It was going to be a small little horror/slasher flick. Grim, heavily influenced by things like David Fincher's Seven, stylish.

But it wasn't supposed to be huge.

For writer/director James Wan and writer/actor Leigh Whannell, the big success of Saw, sparked by nonstop word-of-mouth and an ingenious marketing campaign, has opened up doors. Doors to new films and new opportunities. Doors to more recognition and more money. And doors to sequels.

It all started with the little film that could.

When creating the first Saw, they never imagined it would be the smash hit it turned out to be. After all, the film was small. Not even with a well-known name like Danny Glover did they imagine it would turn into a full-blown franchise. Wan said snagging the fairly big name actors they managed for the first film wasn't a budget breaker because the shooting schedule was short, and the performers knew they weren't stepping into a Michael Bay film. Like so much horror, it had little budget behind it.

“Everyone went into it knowing it was a low budget film,” Wan said. “No one did it for the money.”

But Saw struck a chord with people and developed a strong cult following. He couldn't have asked for more – not only was it a success, he was able to achieve success doing what he wanted to do. With Wan's first major movie (his first movie overall was a 72-minute Australian film called Stygian), he was able to channel the movies that influenced him in his youth, movies like Poltergeist. “Ever since then, I've been scared,” he said.

In fact, according to Whannell Saw, was built on years of watching films. “I feel like Saw was all the years of film school and all the ideas we had,” he said. A lot of that influence can be seen on screen, if you know where to look. The City of Lost Children, the music videos of Nine Inch Nails and Tool, and other image-oriented works. “Subconsciously, it comes through. We didn't shy away from it.”

That first major journey into filmmaking turned out to be major indeed. The $1.2 million film took in $55 million in the United States alone, making it a very, very profitable film.

And in Hollywood, profitable means one thing: Sequel.

BRING ON MORE SAWS
Whannell and Wan seemed to slyly admit to the crowd at a recent Fangoria convention in Secaucus, New Jersey that, yes, Saw II is something of a cash-in based on the success of the first film. Well, maybe.

“We always planned this sequel,” Whannell smiled. Then he laughed. “That's the George Lucas thing you have to say.”

It seems thanks to the earning power of the first film, one way or another a sequel was going to get made. If that was going to be the case, the screenwriting duo said they might as well make sure it turned out okay by signing on board. “We decided to get involved and be a part of it and make sure it lived up to the first Saw,” Whannell said. “We will put what little reputation we have on the line to say, this film does not suck.”

Not only does it not suck, he said, it goes places the first film could not dream of going as far as graphic depictions of terror and violence are concerned.

“This one makes the first one look like a Disney film. I'm serious,” Whannell said. “On the first one we had to go back to the MPAA like twice to get an R rating. This one is so full blown ... This one took the idea of the first and one and amplifies it ten times.”

That means more, more, more. More story, more gore, more stumps. If sequels are about “more”, Saw II will have more of one very key element: Victims.

“Unlike the first one, this one is really depressing and dark,” Whannell said, prompting laughter from the audience.

Part of the idea, according to Whannell, is to explore the human mind, the human psyche. “What makes someone hate like that much,” he asked, “besides Paris Hilton?”

When Saw II, being directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who also co-wrote the sequel with Whannell (Wan executive produced), hits the theaters on Halloween, you just may get an answer to that question.

The hype leading up to Saw II began with a bang – or maybe with a “chop” - when an early promotional poster depicting severed fingers was pulled off the market. Wan summed up the poster controversy in seven simple words: “I don't think you can show stump.”

(Those who have the original poster, take heart, because you have a collector's item.)

SLICING UP EXPECTATIONS
Fans of the first Saw, especially its shocking ending, should be prepared for a similar ride. Especially that mind-bending finish. “What we have here is (an ending) that is very relevant to the Saw universe,” Wan said.

The pair are confident they will exceed audience expectations. “You're always going to get a lot of people who will think the original was better, but I think a lot of people will be blown away,” Whannell said.

But that's not all for Saw fans, who have one more treat to enjoy this Halloween season. The success of first film, as well as the flexibility of the DVD format, gave Wan the freedom to revisit Saw for a special DVD released October 18, Saw: The Uncut Edition. It's not an extended edition – it actually comes in just shorter than the theatrical cut – but rather a refined, re-edited version of the film.

Wan said he's revisiting the first Saw for one simple reason: he thinks it can be improved. “I wasn't really happy with my initial cut that went to Sundance,” Wan said.

For the re-released DVD, Wan trimmed some stuff out of the film – small moments, not whole scenes – while adding even more key moments he wanted to see on screen. And yes, that includes more gore.

“It's me going in and finishing it off,” Wan said. “It's a lot closer to what we intended ... It kind of shows the film we initially planned it to be.”

So now Saw is a bona fide franchise, as well as a ticket to greater creative freedom. Yet while a horror film may have been their ticket to success, both agree they'd like to venture outside of genre territory. “We really want to explore other things,” Whannell indicated. “We're not fans of just the horror genre.”

But for the here and now, their focus is on Saw II ... and from there?

This is Hollywood. The answer is obvious.

“Oh yes, there will be a Saw III,” Wan laughed. “I think it's pretty inevitable if the second one does well.”