Angel Trap

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Classroom Trap

Angel Trap

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Angel Trap
Information
Appearances	Saw III, IV, Jigsaw
Victims	Allison Kerry (executed)
Created by	Amanda Young John Kramer Mark Hoffman Eleanor Bonneville (replica)

“	Up until now, you have spent your life among the dead, piecing together their final moments. You're good at this because you, like them, are also dead. Dead... on the inside.	”
	— Jigsaw's tape for Allison Kerry

The Angel Trap is a trap from the Saw franchise, appearing in Saw III.

Design and Function

The victim of this trap had a leather harness, which was secured by a padlock, put on his or her body and was suspended slightly above the floor by two chains. Attached to the victim's back was a heavy metal device with two mechanic arms, which, in their initial position, looked like two fold up wings. Additionally, twelve c-shaped metal brackets were laid tightly around the victim's chest, with six brackets on each side of the body. These brackets were hooked into the victim's ribcage and were connected with the contraption on the victim's back by several wires. In order to escape the trap, the test subject had to grab the key for the harness' padlock, which laid in an acid filled glass jar, which was suspended from the ceiling by two chains directly in front of the victim. Otherwise, the trap would be activated after 60 seconds. If this happened, the contraption on the victim's back would spread out its mechanic arms like wings and thereby brutally rip out the brackets hooked into the chest of the test subject, killing the person in the process. (Saw III)

History

Allison Kerry's Execution

“	Hello, Kerry. I want to play a game. Up until now, you have spent your life among the dead, piecing together their final moments. You're good at this because you, like them, are also dead. Dead... on the inside. You identify more with a cold corpse than you do with a living human. I believe you want to join your true family, indeed your only family, in death. The device you are wearing is hooked into your ribcage, and by the time this tape is finished, you will have one minute to find a way out. At the end of that minute... you should know better than anyone what happens then. There is a simple key that will unlock the harness, Kerry. It is right in front of you. All you have to do is reach in and take it. But do it quickly. The acid will dissolve the key in a matter of seconds... Make your choice.	”
	— Allison Kerry's tape

The victim of this trap was Detective Allison Kerry, a detective working on the case of John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer. She was eventually targeted by him herself as she was so obsessed with her work, which primarily involved investigating the fates of dead people, that she neglected the living people around her and eventually even lost contact to her family. However, as John was severely weakened and bedridden due to an inoperable brain tumor and therefore ordered his apprentices, Amanda Young and Detective Mark Hoffman, to set up the game to test Kerry's will to survive. After abducting her in her own apartment, they took her to an underground location where they put her in the trap. Additionally, Hoffman clamped a bullet shell between Kerry's body and the device, which would later be found by his colleagues. Amanda however had started to doubt the methods of her mentor and therefore manipulated the trap, thereby giving Kerry no chance to survive. (Saw III, IV)

Kerry grabs the key

When Kerry eventually woke up, she immediately realized what had happened to her and started to panic. Moments later, a TV turned on in front of her. A video tape, showing Jigsaw's mechanical ventriloquist puppet, told her why she was trapped and instructed her that she had to grab the key to the device from the acid-filled beaker in front of her. Otherwise, the trap would kill her after 60 seconds. When the tape ended and the TV turned off, Kerry further panicked and tried to tip the acid out of the beaker. However this wasn't possible as it was held in place by the two chains holding it. After some hesitation, she finally tried to get the key but pulled her hand back due to the massive amount of pain. However she could bring herself to try it once again and eventually got the key from the glass and opened the lock of her device. Unfortunately, the lock was without function, destroying her hope to survive. Mere seconds before the timer of the trap expired, Amanda entered the room. Kerry recognized her and realized it was her who had manipulated the trap. Moments later, her timer went off, causing the trap to tear her ribcage apart. (Saw III)

Aftermath

Kerry's corpse

Four days later, Detective Hoffman, accompanied by a SWAT team led by Lieutenant Daniel Rigg and Officer Lamanna, found her corpse. Despite Hoffman telling Rigg to stand back, the latter panicked and ran straight to her as he hoped she was still alive. However his hopes were in vain. Shortly afterwards the crime scene was investigated by a forensic team joined by Detective Fisk, when FBI agents Peter Strahm and Lindsey Perez arrived. They told Hoffman about a key and a message supposedly sent to them by Kerry and revealed that she had been her contact person. When they took a look at the corpse, Fisk found the bullet shell clamped between the device and the body which Hoffman ordered to be examined for fingerprints. When Agent Perez found the open lock of the trap, she quickly came to the conclusion that this wasn't a Jigsaw trap. However when Hoffman said it was probably a trap by Amanda Young, Agent Strahm negated this as Kerry weighed approximately 130 pounds while Amanda Young weighed only 107 pounds according to her arrest report and therefore couldn't have placed Kerry in the trap on her own, leading to the conclusion that a third yet unknown person assisted her and John Kramer. Kerry's body was then taken to the morgue and examined by Dr. Adam Heffner, while the trap itself, the acid jar and the video tape were taken to the evidence room. (Saw IV, VI)

Replica

Eventually, the Jigsaw murders came to an end. However, Jigsaw had a lot of admirers who praised him for his philosophy. One particularly passionate admirer of his work was Eleanor Bonneville, a pathologist working for the Metropolitan Police Department. At one point, she bought a building which she used as a studio and a storage for several replicas of Jigsaw's traps that she built on her own with materials she bought from the internet. Among these replicas was also one of the Angel Trap.

The Angel Trap's replica

Ten years after the murder series had come to an end, new victims turned up all around the city. Eventually, Eleanor and her mentor, Dr. Logan Nelson, were both suspected to be responsible for the killings by Detective Halloran, who investigated the case. Therefore, he ordered Detective Keith Hunt to follow and observe the two of them. Eventually, Eleanor showed her studio to Logan, who was apparently shocked and told her to get rid of the replicas as soon as possible. Unnoticed by them, Keith took numerous photos of the studio and showed them to Halloran.

Shortly afterwards, Halloran ordered a raid on Eleanor's studio. When he arrived there, accompanied by Keith and a SWAT team, the replicas were secured and sent to the evidence room. (Jigsaw)

Trivia

• Originally, producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules had discussed to place Kerry in a trap that would pull her arms and legs in four different directions but decided against it as the Angel Trap was deemed more elegant. However, the original idea was later used for the Bedroom Trap in Saw IV.
• The function of this trap is similar to the blood eagle, a method of ancient Nordic execution. In this method, the victim's ribs were severed from the vertebral column with a sharp implement and the lungs were pulled through the opening to create a pair of “wings”.