Saw 11 News — Back to Basics
Today at Life After Gateway, we have some news about one of the more innovative horror franchises out there.
I remember watching the first Saw over twenty years ago. It is a low budget film but it has two well-known actors in the cast: Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon 1-4) and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride). The story is a police procedural involving an escalating serial killer and a series of sick killing traps, some of which include puzzles. On the surface it seems purely exploitive, but as the narrative progresses, we learn that the killer has selected the method of murder — and the victims — very deliberately, with the purpose to teach valuable lessons to the subjects. It’s a clever twist to the slasher genre — which this is not — and it’s something the series has strayed from over the years.
The first Saw, if you have not seen it, has one of the best twist endings in horror history, along with an absolutely marvelous and unique score. Listen to that theme here; credit to YouTube channel Blue X:
Now, twenty-two years after the original Saw (2004), Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions has acquired the franchise. The original creator/director, James Wan, whose career exploded after the film, is also back on board as executive producer (and perhaps director). Wan, since 2004, has directed Dead Silence, Insidious, The Conjuring, Insidious: Chapter 2, Furious 7, The Conjuring 2, Aquaman 1&2, and Malignant. He is a great creative talent, and this is wonderful news for the Saw franchise.
Recently, Wan said the following in an interview at Letterbox’d:
My initial vision — that I try to let people know about now — was to make Saw as a Hitchcockian thriller. It was a high-brow approach in my head. But when it came time to shoot the feature film, I realized that a grungier approach better suited the lack of budget …
I feel I can come back to it with a new perspective whilst knowing that with this next movie I want to hark back to the spirit of the first movie. One of the things I really want to do with this next Saw is make it scary again. I want to make a scary Saw — not just gory, but psychologically scarring, like what Leigh and I did in the first movie …
Leigh and I both want to recapture the spirit of that first film and revisit Jigsaw’s philosophy, which is that he goes after people who don’t appreciate their lives.
As more news comes in about Saw 11, including information about the production, casting, director, and release date, I’ll post it here at Life After Gateway. Watch this space!
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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.
— Timothy S. Johnston, 13 February 2026
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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel
“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop
“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite
“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories
“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest
“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels
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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!
WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.
FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE
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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.
Book Cover & Jacket Copy:
AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!
A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …
Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.
Taunting him.
Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.
If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.
But the assassin could be anyone …
Watch your back, Mac.
A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.
FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE
The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:
The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007
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TSJ’s Awards
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THE WAR BENEATH: FIRST PLACE 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Action / Adventure Category Winner, 2019 Silver Falchion Award Finalist, 2018 CLUE Award Semi-Finalist, 2019 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist, & 2019 CYGNUS Award Shortlister
THE SAVAGE DEEPS: FIRST PLACE 2020 CYGNUS Award Winner, 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards Finalist, 2022 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist; 2019 CLUE Award Shortlister
FATAL DEPTH: FIRST PLACE 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Award Winner, 2022 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Action Adventure), 2021 CYGNUS Award Semi-Finalist
