AHS: NYC Episode 7 Has Fans Making Callbacks To The Iconic SAW Franchise
"American Horror Story" has always been one show to wear its horror influences on its sleeve. Whether it's borrowing the summer camp vibes of "Friday the 13th" for "American Horror Story: 1984," or including references to Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" in "American Horror Story: Hotel," pretty much any major horror property you can think of gets at least a nod or a wink somewhere in the anthology. "American Horror Story: NYC" watchers have even found themselves comparing Big Daddy to Michael Myers, though it doesn't seem like "Halloween" is the only spooky franchise that the Big Apple-focused season of the horror anthology makes a callback to.
A certain scene from "American Horror Story: NYC" Episode 7 instantly reminded fans of the "SAW" movies, most of which follow a group of captives as they attempt to escape death traps laid by the enigmatic killer Jigsaw. When looking at the particular scene, it's not hard to see why viewers might see shades of the classic franchises. Hint: someone's body parts are coming off in order to survive.
Henry's ordeal is ripped straight from the first SAW
In Episode 7 of "American Horror Story: NYC," Denis O'Hare's character of Henry is in a pretty tough bind. Having been captured and tortured by the Mai Tai Killer, he's already lost an ear. As such, the hitman decides that losing one more body part is a small price to pay for freedom. Thus, he saws off his own hand to escape his handcuffs and frees fellow captive Patrick (Russell Tovey), who shoots the killer dead.
It didn't take long for several fans to note that Henry's sacrifice is ripped right out of the first "SAW" movie, in which Cary Elwes' character of Dr. Gordon saws his own foot off to escape captivity. "#AHSNYC has gone full Saw," @FearthePhenom tweeted. "And I kind of love it." However, some noted that unlike the "SAW" protagonists, Henry pretty much goes straight down the amputation route before exploring other possibilities. "Henry didn't even try to use the saw on the cuffs," @thedeans_list tweeted.
Diehard "American Horror Story" fans may be surprised to learn that this apparent "SAW" reference isn't the first of its kind — in fact, there's technically a reference to the sadistic films in just about every episode of Ryan Murphy's horror anthology. Charlie Clouser, the theme composer for "American Horror Story," has actually also scored every "SAW" movie, including the original (via KPCC). Looks like these two popular horror properties are cut (or sawed, if you will) from the same cloth.