Horror Short Showcase: ‘The Jigsaw’

Written by Scott Edwards

​While some people like to steer away from the unknown, many people are drawn to it just the same. The need to learn and find out something that nobody else knows is a driving force that should never be lost, especially when you get older. Some people seem to believe that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, but that is far from the truth, as there are many more programs available to keep an elder’s mind working on overtime. It is something to think about, as we are a learning breed that needs knowledge to survive.
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Walking through the town square, the man is looking for something to fill up his time. Looking through the puzzle selection of a nearby merchant, he finds a box without an identifier of what the puzzle is. Asking the clerk what it is, the man tries to warn off his customer and urges him to by another puzzle instead. Yet the man is persistent and wants to figure out what is hiding in the box and offers the clerk much more than the puzzle is worth. Taking the money and saying goodbye to this mysterious puzzle, the clerk allows it to leave his shop once again, knowing that it will not be long until its faithful return.

Arriving home with his new purchase, the man looks at the picture of his dead wife and pours himself a drink. With something to do to eat up most of the night, the man dumps his new puzzle on the table and gets to work. As the hours fly by, the man hears his clock hit the tone of midnight and is shocked at what he is seeing before him. Trying to get his mind straight, the man washes his face as he cannot believe that the puzzle is showing him what he is doing at this exact moment in time. With one piece left, the man is hesitant, yet willing to see the final product…one with a killer end.

Talk about a fun film that showcases not only fear, but the need to know what is not known. I liked how infatuated the man became with the puzzle when he had no idea what it was, even the clerk could not stop him from making the purchase. The shock on the man’s face when he saw what the puzzle really was, well, I even felt very uncomfortable for him, and I was dying to see the final product. The tension in the house is something that I have not seen to this extent in a short before, so it does really help to separate The Jigsaw from the pack. Stay Scared.

To see ‘The Jigsaw’ click here.

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