| ◄ | Pig Vat | The Rack | Jeff's Final Test | ► |
| “ | Here's your chance. | ” |
— Jeff is introduced to his third test[src]
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The Rack is a trap from the Saw franchise, appearing in Saw III.
Design and Function[]
This trap was the third one in a series of tests. The Rack was a rather large trap, resembling a metal crucifix placed on a small pedestal. At the top as well as the end of the arm segments were movable, cylindrical contraptions, each one connected to a gear system. While the head of the victim was easily trapped in the top contraption without any further measures, the hands, which were trapped in the other contraptions, had to be bolted on two small metal plates, to prevent the victim from pulling their arms out. Similar contraptions were placed on the pedestal to the left and the right of the victim and just like the other contraptions, they both had a gear system. However, these contraptions had no cylindrical form, but rather just consisted of the small metal plates to which the victim's feet were bolted. Additionally, the victim's arms and legs were strapped to the crucifix. Once the game began, the gear systems were activated one at a time. Thereby, the respective contraptions began to turn and slowly twisted the victim's limbs, first the right arm, then the left one, then the right leg, then the left leg and finally the head, causing their bones to break. To survive, the test subject had to rely on the help of a second person. The key to deactivate the trap hung from a wire in front of the barrel of a shotgun located in an enlarged glass box. This wire was connected to the shotgun's trigger. The second person had to take the key. However, once it was removed, the shotgun would fire a shot at whoever stood in front of it. (Saw III)
History[]
Planning[]
Between March 2004 and October 2005, John Kramer started conceiving the idea for The Rack by the time he visited Mexico in hopes of getting his cancer cured by The Pederson Project's experimental therapy, drawing conceptual sketches for the trap in his sketchbook. After being seemingly cured by Cecilia Pederson and her team, John sat at a Mexico City park and opened his book at the page of his sketches for The Rack, and believing he had been cured of his sickness, ripped off the page and threw it on a trashcan. However, John ultimately realized that The Pederson Project was nothing but a fraude whose therapies were fake, thus leading him to abandon his plans to retire from being Jigsaw and resume his work. (Saw X)
Preparation[]
Hoffman sets up the trap
The persons tested in this trap were Jeff Denlon, a vengeful father who suffered from severe depressions after the death of his 8-year-old son, Dylan, in a car accident three years ago, and Timothy Young, the drunk driver responsible for the accident. After subduing and abducting the latter, John's apprentice, Detective Mark Hoffman, took him to the abandoned Gideon Meatpacking Plant at 11235 Blake Drive. Mark placed Timothy's unconscious body in a wheelbarrow and took him to the room where the trap was located. Noticing the traps mechanism, he decided to tweak it by replacing one of the gears. Moments later, Amanda Young, John's second apprentice, entered the room along with John, who sat in a wheelchair. When John saw that Hoffman switched the trap's gear ratio, he told him that he'd have to change the gear grease to match the increased friction and berated him for making these changes without asking him first, stating that he would do so next time. When Hoffman asked him how many next times there were going to be, John merely answered that their work would go on as long as necessary. Hoffman then recklessly dumped Timothy out of the wheelbarrow and was therefore berated by John for his brutal behavior, who reminded him that Timothy was still a human being after all. When he asked Hoffman if he liked this kind of brutality, Hoffman responded that John wanted to see Timothy suffer just as much as he did.
Hoffman talks to John
This resulted in a short argument between Hoffman and Amanda who asked him when he was going to get tested on his own. Hoffman responded that this was unnecessary as he claimed he had always appreciated his life unlike her and showed her the scars she had inflicted on herself. Amanda mocked him, telling him he should get used to her as he wouldn't get rid of her anymore to which he responded that she shouldn't be so sure about it. When John interrupted them by saying it was time to go on, Amanda took him to his room and left Hoffman alone. As he was finally done with his work on the trap, he took Timothy's sweater off of him, placed him in the trap and hung a tape recorder, which contained the instructions for Jeff, around his neck. Then, he set up a long glass box which contained a shotgun, which aimed at whoever stood in front of it, and connected the key to Timothy's trap to a mechanism which would pull the shotgun's trigger once the key was removed. After finishing his preparations at the Gideon Plant, Hoffman left the building to go after Jeff Denlon, who would have to face a series of tests in order to overcome his obsession with vengeance on the people he deemed responsible for his depressions and his son's demise. (Saw III, VI)
Jeff Denlon's Test[]
| “ | Hello Jeff. If you are listening to this, that means that the confrontation you so long dreamed of is finally unfolding. In your head he is a cipher, a symbol of your life changing, a symbol of death. I present him to you now as a simple human being. His name is Timothy Young, he's 27 years old, a medical student with a mother and a father just like you. A man whose life also changed on the day your son died. That day he made a terrible mistake. You believed he didn't pay for that mistake, and now is your chance to make him pay. The device Timothy is strapped to is my personal favorite. I call it "The Rack." The human body is a miraculous creation. Ever wonder how far the arm can twist? This device is going to start twisting. There is a chance he might live though, with your help. To your right is a box. At the back of the box is a key. It's tied to the trigger of a shotgun. The question you have to ask yourself is this: are you willing to take a bullet for the man who killed your son? Does "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" apply here, Jeff? Make your choice. | ” |
— Jeff Denlon's tape[src]
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Timothy in his trap
At the same time, Jeff Denlon was held hostage at the plant as well and was forced by Jigsaw to play his game to escape the building and thereby overcome his vengefulness. While making his way through the building, he and Judge Halden, whom he had saved from another trap earlier, reached the door to Jeff's third test with the words "Here's your chance" written on it in big red letters. In front of it was a small box standing on a barrel. Inside the box was the next message saying "One step closer to your revenge." Glued to its back was a photo snippet, showing Jeff's daughter, Corbett. Besides this, there was an empty gun magazine. As he had found a single bullet after finishing his first test in a freezer, Jeff immediately inserted it into the magazine, when Judge Halden condoled with him over the loss of his son. However, he also claimed that even a death sentence for Timothy wouldn't have eased his suffering and tried to convince him that vengeance would only make it worth. Nonetheless Jeff was eager to continue and kicked the door open, which caused the lights inside the next room to turn on. Aroused by the noise, Timothy Young, who was still strapped to the "Rack", began to panic and screamed for help. As Jeff approached, he finally recognized him as the murderer of his son. Timothy told him to do something, but Jeff remained calm and instead started the tape recorder hanging from a wire around Timothy's neck.
Jeff plays the tape
The tape left by Jigsaw told introduced him to Timothy, stating that he was a 27-year-old medical student who once had a normal life just like Jeff until the car accident three years earlier. Now Jeff was finally given the opportunity to take revenge on the murderer of his child. Jigsaw explained that the device to which Timothy was strapped would start to twist his limbs as soon as the game began. Again, he also gave Jeff the chance to forgive Timothy. To the right of him was an elongated glass box which contained a shotgun. Connected to its trigger by a wire, the key to the trap was hanging in front of the barrel and would cause it to fire a shot once the key was removed.
Timothy's head is twisted backwards
As the tape ended, the entrance door of the room slammed shut and the large contraption began to slowly twist Timothy's right arm counter clockwise. While Halden immediately grabbed a metal pipe from the floor and unsuccessfully tried to smash the glass box, Jeff merely stood before Timothy and watched his suffering. However, to his own surprise he soon averted his gaze in disgust and had to literally force himself to watch. Even though he was seemingly angered that this confrontation with Timothy didn't satisfy him as he always imagined, he continued to watch. Shocked by this, Halden approached him and told him to do something, but Jeff angrily pushed him away. At this point, Timothy's arm was completely twisted and as he begged Jeff for mercy, the trap started to twist his other arm as well. Halden tried to stop the device by brute force and yelled at Jeff, claiming that he would be a murderer as well if he didn't help Timothy. To the latter's horror, Jeff casually responded that he might be a murderer and had desired to kill him everyday for the past three years. However, when Timothy's arm broke and Halden reminded him of his wife and daughter, Jeff came to his senses. As the trap began to twist Timothy's right leg, Jeff went to the box and carefully removed the key from the wire, while the trap continued its grisly work. He managed to get the key just when the device had finished twisting its victim's second leg. However, unnoticed by him, Halden accidentally came into the firing line and was shot in the head by the shotgun when Jeff let go of the wire. Initially shocked by Halden's death, Jeff ran to the trap as it began to twist Timothy's head. However when he couldn't find the lock, he dropped the key and mounted the contraption, screaming that it should stop as he forgave Timothy. However, Timothy's neck was broken nonetheless as his head was twisted backwards. Shocked by the gruesome eyesight, Jeff stepped back, put off his jacket and knelt down before his corpse. (Saw III)
Aftermath[]
Less than two hours later, the meatpacking plant was found and raided by the Metropolitan Police Department. As the police secured and searched the entire building, they discovered the many corpses of Jigsaw's victims, including Timothy. All of them were sent to the morgue for their obduction by Dr. Adam Heffner and the Rack was sent to the evidence room. (Saw V, VI, 3D)
Trivia[]
- Originally, Timothy was supposed to be strapped down to a table that would fold on its hinges, bend his body with it and ultimately break his back. It was later remodeled into the shape of a cross, but still had the same function. However, this was changed as well when the creators of Saw III decided that they wanted a trap that would twist Timothy's limbs and head, resulting in the final version of the trap seen in the films.
- The Backbreaker in Saw: The Video Game was based on the original concept of the Rack.
- The trap's name is based off a real torture device that would stretch a persons body until their skin ripped in half.
- In the trap's tape for Jeff, Jigsaw mentions that the Rack is his personal favorite of all of his traps.
- This trap can be seen in the police station's evidence room in Saw 3D, when Hoffman is looking for Jill Tuck.