Charlie Clouser knows that the Saw movies aren’t for everybody. “It has its dedicated little weirdo fanbase that is rabid about it, but it’s very much a niche within a niche, and it’s become even more so as the franchise evolved.”

It’s an evolution he’s gotten to observe intimately, as the composer who’s worked on every film since the original Saw, released 19 years ago this October. And with Saw X, Clouser breaks a big record, as he’s now the first American to score 10 films within the same franchise — beating John Williams’ iconic run on nine Star Wars films.