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Will you grant this man the opportunity to continue living or will you dispense the same death sentence he issued your husband?
— John's ultimatum for Tara[src]

The Acid Room is a trap, as well as a fictional location, from the Saw franchise. It was an important location in Saw VI.

Design and Function[]

This trap was the last one in a series of tests. It was located in a room of the abandoned Rowan Zoological Institute. This room was divided into three segments. While the central part of the room was the entrance area, the left and right part of the room were formerly used as animal enclosures and were separated from the middle segment by metal grids. In both of these enclosures was a large tank filled with hydrofluoric acid. The tank in the left room was connected to several sprinklers at the ceiling. To survive, the victim trapped in this room had to rely on the help of another test subject, who had to reach the enclosures within 60 minutes. Otherwise, the victim would be killed by the acid coming from the sprinklers.

The tank in the second enclosure was connected to a contraption in the middle room by several tubes. This contraption, which was mounted to the ceiling, was in fact a large, heavy metal grid with long, pointy needles attached to it. Additionally, there was a panel with a lever in the enclosure, with the words "Live" written above and "Die" below it. Right in front of the cage was a pressure plate on the floor, which supplied the panel with power. If the lever was set to "Live", all participants in the game would survive. However, if it was set to "Die", the contraption in the center of the room would swing down and pierce the body of the victim trapped in this area with the needles. Afterwards, the victim would be injected with the acid and dissolved from the inside. Furthermore, the lever was linked to another trap in an observing room located above the enclosures. If it was set to "Die", this trap's 60-second-timer would be activated. (Saw VI)

History[]

William Easton's Trial[]

The persons tested in this trap were William Easton, a manager of the Umbrella Health insurance company, who had caused the death of numerous seriously sick people by denying the coverage of their treatment costs for spurious reasons, as well as Pamela Jenkins, a sensational reporter and William's sister, and Tara and Brent Abbott, widow and son of Harold Abbott, one of William's clients who succumbed to a heart disease after William had refused to bear his treatment costs. One day, all of them were abducted and taken to the Rowan Zoological Institute by Detective Mark Hoffman, the successor of the late John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer. They had been chosen for the game as John Kramer himself was in fact one of William's former clients. At the zoo, Hoffman trapped Pamela Jenkins in the first enclosure and Tara and Brent Abbott in the other one.

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Brent and Tara watch William's game

Shortly afterwards, Brent woke up. When he realized that they had been abducted, he immediately panicked and tried to shake awake his mother, who lay on the floor unconscious. Initially confused, she asked him where they were. Brent couldn't answer her question, but instead told her to take a look at a TV standing outside the enclosure. After managing to compose herself, she was shocked when she saw two men on the screen, who were both trapped in two large, vice-like contraptions. One of them was William Easton. The other one was Hank, the janitor of Umbrella Health. Both of them had to participate in a brutal game, while being watched by Brent and Tara. In the end, William managed to survive and was therefore released from his trap, while Hank died when the giant vice crushed his chest.

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Tara realizes the reason for her and Brent's abduction

After witnessing these gruesome events, Tara started to panic and desperately screamed for help. Meanwhile, Brent was distressed when he noticed the panel with the lever and the words "Live" and "Die" written on it. Furthermore, there was a large tank with the formula "HF" written on it. Thereby, Brent realized that it contained hydrofluoric acid, which could dissolve human flesh in a matter of seconds. He also saw that the tank was connected to a device, which in return seemed to be connected to some sprinklers above their heads. When Tara asked him what to do, he immediately wanted to set the lever to "Live", but Tara held him back when she saw a digital timer on a wall, concluding that the lever and the timer had something to do with each other. While thinking about a way out, Brent stated that he didn't know why they were even there. Tara, however, was sure that they had been chosen because of Harold's death and their connection to William Easton.

As the timer went on, Tara and Brent were able to observe another game on the TV screen, which resulted in the death of Allen, William's file clerk. While Tara saw the leaking acid dropping from the tank, she figured that they might be able to use the acid to dissolve the metal grid surrounding them. Brent, however, immediately reminded her that they had nothing to divert or transport the acid without harming themselves. Moments later, she suddenly noticed how Brent suspiciously looked at a big mirror on the wall outside the enclosure. When she asked him what he was looking at, he told her that someone was watching them from behind the glass. Realizing they were observed the entire time, Tara frantically yelled at the mirror and demanded to know why their abductor did this to them.

Hello, Pamela. You've sensationalized my life, twisting the truth and exploiting my message for your own benefit. Well, today you will experience the meaning of sacrifice and you will see the consequence for those who unjustly hurt others.
— Pamela Jenkins' tape[src]
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Pamela in her enclosure

Meanwhile, Pamela woke up in the other enclosure. She immediately started to cry and panicked, desperately screaming for help. Upon looking around in her cell, she saw some sort of acid dropping from the sprinklers above her and realized that they were connected to another tank filled with acid, similar to the one in Brent and Tara's enclosure. Seconds later, Pamela noticed a tape recorder placed on the same plate as the tank. Upon starting the tape, which had been recorded by John Kramer before his death, she finally realized that she had been abducted by his successor because she sensationalized the story about Jigsaw and his crimes for the sake of gaining fame and recognition.

Soon after her initial shock, Pamela managed to calm down a bit and listened to the tape again. However, it only filled her with rage, eventually causing her to angrily throw it away and thereby destroying it. After doing so, she noticed a sign with the words "See it work" written on it. Below it was a button connected to a TV placed outside her cage. With the button, she was able to switch between the surveillance cameras placed all around the zoo, enabling her to observe the progress of her brother, William. Upon switching further, Pamela stopped when the screen showed her an enclosure similar to hers, where Brent and Tara were trapped just like her.

After a while, Tara managed to calm down again as well. When she asked why someone would do this, Brent concluded that whoever abducted them did it to see which decision they'd make and immediately grabbed the lever. Tara, however, tried to convince him once again not to pull the lever, as it was too risky for them to do it without knowing what it might cause. Brent initially hesitated, but ultimately let go of the lever, while screaming in anger.

PamelaTrapped

Pamela observes the Abbotts

However, when there were only two minutes left on the timer, Brent became more and more nervous. Therefore, he grabbed the lever once again and told his mother to go away from the sprinklers as far as possible. Tara reminded him that they didn't know what would happen if he pulled the lever, but Brent told her that they finally had to make a decision as they didn't have much time left. Therefore, Tara finally gave in and told her son to pull the lever. She also told him that she loved him, to which he responded that he loved her as well. Tara then went into a corner of the enclosure. Worried by what might happen next, Pamela, who observed the events, backed into the corner of her own enclosure and covered her head with her hands, as she expected that the lever would activate the acid sprinklers in her cell. However, when Brent pulled the lever and nothing happened, Pamela calmed down again. Brent began to scream in anger and despair, before he sat down and started to cry. At this moment, Tara approached him and calmly stroked his head. After that, she set the lever back to its original position, stating that she finally knew what it was for. (Saw VI)

Tara Abbott's Test[]

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William is injected with Hydrofluoric Acid

Shortly afterwards, William eventually reached the last room of his game, with only one second left on the timer. Thinking he had won, he yelled in triumph, when suddenly, the two enclosures to his left and his right were opened. Thereby, he was shocked to see Brent and Tara in one of them. However, one moment later he noticed his sister, who was trapped in the second enclosure. Upon seeing her, he immediately went to her cage and asked her if she was okay, which she affirmed. William angrily yelled that their abductor should let her go as he had followed his rules and finished his test. Meanwhile, Tara and Brent glared at him in hate and disgust.

Hello, Tara. My apologies for exposing you and your son to this kind of treatment, but I can assure you it is not without reason. The man before you just made the sacrifices to save the life of a loved one. However, when given the opportunity to save your husband's life, he chose not to. Now you'll be given the power to save a life. Will you grant this man the opportunity to continue living or will you dispense the same death sentence he issued your husband? Live or Die. The choice is yours.
— Tara Abbott's tape[src]
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William's flesh slowly eaten from the inside out, killing him

Moments later, the TV outside their enclosure turned on, showing a video of John Kramer. He told Tara about the sacrifices William had made to save his sister, but also reminded her that he had been responsible for the death of her husband. Therefore, it was now up to her to decide whether William should live or die. Shocked by this, William approached her cell and thereby stepped on the pressure plate on the ground, which activated the panel with the lever. William and Pamela desperately begged Tara for mercy and tried to convince her to forgive William, but due to her anger, Tara still wanted to kill him, claiming that it wasn't because of what William had done to her, but because she didn't want him to do it to anyone else ever again. However, in the end, she couldn't bring herself to pull the lever. Therefore, Brent grabbed the lever and, despite the protests of his mother, pulled it down. Moments later, a large metal constructions with needles attached to it swung down from the ceiling and pressed William against the grid of the enclosure. Then, the hydrofluoric acid was pumped through the tubes connected to the nail bed and was thereby injected into William's body. While William was slowly and painfully dissolved by the acid from the inside, Tara embraced her son, who began to cry when he realized what he had done. Upon his death, William's molten lower body collapsed, spilling his entrails on the floor. (Saw VI)

Aftermath[]

The zoo was found and raided by the Metropolitan Police Department shortly afterwards. As the police secured and searched the entire building, they discovered the many corpses of Jigsaw's victims, including William. All of them were sent to the morgue, where Dr. Adam Heffner performed the autopsies on their bodies. Meanwhile, Tara, Brent and Pamela were freed from their imprisonment. Additionally, the nail bed that had killed William was sent to the evidence room of the police station. (Saw VI, 3D)

Trivia[]

  • The nail bed, which killed William, can be seen in the police station's evidence room in Saw 3D, when Hoffman is looking for Jill Tuck.
  • This trap was nominated on Scream 2010 for the Most Memorable Mutilation.
  • Hydrofluoric acid attacks the nerves required to feel pain, so an error is found in William being in excruciating pain.

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