Saw Composer Charlie Clouser Reveals How Franchise’s Iconic Theme Came Together

Saw has become one of the biggest brands in horror since the first film became an indie film breakout success story in 2004. As with all popular franchises, there is a list of signatures and staples that came to define what a Saw movie is – and one of the biggest signature elements of the franchise after nearly twenty years is no doubt the iconic Saw theme song, “Hello Zepp”.  

As Saw X (or Saw 10) releases in theaters, ComicBook.com sat down with Saw franchise composer Charlie Clouser to talk about how, exactly the sonic roadmap for a little $1 million indie-horror project spawned one of the most famous theme songs in modern cinema. 

“I’m unbelievably pleased, and a little proud, and somewhat in disbelief. But at the same time, it was definitely a calculated effort to create – not a theme that would be memorable or iconic or anything like that, but that would fit a certain set of criteria that James Wan [wanted],” Clouser explained. 

Clouser went to talk about how active Wan was in forming all the elements of Saw, including the sonic effect its theme song should have: 

“To his credit, [James] is an amazing filmmaker and is just in tune with so many aspects of the whole piece as it’s being created – and we had very detailed discussions about what role that piece of music needed to fill in the first movie, and that it had to be bold and striking, but also needed to be somewhat simplistic, so that it wouldn’t be distracting,” Clouser said. “Because there’s a lot of information flying at the viewer… We wanted the music to be strong and memorable, but at the same time, it had to almost have a quality of a good AC/DC guitar riff or something: so that it’s simple and compact, but powerful and memorable, and it could permutate and build on itself without being some elaborate flowery sympphony that would distract the viewer. I’m consistently amazed whenever I see that piece of music listed alongside the true greats – but I’m super pleased it has resonated with the audience and found a home; across ten movies we’ve used that theme!”

One thing that Clouser points to as a reason for Saw’s theme song being an enduring favorite among horror fans is the fact that, unlike so many other long-running franchises, they haven’t really changed it up from the core elements it started with. 

“To me, it’s like the sound of Darth Vader’s breathing: it needs to be the actual recording from the first day,” Clouser said. “You can redo those [imitates Darth Vader breathing sounds]…  Likewise, to my ears, when “Hello Zepp” starts off it has to be that exact little jangly dulcimer sound from twenty years ago. Even though I have many nicer and fancier dulcimer sounds, I have to use the exact one… It has a sonic identity that even a civilian or a casual listener or viewer will key into. So I’m glad that I am permitted to do what I naturally want to do, and use… part of that sonic footprint. And I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to keep re-visiting that and keep trying to flip it a little bit, but not totally reinvent it each time. “

Saw X is now in theaters.