Spiral: Chris Rock Talks Diving Into the Horrifying World of Saw and Excitement for Traps

When the first rumblings of a new Saw began to emerge years ago, most fans assumed it would be another incarnation of elements they had previously seen, though the reveal that not only would Chris Rock star in the film, but that he was the one who had championed and executive produced the adventure had audiences shocked and thrilled for what this could mean for Spiral: From the Book of Saw. Given that Rock has such a powerful legacy as a comedian, audiences didn’t know what to expect from the film, with Rock recently detailing how it was his comedic sensibilities that were a key component in developing the new installment. Spiral: From the Book of Saw hits theaters on May 14th.

“I always play this little game, I watch a dramatic movie, and I go, ‘I could coulda got four jokes in there without f-cking up the movie.’ I always play that game,” Rock detailed to ComicBook.com. “Saw, especially Saw II, was one of those movies, ‘Hmmm, I think I coulda got a few jokes in there without screwing up the movie.’ So I brought that up to the head of Lionsgate … I was like, ‘You ever think about putting some comedy in Saw?’ Not a lot, like Scary Movie, not make it silly, but the Saws are so dire. So I kinda had this idea of, almost, Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte in 48 Hours, but it’s a horror movie. I think that’s kind of what we got.”

While the material itself is quite different from the comedic or dramatic projects that Rock has previously starred in, the actor admitted that his overall approach to starring in a horror movie was new for him, as he found that the less he knew, the better.

“I’ll put it this way: it doesn’t help you to actually read the script in a horror movie,” Rock admitted of his preparation. “What I mean is, to read the next day … you should know your lines that day, you should know your lines, it doesn’t help to know anyone else’s lines, because you gotta be scared. You gotta be wondering, ‘What the hell is going on?’ more so than any other type of movie. So I tried to really forget that I knew what was gonna happen in this movie more than anything else.”

The actor was so committed to being surprised, that he requested that the traps in the film be kept a secret from him. Rock went on to note just how much he loved the torture devices and wished there had been even more.

“I love the traps. I wanted more traps. I wanted the return of traps, do the reverse bear trap again,” Rock confessed. “I wanted to try a couple more. That’s when it got real for me. It was like, ‘Ah, yes, this is different. No comedian has done this.’ That’s what made me feel good.”

Spiral: From the Book of Saw hits theaters on May 14th.

Are you looking forward to seeing the new film? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!