Ivan Landsness

“	This was a mistake and it happened a long time ago. I paid for this!	”
	— Ivan tries to play his crimes down^[src]

Ivan Landsness is a fictional character from the Saw franchise as well as a minor antagonist in Saw IV. He was portrayed by Marty Adams.

Biography[]

Rape[]

Ivan Landsness was the proprietor of the run-down Alexander Motel. However, he was also a brutal and sadistic rapist. Throughout his life, he raped at least 3 women. During his vicious acts, he used to blindfold his victims and strapped them to a bed before he violently raped and battered them. Furthermore, he took photos and recorded videos of his crimes which he kept afterwards due to his voyeuristic tendencies. Therefore, he was eventually prosecuted for his crimes. However, he was acquitted all 3 times due to the assistance of his lawyer, Art Blank. Because of his crimes and his escape from justice, he was eventually targeted by John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer. (Saw IV)

Daniel Rigg's Test[]

At one point, Ivan's lawyer rented room 261 at the Alexander Motel. Unknown to Ivan, Art had become a victim of John Kramer as well and was forced to obey his orders. One night, 6 days later, Officer Daniel Rigg, another test subject of the killer, came to his motel. Upon entering, he was yelled at by a drunk vagrant who had been sleeping in the doorway, whereas Ivan, tried to be friendly and asked if he could help him. However, Rigg ignored both of them and went up the stairs to Room 261. Before he could follow him, Ivan was held back when the drunk vagrant wanted to go up to see what Rigg was doing. As he disturbed the other guests, Ivan argued with him and eventually sent him off. When he got rid of him, he noticed that Chance, his dog, had vanished and called for her. While looking for his pet, he eventually went up the stairs to the sleeping rooms and eventually found Chance, who had found a pig mask lying on the floor right before the door of Room 261. When Ivan approached and picked it up, Rigg stepped out and aimed his gun at Ivan, forcing him into the room.

Ivan, who was afraid of him, asked Rigg why he was doing this. When Rigg showed him a mugshot of himself, he admitted to have made a mistake years ago and claimed that he had payed for it. As he begged Rigg to let him go, the latter asked him what was behind the door to the next room and handed Ivan a key. While Rigg held him at gunpoint, Ivan unlocked the door. However, after taking a look into the room, he tried to flee but was held back by Rigg, who forced him through the door. Upon entering, he discovered numerous photos of brutally violated women hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. Furthermore, the bed in the middle of the room was turned into a vicious trap. It was surrounded by four large metal posts, one at each corner, with metallic chains and shackles attached to each one of them. On the upper end of the bed was a vise with a timer on it, and attached to either side of it were two miniature scythes. Initially worried by his discovery, Rigg stepped further into the room, where he saw Eric Matthews and Mark Hoffman on the screen of a TV. Ivan desperately tried to flee through the next door and screamed for help, but was ruggedly pulled back and brought to the ground by Rigg, who asked him if he knew Eric, which he denied. After that, Rigg found a piece of paper with his name on it, as well as a tape recorder standing on a small table. The tape told him that Ivan was in fact a brutal criminal, who needed to be tested, and that Rigg was the one who had to force him into his trap. (Saw IV)

Death[]

When the tape ended, the TV switched to a video of a blindfolded woman strapped to a bed. Upon seeing how Ivan raped the woman, Rigg became incredibly angry and forced the man to shackle himself onto the bed. Ivan initially refused, but ultimately gave up when Rigg threatened him with his gun. Despite his begging to let him go, Rigg forced him to continue and eventually placed his head in the vice. Soon after, Rigg found another note, which told him to hand Ivan the tools to save his life. He took two triggers from the table and gave them to the rapist. The last thing left on the table was an audio tape for Ivan. When Rigg grabbed it, the drawer of the table opened and revealed another box. The box contained the next message, which told Rigg to "become the teacher and save a life" and to "go back to where it all began." After that, he started Ivan's tape and tossed it onto his body. While Ivan was struggling to press the triggers, which would cause the scythes to gouge his eyes out, but were also his only way to escape. Eventually, Ivan pressed the first trigger, causing the first scythe to pierce his right eye. After that, he attempted to press the second button as well. However, before he could bring himself to do so, the timer went off and Ivan's limbs were torn apart. (Saw IV)

Post-Mortem[]

Ivan's corpse was found shortly afterwards. The motel was then secured by a SWAT team led by Officer Lamanna. When the special agents Lindsey Perez and Peter Strahm arrived only minutes later, Ivan had already been identified. As the agents already knew about Rigg's game, they immediately knew that Ivan was connected to it. While investigating the scene, Officer Lamanna came in and informed them that the room had been rented by a lawyer named Art Blank, who had been who had been reported missing two weeks earlier. Therefore, Strahm ordered him to find out his address. While discussing the new situation with Perez, he stated that Ivan was already the second person seen on several photos in Rigg's apartment who had been killed over the course of the night. Furthermore, he pointed to a message written on the door which said "Feel as I feel" and reminded Perez of a similar message written on the wall of Rigg's apartment which said "See as I see". Thereby, he concluded that John Kramer tried to teach his lessons to Rigg and suspected that Rigg had been recruited by him. Moments later, Lamanna reentered the room and told them that Art Blank owned several properties, the last known address being only to blocks away. After the agents left, Ivan's corpse was taken to the morgue for his autopsy by Dr. Adam Heffner. (Saw IV, IV)

Personality[]

Ivan Landsness was a brutal and vicious sadist who enjoyed torturing his victims in terrible ways. Opposed to this, he acted friendly and helpful towards others and thereby was able to cover his dark side. He was also a coward, a liar and an unregenerate individual, repeatedly claiming that he had paid for his mistakes despite the fact that he never faced justice. The only other living being he seemed to genuinely care for was his dog, Chance.

Trivia[]

In an early script for Saw IV, Ivan's planned trap would look like an electric chair. He would be tied to a large chair, in a room covered with sound foam and rusty skewers protruding from the walls, he had wires covering his hands and legs. In addition to the head, thrown back by a backrest with a lock on the neck.
In the original script, once Ivan was released, he would start his game, in which he would have to finally kill Detective Matthews to die from the spikes in the room. This subplot was reused for the character of Brenda.
Another original idea for Ivan was that once Matthews entered the room, a motor would activate, which would pull out a vise that would crush Ivan's head. The only way to save him would be to get the key out of the victim's ear; it should be noted that this idea was reused for Scalping Trap.
Ivan's rape victims were the director Darren Lynn Bousman's girlfriend, assistant and lawyer.

Appearances and References[]

Films
Saw	Saw II	Saw III	Saw IV	Saw V	Saw VI	Saw 3D	Jigsaw	Spiral	Saw X
Absent	Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

Other Media
"Saw" (2003 Short)	Saw: Rebirth (2005 Comic)	Full Disclosure Report	The Scott Tibbs Documentary	Saw: The Video Game	Saw II: Flesh & Blood
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent