They came, they ‘Saw,’ they keep returning

How big a swath of fear does the arrival of another “Saw” sequel cut in the movie industry?

Big enough to make Rob Zombie nervous about releasing his recent “Halloween” remake anywhere near Oct. 31. The studio opted instead for the “Saw”-free zone of August.

Just as Will Smith once owned the Fourth of July with films such as “Men in Black” and “Independence Day,” the “Saw” franchise has a stranglehold on the year’s most frightening weekend.

Today, for the fourth October in a row, comes another grungy plunge into gore-splattered torture games. Or as the trailer for “Saw IV” boldly states: “If it’s Halloween, it must be ‘Saw.’ “

Back in 2004, when the original “Saw” was born, a major debate ensued over the wisdom of opening a horror film on that date.

“There was a question of whether its target audience would rather be out partying,” recalls Tom Ortenberg, president of Lionsgate Films.

Now, he says, “Halloween and ‘Saw’ are synonymous.”

After “Saw III” grossed $34 million during its first weekend – more than tripling what it cost to make, and out-earning its predecessors – its makers began thinking of a No. 4.

Now, a fifth already is in the works even before the new film has reached theaters, and a sixth is in the air.

“As long as we can come up with good screenplays, we won’t miss a Halloween,” vows producer Mark Burg.

The storyline revolves around a terminally ill vigilante called Jigsaw, who kidnaps people he believes have squandered their lives and subjects them to gruesome tests to determine whether they deserve to live.

“It (strikes) fear in your heart with what could be a real-life situation,” Koules says. “Not just someone chopping off limbs or zombies attacking. The premise creates a situation where you think, ‘What if that were me?’ “

To some critics, it felt a little too real. The series, along with other graphic ratings-busters like “Hostel” (also released by Lionsgate), has been vilified by some for glorifying sadistic violence as a form of entertainment.

The shrunken grosses for “Hostel: Part II” ($17.5 million) also suggested that the public might be tiring of so-called “torture porn.”

Yet “Saw “keeps buzzing right along.

“The ‘Saw’ films have built up enough of a following that they’ll always be profitable as long as the budget remains modest,” says Dave Alexander, managing editor of horror magazine Rue Morgue.

Still, he notes, the series’ creators may soon find it increasingly difficult to invent new cruel and unusual contraptions to mangle and deface human bodies. No. 4 resorts to a scalping machine, which hardly tops No. 3’s attempted drowning in a vat of putrefied pig flesh.

As Alexander puts it, “Seriously, what’s next? Woodchipper pants?”

Another dilemma: How many ways can be found to justify star Tobin Bell and his now-deceased Jigsaw character being part of future films?

“If there were one thing we would do over again, we would not have created a lead character who was dying of terminal cancer,” Burg says.

Ortenberg will say only that “Tobin will always be an important asset.”

But it might not be the death of the series if Jigsaw retires.

“The franchise would suffer without Bell’s reptilian performance,” says Alexander. “But it’s not like the studio would stop making the ‘Saw’ films if he refuses to appear in them.

“The real draw are the traps, with Jigsaw as the ringmaster. And if the show must go on, another demented sadist could surely be found to break some bones.”