Year: 2014
Company: Funko
Back in
2004, a little film by the name of Saw was
released. It wasn’t particularly original – Se7en was thrown about a lot as a comparison – but it helped bring
a bit of edge back to a genre that at the time had been largely been defanged
by hordes of Scream imitators like I Know What You Did Last Summer and
their ilk. Things again went full circle, though; Saw had numerous sequels and also helped spark a bunch of other
similarly themed films and wider industry trends. In this case, that was the “torture
porn” era of horror, typified by movies like Hostel.
I was never
so keen on the progeny that it spawned, but I did quite enjoy the first Saw film. Even the second had its
moments, but by the third I’d pretty much checked out. Maybe I’ll go catch up
on all of them one day, but for the time being I’m content to just take a look
at this Funko POP of Billy the Puppet.
Billy is
one of the best-known elements from the series, serving as something of a
mascot. The pig’s head mask that Jigsaw actually wears in the films never
really caught on in the same way, and so there’s a buttload more merchandise
for Billy than there actually is for Jigsaw himself. I suppose it’s a little
like Pinhead’s situation; originally a supporting character in the first
Hellraiser, he eventually became indelibly associated with the franchise as a
whole.
Billy’s
design is something I have mixed feelings about. unsettling when he appears in
the films, for sure; but he’s always looked a little too My Chemical Romance for
me to find him frightening as a He’s static object on his own merits. The
clowny face, the red swirls and eyes…I get why people find it unsettling, but
to me it feels like it’s trying a little too hard to be edgy.
Nonetheless,
Billy the Puppet is the face of one of the most successful horror franchises of
recent years. With the Saw series set
to return to screens for the first time since 2010 later this year, it will be
interesting to see what role Billy plays in future films.
There’s one
other version of Billy available, which was an SDCC exclusive in 2014 – Billy
has blood spatter on his face and hands, and his face and hands glow in the
dark. Expect to pay an arm and a leg (ha!) for it if you plan to track it down.
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