This is the first edited collection addressing the Saw franchise, which to date is the highest grossing horror series of all time. The films are often derided by critics as ""torture porn,"" and as just an excuse to show blood and gore.

This collection of fresh essays by academic authors from Europe, America and Australia addresses the cultural, religious and philosophical themes that run through the films, covering such themes as how the franchise reflects a post-9/11 shift in US popular culture towards increasing pessimism and how it may be read as a metaphor for the subsequent ""war on terror""; how the series explores such issues as freewill and determinism; representations of the body; and a Deleuzian perspective to the franchise.