Chapter 503: Saw, and the Audience’s Confusion

This was an old building where the elevator often malfunctioned, forcing the students living here to take the stairs frequently.

Most of the residents were either children of middle-class families or foreign exchange students struggling financially.

"Harvey, buddy, I'm back!"

The elevator was out of order again. Luis climbed up to the eighth floor, pushed open the door, and entered the apartment he shared with his fellow countryman, Harvey.

Both Luis and Harvey were from Mexico, studying in the United States. Their families had some money, but not enough to be considered wealthy. In a place like Mexico, the truly rich were either drug lords or high-ranking officials.

Life in the U.S. was much better than in Mexico, but the cost of living was also significantly higher.

So, the two Mexican students decided to rent an apartment together at Hedrick Summit.

After returning home, Luis called out toward Harvey's bedroom, then put down his backpack, changed into comfortable slippers, and plopped onto the large sofa in the living room, leaning back into the thick cotton cushions.

Top universities in the U.S. were known for being "easy to get into, hard to get out of," with an intense academic workload. The exhaustion from a full day of studying left Luis looking drained.

It took him a while to sit up straight, but he still felt irritable.

America was far from a paradise!

He muttered to himself, pulling his laptop from his backpack, ready to surf the web for a bit.

Going online and watching movies were his best ways to unwind. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to endure this place, filled with discrimination and pressure.

Luis loved horror movies—the thrill of fear was the best way to relieve stress.

His roommate, Harvey, had originally been a timid guy, but Luis had influenced him.

The two of them even joined a horror movie enthusiast group at their university called "Bloody Night."

As usual, Luis logged into the "Bloody Night" forum on Yahoo. The forum was a gathering place for horror movie fans, with about 150 members, most of whom were UCLA students.

"Just watched Ju-On today. Not bad! No gore, just classic Eastern psychological horror."

"I saw it too, not my thing. I prefer Scream-style horror. Speaking of which, when is Scream 4 coming out?"

"Scream is great, but The Exorcist is the real classic. That little girl scared the hell out of me."

"I heard Lionsgate is working on a new gory horror film, but I checked their website and found nothing. Anyone know anything?"

"No clue!"

"Never heard of it."

At that moment, a post caught Luis's attention—it was from his roommate, Harvey.

"I just saw a preview screening of a movie. It was fucking incredible! I swear, it's the best horror film I've ever seen—better than The Exorcist, Scream, everything!"

No wonder Harvey hadn't responded earlier—he had gone to watch a movie by himself.

"Seriously?"

"Is it that good?"

"Is it a gorefest?"

"I swear to God, I'm not exaggerating. The gore level is moderate, but it scared the hell out of me!"

"You're too soft. If a horror movie doesn't have buckets of blood, it won't scare me."

"Oh yeah? Let's see if you still say that after watching this one."

"What's the title?" Someone finally asked the key question.

"Saw. A film by Meyers Pictures."

"Whoa, a Meyers Pictures film? I need to check it out. Is Martin in it?"

"No, the director and actors are all unknowns. But trust me, the movie is absolutely worth it—I swear!"

This was the third time Harvey had sworn by this film. Luis had never seen him so hyped about a movie before, which piqued his interest.

Saw, huh?

He made a mental note of the title.

The next day was the weekend.

Luis headed out to watch the movie.

He was joined by a few other horror movie enthusiasts from the "Bloody Night" club.

Harvey was among them—he was eager to watch it again.

Seeing Harvey's excitement only made Luis anticipate the movie even more.

...

An hour later, Luis, Harvey, and four others were seated in the theater.

The cinema had a solid turnout, with an occupancy rate of over 60%. If most theaters showing Saw had similar numbers, this low-budget B-movie was bound to be a hit!

Horror movie screenings rarely attracted solo viewers—most came in small groups. Many people were chatting, wondering what made the film's ending so unexpected. What was so shocking about it?

Soon, the movie began.

In a pitch-black room, Adam awoke in a bathtub filled with water, gasping for breath.

Moments later, he cried out in panic, "Help! Somebody help me!"

"Is anyone there?"

He fumbled through the darkness, calling out, but got no response. The surroundings were pitch black.

"Shit… am I dead?" he muttered.

Then, suddenly, another voice echoed from the darkness, startling both Adam and the audience in the theater.

"You're not dead."

"Who's there?" Adam called, moving toward the voice.

"Turn on the lights!" the person said.

"Damn it, I'd love to!" Adam replied. "What the hell is this place?"

"I don't know," the unseen voice responded.

"What's that smell?" Adam sniffed the air.

"I don't know."

Just then, the lights flickered on.

Blinded by the sudden brightness, Adam squeezed his eyes shut. After a few moments, he adjusted and finally saw the person who had been speaking.

It was a middle-aged white man with blond hair, wearing a blue dress shirt. He had a few scratches on his face and looked around in terror.

Then, the man saw Adam.

Adam started walking toward him.

The camera suddenly panned downward, revealing a bloodied corpse in the middle of the room, as if shot in the head.

The body clutched a revolver in one hand and a cassette recorder in the other, appearing to have committed suicide.

"Shit!" Adam cursed in horror.

The middle-aged man stood up and approached the corpse.

At that moment, both Adam and the man heard a metallic clatter.

They looked down and realized that one of their legs was chained to the pipes.

Adam turned away and vomited.

As the film reached this point, the audience began whispering among themselves:

"This isn't that scary so far."

"Yeah, I feel like we've been tricked."

"Let's keep watching."

The movie continued with Adam and the middle-aged man introducing themselves. The man's name was Dr. Lawrence Gordon.

Neither of them knew why they were there, who had imprisoned them, or who the corpse in the middle of the room was.