Limbs Pile Up, and Money, Too

Plausibility, of all things, is what hooked — or, more fittingly, impaled — Andrew Neeb, a 24-year-old baker who lives with his parents in Riddlewood, Pa. “Unlike the stuff you see in other horror films, things that happen in ‘Saw’ actually seem possible,” he said.

What draws him back to the movies for repeat viewings is the puzzle logic. “Every film is an interlocking Jigsaw piece,” said Mr. Neeb, who collects “Saw” memorabilia.

The series maintains a continuity of sorts by referring back to characters and scenes from earlier installations, which makes die-hards feel as if they’re part of a community and in on the joke. “For me the fun is less ‘What’s going to happen next?’ than ‘How will all the various plot strands tie together?’ ” Mr. Neeb said.

For all its gruesome gamesmanship “Saw” is one horror movie with practical applications. Inspired by a nasty bit of “Saw II” sadism involving a scalpel, a death mask and a key implanted behind a victim’s eye, Mr. Neeb now scores baguette dough with a surgical knife.

Four years ago the producers of “Saw” were on the verge of scoring far bigger dough. “Saw II” was a smash, and Lionsgate was dangling more than $120 million for the package.

“We decided that we didn’t want to get out,” Mr. Koules said. “We really enjoyed making ‘Saw,’ and we had a lot of stories to tell.” Last year Mr. Koules, a onetime minor league hockey player, used some of his ever-mounting profits to buy a piece of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League.

How long can this cruel locomotive of pain stay on track? “I’m sure someday the audience is going to tell us we’re done,” Mr. Koules said. “But our sequels could do half the business and still be big moneymakers.” “Saw VII,” coming to theaters next October, will be in 3-D. Its follow-up has already been storyboarded.

If there’s any justice in the world, “Saw” will die a slow death. For its fans, anything less would be sheer torture.

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