If it's Halloween, it must be Saw." That's a damn good marketing tag for what has become one of the most profitable horror franchises in history. And if you're looking at pure profit margin, Saw is probably the most profitable in history. On Halloween 2008, Saw V hit theaters to cement the franchise's title-holder standing. The Saw V DVD just landed in stores this week, which makes it an ideal time for a retrospective of the series.

Now, if you haven't seen Saw I, you are doing yourself an immense disservice. Clever, innovative and wildly strategic about how to work around budget issues, the $1.2 million dollar original flick has gone on to gross $55 million in the US and $103 million worldwide.The movie introduced Jigsaw, the killer that doesn't actually kill anyone. Using various traps that would look at home in a steampunk slasher flick (if there were such a combination of awesomeness), Jigsaw custom-designs traps that fit the victims' various personal shortcomings. The traps are escapable, although sometimes, like with great relationships -- you have to leave a part of yourself behind. If you don't figure out the trap, or if you figure it out but have all the toughness of Paris Hilton after a particularly disappointing shopping trip, you die a gruesome death.

The victim-specific traps take Jigsaw way beyond morality-play death dealers like Jason and Michael Myers (i.e., be teenager, have sex, get butchered). To date five-film franchise has gone on to gross $655 million so far. And those numbers are before the Saw V DVD hit stores. That's a lot of scratch, dear reader, but it's even more impressive in light of the fact that the Saw movies average a budget of $7.5 million. So, $35 million to make them all means a gross profit of $620 million dollars.

Quite honestly, you have to watch Saw I twice -- once in normal mode, once with the director's commentary turned on. Listening to how writer-actor Leigh Whannel and writer-director James Wan put this low-budget indie together is mesmerizing, and a fantastic testament to creativity in the filmmaking process. As Robert Rodriguez once said, most movies "turn on the money hose" to get out of a problem -- Whannel and Wan didn't have a money hose, so they had to scramble to put together the best flick they could.

Saw I's surprise success set the theme for the franchise, and that is: Traps, traps and more traps. Let's give you a quick rundown of the highlights:

Saw I, Best Trap: Razorwire Maze
Ugh, what a way to go. Imagine having to crawl through a cage full of razor wire, find a hidden exit, and if you don't make it out, be condemed to die alone in the dark. Want to watch the scene? Check it out on my vidcast HorrorHouse. 

Saw II, Best Trap: Venus Flytrap
Oy, this one is all kinds of rough. How far would you go to survive? As Jigsaw would say, "live or die, make your choice." Aww yeah, HorrorHouse has the whole scene in it's graphic glory.

Saw III, Best Trap: The Rack
This one is just flat-out awful. Seriously. What's wrong with these people who are making these movies? Don't believe me? Click here to watch it.

Saw IV, Best Trap: The Hair Trap
Being bald, I find an amazing amount of jealous, perverse pleasure in watching this trap. For all of you with hair, particularly of the long and silky variety, take a look at this trap and imagine the fun you could have. 

Saw V, Best Trap: Guillotine Necktie
This is badass. If you've seen the move, you may also know of it as "the fatal five." And no, we can't show you this one, you'll have to rent/buy the DVD. Is it worth the price? Totally.

In Decline?
Is the Saw franchise dropping? That's a relative term if you use box office revenue as your measuring stick. Saw III (2006) was the high point, pulling in $33.5 the opening weekend to become the number one movie in America. Saw IV (2007) also opened at number one with a first-weekend pull of $31.7 million. However, it was not well received by audiences (as evidenced by the 54% "rotten" rating at RottenTomatoes.com). That poor word-of-mouth impacted Saw V's opening on Halloween, when it grossed $30 million and failed to overtake High School Musical 3.

True, the series concept is getting a little long in the tooth, and at times its almost a parody of itself, but Saw V puts it back on the map with traps so downright nasty they are disturbing. I admit to watching some of them through my fingers, as I mumbled "there's no way they're going to actually do this" over and over again. And yeah, they did do it.

The Future?
With five movies in the bag and more leftover money than Barak Obama's election fund, you can bank on a Saw VI, VII and at least an VIII. Can they keep it original? Well, no, they stopped being that about three movies ago, but when you order a McDonald's burger you know damn well what you're going to taste -- and if you like that taste, you're more than happy to throw down some change.

New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler writes tales of hard-science horror, then gives them away as free audiobooks at www.scottsigler.com. His new novel, Contagious, hit bookstores on December 30 and is currently available. If you don't agree with what Scott says in this blog, please email him scott@scottsigler.com. Please include all relevant personal information, such as your address and what times you are not home, so Scott can come visit and show you his world famous "Chicken Scissors."