The Saw movies have always been given a bit of a bad rap, often dismissed as just ‘gore porn’. But there’s no denying their role in an era of especially brutal flicks in the mid 2000s.
For a series that has just hit its tenth instalment, it has been pretty well written and the films gel together solidly for a horror franchise.
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Considering the main baddy died way back in the third movie, it feels like they’ve managed to pilfer every little thread of a story line that could be based around that original trilogy. They’ve also managed to keep the tone pretty constant. Most successful horror film sequels inject a bit of comedy as they go on, often becoming a parody of themselves.
How is Jigsaw alive?
Saw X takes us way back to around the timeline of the original film. John Kramer, aka notorious ‘serial killer’ Jigsaw, has terminal brain cancer. Things are looking grave when he becomes aware of an alternative treatment that might just save his life. Only catch is that it’s a surgery that will take place at an off-the-grid facility in Mexico. Having nothing to lose, Kramer goes for it.
Without spoiling too much, betrayals take place and Jigsaw plants the parties at fault in some of his trademark traps. Giving each of them a ‘chance’ to survive and learn the error of their ways.
Hold on. Top tier acting in a horror movie?
First thing’s first, I’ve gotta give some props to Tobin Bell, the man behind Jigsaw. I think the main reason we’re hitting a 10th Saw film is because of this guy. The duality that he can bring to this character is almost flawless. Sure, he’ll mess you up in one of his traps if you don’t play by the rules, and his morality is bit askew for putting you there in the first place.
I genuinely believe that his heart is in the right place and he truly wants to ‘help’ these people. That’s why there is always a chance that you could get out of his traps. Even if that chance is ever so slight…
Bell is given a chance to flex his acting chops away from the gore in Saw X. The first 45 minutes of the film play out like a heart-warming-overcoming-cancer-drama. Although it’s great to watch Tobin Bell, and you really start to feel for this ‘villain’, I started to question whether I was actually watching a SAW movie.
I wanna play a game.
The usual structure for these films involved scattering the behind-the-scenes drama among the intense trap scenes. Bar a bit of a dream sequence early in the story, it’s a long while before we reach familiar trap/game territory. I applaud them for trying something different (10 films in you gotta do something different), and this composition allows us to feel some retribution for Jigsaw against these victims… But 45 minutes is a long time in a horror movie of this variety for there to be no horror.
Once the games begin, we’re definitely back in a Saw movie.
One chick is burnt alive with a radiation machine, a guy has to cut some pipe bombs out of his arms with scalpels taped to his hands, one dude must cut out a piece of his own brain: you know, the usual fare in ‘gore porn’.
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Compared to other Saw movies, the traps weren’t all that inventive. The only one that has stuck with me is when a woman has to cut off her own leg with a kind of razor sharp garotte. Watching this chick saw through her own leg had me squirming uncomfortably in my seat.
Jigsaw’s Legacy
There are a few nods to previous films, most notably with some ‘returning’ characters. Shawnee Smith has been a major player throughout the franchise and makes a welcome appearance in this prequel in the role as Jigsaw’s apprentice, Amanda. But for the fact that it is set so early within the timeline, both Jigsaw and Amanda have obviously aged. Considering there has been 20 years between the first films release and this one is no fault of these fine actors; they can’t help aging! It’s just hard not to notice.
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My favourite part of any Saw movie is the big twist at the end. You know it’s coming when that outstanding theme music kicks in and you begin to question everything you think you know about the stories plot.
Saw X’s twist is decent and fairly satisfying, but nothing compared to that original film. That still gives me goosebumps when I watch it.
Game Over
The tenth chapter in a horror series running for almost a quarter of a century is always going to be a bit of a challenge to keep fresh and interesting. Saw X has managed to do just that, piggybacking on an incredible performance from Tobin Bell, they have taken us to places we haven’t been before.
Unfortunately, in trying something new, they lost a bit of the pacing and tension that makes most of these movies what they are. A few more traps in that opening 45 minutes would have solved this problem. Besides this, I’d say Saw X is one of the strongest entries in the franchise.
Quest Daily Scores Saw X:
7/10
