Saw X

Director: Kevin Greutert
Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, Michael Beach, Joshua Okamoto, Octavio Hinojosa, Paulette Hernández, Jorge Briseño
Running Time: 118 min.
Rating: R

★★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

After 2021's somewhat divisive Saw spin-off, Spiral, Lionsgate seemed to hint they'd be taking the franchise in a new direction that veered even further from previous installments. What that meant was anyone's guess, which is why it came as a shock to hear Saw X would be going back to the beginning, taking place between the events of 2004's original and its first sequel. But it turns out this decision enables director and longtime series editor Kevin Greutert to get around what's been the property's biggest problem. Namely that the dying Jigsaw was killed off too soon, leaving subsequent films to pick up the slack with countless flashbacks, overcomplicated plots, police procedural nonsense and shoehorned apprentices. 

Some sequels had their moments, but every film since the third has worked overtime to cover Jigsaw's premature demise, not envisioning this would extend past an intended trilogy. And since Tobin Bell's bone chilling performance as John Kramer was always the best thing in it, an encore just feels right, especially after being relegated to the sidelines for much of his own story. What results is the strongest entry since the original, treating its premise seriously and digging deeper into the twisted moral relativism that's bubbled under the surface of these movies for nearly two decades. This is the one we've been waiting for, giving Bell the showcase he's long deserved while forcing viewers to confront the grim circumstances that transformed John into Jigsaw. 

Writers Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg fully examine what's only been hinted at, going all in with the idea of Jigsaw as a flawed anti-hero. In presenting a group of deplorables who find themselves tested for incredibly valid reasons, the stakes rise, creating conversations around not only Kramer's intentions, but his heinous methods. Gory traps and over-the-top brutality remain, only this time accompanied by a slow, simmering build, making it feel more like a psychological character study than the "torture porn" it's frequently been labeled as. With a singular focus, its gripping, stripped down plot actually makes sense, avoiding the missteps of its many sequels.

Suffering from advanced incurable brain cancer, John Kramer (Bell) is told by his physician he only has a few months to live. After encountering Henry (Michael Beach), a member of his cancer support group who suddenly looks much healthier, John obtains from him the contact info for Dr. Pederson, whose experimental treatment Henry claims cured him. After a phone conversation with the doctor's daughter, Cecilia (Synnøve Macody Lund), John books a flight to Mexico City for surgery.

Upon his arrival at the mysterious clinic, John's greeted by Cecilia and her medical team consisting of Mateo (Octavio Hinojosa), Valentina (Paulette Hernández) and a surgeon known as "Dr. Cortez." He also meets two patients named Gabriela (Renata Vaca) and Parker Sears (Steven Brand), both of whom were successfully treated there. But after awaking from surgery and told he's cancer free, a betrayed, heartbroken John discovers it was all a scam and enlists trusted apprentice Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) to help him round up the conspirators. What follows is Jigsaw's deadliest, most personal game yet.   

In a series known for its frenetic editing and grimy, yellowish tint, this represents a departure, and not just in setting. Some recognizable trademarks are still present, but by Saw standards it's downright restrained, at least for the first thirty minutes. John attending a support group, wrestling with the devastating news and even cordially interacting with service workers ends up being a strange but welcome sight considering Bell was never given these notes to hit before, allowing viewers to see the character as an actual human being for a change. 

After spending years speculating whether the diagnosis or some other unknown event in his past led to Jigsaw's creation, this heavily implies the former, with Bell conveying subtle glimpses of hope and optimism immediately following the "procedure." His performance brilliantly hints at John possibly not going down this dark path had he been cured, only to see that shattered by these scammers, who emotionally break him to pieces. And that Bell plays a much younger version of Jigsaw isn't the continuity issue you'd think, easily explained away by the character's terminal condition. 

The script covers its bases, making sure John never looks like a fool for believing this treatment is on the level. These criminals know their desperate, vulnerable targets are willing to believe anything if it means buying themselves and their families one more day. John's no exception, helping draw the clearest line yet separating the former civil engineer from Jigsaw, who's now front and center, letting his subjects  know exactly what they'll be doing and why. Of course, we still get Billy the Puppet, pig masks and tape recorders, though the presence of these staples are sparser than usual, making it mean all the more when he employs them. And despite some wildly unforeseen circumstances, the self-professed "life coach" has never been this obsessed with enforcing his stringent rules

His most valuable weapon is Amanda, who's still in the formative stages of her training, but maybe having some doubts as their teacher/student dynamic compellingly plays out. Shawnee Smith again impresses opposite Bell, reminding us how Amanda was the only apprentice who mattered, their relationship serving as more than just a plot contrivance. The rest of the performances are unusually strong, particularly that of Norwegian actress Synnøve Macody Lund, whose Cecilia tests Jigsaw like no other victim has. Manipulative and detestable to the core, her reaction to this predicament will reveal her as more dismissive of human life than he is, even as the screenplay doesn't hesitate exposing the hypocrisies of both.  

This does eventually settle into a rhythm more typical of the series, but anyone who made it this far into won't mind, especially since it's so refreshingly raw, with hardly a cop or detective in sight, eliminating what's become an increasingly annoying plot crutch. The traps remain graphic as ever, but benefit from a better story, a simplicity to the gruesome challenges and tenser, tighter time frames for the subjects to escape, or not.    

In the rare horror franchise that keeps its continuity straight, Saw X is its standalone, requiring no intricate knowledge of the series to fully appreciate. If its ending visually recalls the original's iconic final moments, the closing twist will have many second guessing their perceptions of Bell's antagonist in ways that seemed impossible nine sequels in. Subverting all expectations, this feels like the defining chapter, raising the bar of what a Saw film can do when freed from the creative shackles holding it back.                       

Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring: Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, Samuel L. Jackson, Dan Petronijevic, Richard Zeppieri, Patrick McManus, K.C. Collins, Zoie Palmer
Running Time: 93 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

When news broke a couple of years ago that Chris Rock had an idea to revitalize the struggling Saw franchise so promising that Lionsgate immediately signed off, interest was piqued. Much of that anticipation stemmed not only from the actor/comedian's direct involvement, but the bewilderment of what could possibly resuscitate a franchise that already blew its shot at rebirth with 2017's underwhelming Jigaw. Far from the "reboot" fans were promised, it only delivered more of the same, doing little for a series that remained on life support, straying so far from the series' initial intent that it became unrecognizable. 

Trampling over the simplicity of James Wan's thrilling 2004 original were a string of neverending sequels that each tried to top the body counts, gruesome traps, and superfulous law enforcement characters of its predecessors. And by prematurely killing off its main villain, everything then became about the gore, revolving around scenarios that were unnecessarily disgusting rather than clever, existing solely for shock value. It didn't even start as a horror franchise, but rather devolved into the worst kind of one, becoming at least partially responsible for introducing the term "torture porn" into the cultural lexicon. 

Now, after a year-long delay, Saw II, III and IV director Darren Lynn Bousman is back at the helm for Spiral, a spin-off that ends up being the best entry since he left. So while I'm still unsure about any new idea for the franchise including more law enforcement and copycat Jigsaws, it does fit the story this time and jumps off the page as a big improvement over most of the sequels. For once, the traps feel in service of the screenplay rather than the other way around and it doesn't look like it was shot in a septic tank, even featuring scenes that take place in actual daylight. With a pacing and style that deviates considerably from what's come before, it gets a fresh enough coat of paint while retaining just enough original elements to satisfy hardcore fans. 

Det. Ekekiel "Zeke" Banks (Rock) is an unpopular, insubordinate police officer assigned by Capt. Angie Garza (Marisol Nichols) to investigate the brutal death of his friend and colleague, Det. Marv Bozwick (Dan Petronijevic), who was hit by an oncoming train while chasing a perpetrator off-duty. Vocal in his complaints about the inner workings of the department, Zeke's begrudgingly assigned a new rookie partner for the case named William Schenk (Max Minghella), as both officers quickly realize the odd circumstances surrounding Bozwick's death point to a potential Jigsaw Killer copycat. 

With tapes and clues leading the way and a climbing body count, it becomes obvious the murderer is exclusively targeting corrupt cops, something Zeke knows about all to well, having snitched on his dirty co-workers years ago while serving under his father, the now-retired chief Marcus Banks (Samuel L. Jackson). Presently a pariah on the force and attempting to fix the fractured relationship with his dad, Zeke's struggling to stay a step ahead of the mysterious killer, whose motivations may cut deeper than anyone expected.

What's most noticeably different from the previous Saw films is how this looks. It still has that grungy, basement-dwelling aethetic but at least we're not watching something that seems to have been filmed in complete darkness. At points, the daylight scenes (itself an anomaly for this franchise) even look fairly slick, heightening the visual impact when the darker trap scenes eventually do arrive. And despite how they're shot and edited not differing all that much from the series norm, it doesn't feel as if we're being bombarded by too many of these gory sequences for no reason, which had long ago emerged as the series' biggest problem. 

Co-writers Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger gradually build the story to each trap with Bousman judiciously spacing them out enough so that audience fatigue doesn't set in. Of course, there's the usual problematic irony that these victims don't really have much of a "choice" at all in these torture devices, unless you count perishing in two different, equally grisly ways as a selection. But it helps that there's at least a solid narrative foundation in place this time, as the plot follows a tight, linear path in which each clue leads to the next in a logical manner unseen since the franchise's infancy. 

Criticisms this all plays like a police procedural are valid, but also hardly worth complaining about since it's done well and the one thing this series desperately needed was that kind of straightforward structure to stay on course. Compared to its predecessors, this is practically a downright restrained character study in terms of the buddy-cop relationship that develops between frequently aggravated Zeke and his idealistic young partner. It feels very Training Day or Se7en, which helps in further solidifying that the characters actually have some agency here.

A dark departure from the roles he's known for tackling, Rock's casting is exactly what the entry needed, with the actor bringing a cutting, humorous edge that becomes invaluable to the dour proceedings. Combine that with Samuel L. Jackson's fiery intensity as a character with constantly questionable motives and you have a a pretty gripping dynamic throughout. It was always fun speculating how unexpected bigger name stars could acquit themselves a Saw movie and this is definitely the closest we've come, with better than anticipated results.

That Tobin Bell's John "Jigsaw" Kramer only appears in some newspaper clippings and gets a passing mention is the right call in terms of the story being told. As much as Bell's creepy performance provided the only worthwhile element in so many uneven sequels, we desperately needed a break if his only function is to be misused in flashbacks. Due to the machinations of this particular plot, the iconic pig head takes center stage in both the clues and recorded video form, with Billy The Puppet nowhere around, perhaps being saved for a future sequel. That's fine, but what's missed most is Bell's unmistakable voice, as his generic replacement sounds more like a nagging granny than a sinister serial killer. Of all the changes made, this is probably the only big miss, albeit one producers would try to explain away as starting anew with a fresh slate. With the series stuck in such a rut, it's an admirable approach, but they could have at least thought to electronically alter the voice to sound scarier and more threatening.  

Even for those who will claim to have seen the big twist at the end coming, the payoff's still no less effective. In fact, it's easily the most rewarding Saw finale in years in how it manages to cover all its bases, invoking genuine tension and excitement while returning the series to the moral complications it's initial premise was built on in 2004. The final minutes unfold as a bigger deal than we're used to,  with actual stakes. Supposedly, there are plans to spin this off into a TV series and given how everything shakes out, that actually doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility considering the format and style might lend itself well to that medium.

If the film's best moments recall Se7en and its worst recall previous Saw installments, there's relief in knowing what exists of the latter Bousman molds into something more digestable for the mainstream. For most horror franchises, that's a criticism, but this one went so far off the rails in abandoning the key tenets of its success that any change is welcome. A shot in the arm that puts story first, what Spiral means for the series moving forward is vaguer, but they could really be onto something by presenting these new films as standalones that aren't creatively beholden to all the inferior entries preceding it.       

Jigsaw

Directors: The Spierig Brothers
Starring: Matt Passmore, Callum Keith Rennie, Clé Bennett, Hannah Emily Anderson, Laura Vandervoort, Paul Braunstein, Mandela Van Peebles, Brittany Allen, Josiah Black, Tobin Bell
Running Time: 92 min.
Rating: R

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

When the Saw franchise signed off after hitting rock bottom with 2010's awful Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, even the most devoted diehards had checked out and were happy to see it go. After enduring a string of lifeless sequels that drained whatever waning interest was left in the property, the general consensus was that a nice, long break sounded like a great idea. It was also generally understood that with this hiatus came the promise it would return at some point as either a sequel, prequel, reboot or something in between. And now with Jigsaw, it's clear they've decided to go with a straight up sequel.

If anything, this creates an opportunity for the series to recharge its batteries and head in a new creative direction while fans become nostalgic for these movies once again, their disdain for the inferior sequels erased by happy memories of seeing Billy The Puppet usher in a new Saw film each Halloween. We'd remember that initial concept of two strangers locked in a room, the test subjects of a sadistic cancer patient hell bent on dispensing his own form of moral justice as he counted down the calendar days left on his own life.

"Let's play a game..." is a phrase that's become the franchise's tagline before it took such a creative free fall in subsequent installments that even its star, Tobin Bell, sounded like he lost interest in delivering it. While the 2004 original was less a horror movie than an intense psychological thriller, most of its successors failed miserably at building on it, hanging their hats on the worst elements of what was initially a brilliant concept. Plot and narrative was abandoned in favor of trying to come up with the most disgusting and elaborate Jigsaw traps possible, each one more graphic than the last. And for a while, as bad as the movies had become, the shock value still worked and audiences ate it up. But what Saw couldn't survive was the dilemma each new writer and director kept trying to put a band-aid over in each sequel: The antagonist was dead.

Given all the capabilities of modern cinematic storytelling, killing off John Kramer/AKA Jigsaw in only the third film showed incredibly poor foresight, often forcing the filmmakers to embarrassingly work their way around it in the most absurd ways. By claiming it's about his "legacy," introducing hidden apprentices, shoehorning Bell into silly, nonsensical flashback scenes, and even littering the storylines with more law enforcement officials than most CBS procedurals. And that's not to mention physicians, ex-wives and insurance agents. Each sequel became overcrowded and needlessly convoluted to cover for Jigsaw's absence, straying further and further from its original concept. And because of this, EVERY MOVIE FELT THE SAME. That's the problem most in need of fixing.

So, the question becomes whether The Spierig Brothers concede by resting on the same tired formulas or try something different and adventurous with the benefit of a fresh, clean slate. The answer ends up being a little bit of both, which may not be enough sustain this moving forward. While they don't strip the whole thing down and dismantle it as I'd hoped, the good news is that it's the best written and directed post-Jigsaw death sequel yet, despite sharing some of the same issues its predecessors did. There were many points where it felt as if the movie would truly let go, before delivering a clever final twist that undeniably works in the moment, but also serves as an unfortunately painful reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

It's been 10 years since the death of the infamous Jigsaw killer, John Kramer (Bell), but when a perpetrator on the run finds himself cornered by police detectives Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie) and Hunt (Clé Bennett), he talks of being forced to play a "game" while activating a mysterious triggering device in his hand. They shoot, sending him into a coma. Meanwhile, five people are being held captive in a barn with buckets over their heads and a metal chain around their neck, dragging them toward a wall of spinning buzzsaws.

With each instructed by the voice of Jigsaw to make a blood sacrifice in order to move on, Carly (Brittany Allen), Ryan (Paul Braunstein), Mitch (Mandela Van Peebles) and Anna (Laura Vandervoort) are the four survivors. They move on to the next stage, with Jigsaw's voice informing them of more sadistic traps in store to repent for their lies and moral transgressions. As bodies turn up left and right, Halloran and Hunt start to wonder how any of this is possible, enlisting the help of ex-vet and forensic pathologist Logan (Matt Passmore) and his Jigsaw-obsessed assistant Eleanor (Hannah Emily Anderson). It isn't long before their suspicions turn to both, even with evidence piling up that the unthinkable is true and Jigsaw could still be very much alive.

It could be read as a promising sign that the film opens not in a dark, dingy, dirty basement as most previous entries have, but in broad daylight in the midst of a police chase. In simultaneously preparing us for something completely different while also invoking the terribly familiar, the scene serves a microcosm for what The Spierig Brothers plan on delivering over the next hour and a half. While the introduction of multiple law enforcement officers had me groaning, and it's a stretch to say they put an entirely fresh coat of paint on the franchise, there are noticeable changes and improvements that help wash the taste of those sequels out of our mouths. Action taking place in actual daylight would be one, as are more visually intriguing locations such as a rustic barn. It's nice to be able to clearly see everything that's going on for a change, knowing they can still deliver an occasionally dark basement when necessary.

With a slightly more polished look to the proceedings, this doesn't carry the same straight to VOD that too many of its sequels did. Smaller touches, like Jigsaw upgrading from a tape recorder to a flash drive, a new, improved look to Billy The Puppet and some tinkering with the infamous musical cue ("Zep's Theme") work really well. And while it's easy to criticize some of the decisions made, Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger's script is uncharacteristically tight, especially when dealing with the four chosen subjects in Jigsaw's main trap. In that respect, it does bring the franchise back to basics, heavily focusing on what each have done to "deserve" what's happening to them. Their backstories don't disappoint, with the heinous nature of one arguably packing an even bigger punch than the intended twist that arrives in the final minutes. Unfortunately, what happens outside the barn is a bit of a mess, again overcomplicating a plot that should be relatively simple.

With two pairs of police detectives and medical examiners, it often feels like a chore keeping up with them and their motivations. And while the intention is clearly to set each of them up as a potential suspect or copycat killer, we've been around this block so many times that the mere thought of another Jigsaw apprentice is enough to turn me off of the franchise permanently. The more characters and suspects you have, the less they all mean, and if there's one serious fault in the screenplay, it's on a conceptual level, as the series continues to rub our faces in its inability to streamline anything. That said, this does the most competent job balancing this overabundance of characters, even if their presence complicates the story in ways it wouldn't with one strong law enforcement protagonist going up against Jigsaw.

While it may seem unreasonable to expect a Saw sequel to go to deep, cerebral places at this point, it still wouldn't hurt to minimize the excessive plotting in favor of a little more psychology. That all the characters have purposes that logically come to light by the end is somewhat of a miracle, but the series' many filmmakers have always forced themselves into a situation of cleaning up whatever narrative mistakes preceding entry left behind. That's why a completely fresh start was imperative, free from the tiresome formulas that ran the series into the ground.

For audiences, the police and forensic pathologists' exist in this installment to answer the only question on viewers' minds: Is Jigsaw actually alive? Obviously, revealing that constitutes too big a spoiler, but maybe the question should instead be whether that revelation would be any more or less damaging than the ridiculous ways they've had his "work" continue post-mortem, with increasingly diminished returns.

Without giving it all away, this is Tobin Bell's most purposeful outing in a while and his seemingly more motivated performance reflects it. He came to play this time and isn't relegated to the requisite "blink and you'll miss him" flashback cameo that's made each sequel appearance less essential than  his last. While no one would claim the movies are known for their acting, Bell is consistently the exception, his understanding of John Kramer's psychological motivations creepily filling in the blanks where the writing often fails him.

With more to work with here, the screenplay provides a reason for Bell's presence and he sticks around long enough to make it count. If the layoff reminded us of anything, it's that so many of the franchise's failings can be directly tied to the increased reduction of his role in the sequels. This partially corrects that, and the performances that surround him are mostly suitable for the series standard, with Vandervoort and Passmore doing the most with what they're given.  

There's legitimate suspense in the idea that Jigsaw's grave could be dug up, and in the increasingly likely scenario he won't be in it, teasing us with the possibility this franchise may be forced to do something different. But the tension is short-lived, as the focus again moves away from Jigsaw to the cops and forensic pathologists trying to implicate and expose each other, as the true purpose of that buckethead game starts fully revealing itself. Taken for what it is, it's all pretty well constructed, capped off with a final twist that's reminiscent of the first sequel in how it toys with audience perceptions of what we're exactly seeing.

While nothing that occurs in the third act is poorly written or an outright disappointment, it does feel like business as usual, revealing nearly all the major changes to be cosmetic and superficial. In the end, it's still all about how gruesome and graphic the traps are, how high the body count, and the number of poorly developed ancillary characters introduced to extend the series. In other words, we're right back where we started. And it shouldn't be lost on anyone that there's a comfort in that for both the franchise's producers and its fans, who generally want to know that what they're getting into doesn't differ to much from what they originally signed on for.

Going in, there was a certain curiosity in finding out whether there's still a place for Saw in 2017 and whether doing this again all these years later would be like hopping back on Billy The Puppet's tricycle. For both better and worse, it is. And yet again we're left scratching our heads at how they'll possibly be able squeeze even more out of this property, as there are apparently more sequels planned. But we should just know by now to stop questioning how they continue suckering us into gladly returning for more punishment.                                                 

Saw: The Final Chapter

Director: Kevin Greutert
Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Bestsy Russell, Sean Patrick Flannery, Cary Elwes, Chad Donella
Running Time: 90 min.
Rating: R

★★ (out of ★★★★) 

Saw: The Final Chapter (released theatrically as Saw 3D), the seventh and supposedly final installment of this long-running horror franchise, is also its worst, combining all the weakest elements of the series into one gigantic mess. Police procedural confusion. Kills for the sake of kills. A needlessly complicated plot. Too many characters. Amateurish acting. Continued emphasis on a pointless feud. Jigsaw relegated to a cameo. Anyone hoping for answers or even just some semblance of coherency will be disappointed. Even the highly anticipated return of one of the franchise's most important figures is botched badly.

After coming off the surprisingly decent Saw VI, that film's director (and longtime series editor) Kevin Greutert returns after Twisted Pictures exercised a "contractual clause" in his contract preventing him from directing Paranormal Activity 2 to torture us with this instead. And that makes perfect sense since this looks and feels like someone was blackmailed into making it (possibly at gunpoint). The one thing it does have going for it is unintentional comedy, as there were many scenes where I couldn't stop laughing, providing some hope that maybe this will have a future shelf life as some kind of awful curiosity. But fans who stuck with this long-winded saga through thick and thin deserve a reward, not this cruel punishment.

As usual, we pick up exactly where the action of the last film left off as the battle over Jigsaw's legacy rages on between rogue detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Jigsaw's ex-wife, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell). After failing to kill him with the bear trap, she's now revealed his identity as Jigsaw's successor to authorities and is under protective custody, while officer Matt Gibson (Chad Donella) is hot on his former colleague's trail. But Hoffman's already set his sights on the next game subject, self-help guru Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flannery), who's achieved success as an author and television personality by falsely claiming to have survived a Jigsaw trap. Now in order to save his wife, best friend, publicist and lawyer, he'll have to survive a real one. Further complicating matters is the mysterious reappearance of Jigsaw's most infamous survivor, Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes). At last, we finally find out what happened to him after he sawed off his foot and crawled out of the bathroom to apparent safety in the original film.

This installment does give us something we've never seen before in its opening with a trap that takes place in broad daylight as a crowd of onlookers witness two guys in a buzz saw battle for the life of their unfaithful girlfriend in a storefront display window. That's at least something different and bizarre, broadening the scope by moving away from the dark, dingy warehouses and garages the action usually takes place in. It's kind of surreal watching a Saw trap take place under these unusual circumstances, made unintentionally hilarious due to the laughable performances and cheesy gore effects. While the idea of the latest victim being a famous fake survivor milking other people's trauma for profit isn't as hilariously creative as Saw VI's plot of Jigsaw extracting revenge from beyond the grave on a health insurance executive for denying him coverage, it does have a lot of promise. Unfortunately it's undercut by a uninspired performance from Sean Patrick Flannery, who can't convey the charisma of a motivational speaker and isn't slimy enough for us to believe he's capable of manipulating anyone.

Flannery's "butter hands" Bobby character is portrayed as a total tool, so completely inept at Jigsaw's games that we never doubt for a second he'll die while failing to rescue everyone. This leads to the funniest scene in the film (and possibly the franchise's history) when he has to "guide" his blindfolded friend Cale (Dean Armstrong) across a series of wooden planks and get him a key before he's hanged. Poor acting and confusing direction results in the sequence playing like a Survivor challenge gone mad, causing tons of unintentional laughs. But as tempting as it is to recommend the film on just the basis of that spectacle, I'll resist.

The Saw series isn't  known for containing Oscar caliber performances but the acting all-around in this entry is by far the most embarrassing it's been, not helped any by the inexcusable absence of Tobin Bell who's featured in all of two (!) brief scenes as the deceased Jigsaw/John Kramer. Whether present in small or large doses, Bell's peerless performance was always the driving force behind these movies so here's hoping he doesn't get typecast for life and is given the opportunity to move past this in other roles. He often gave much more than the writing deserved, while hardly ever getting his due for it.

With the filmmakers apparently oblivious to the fact that in the final stretch it's imperative the plot return to its basic roots by being as simple and focused as possible, the ridiculous, never-ending feud between Hoffman and Jill takes center stage. But at least we finally get to see both characters for what they are: Albatrosses sinking this franchise since their initial major appearances in the fourth film. It's clear now that writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan never had plans for either aside from using them as poor stand-ins to distract us from the fact that Jigsaw wasn't around anymore. Their ongoing struggle, much what's happened in Saws IV through VII, and especially the character of Hoffman, is deemed entirely pointless by the events that conclude this film.

The movie delivers the ending we always wanted, not counting on the fact that by the time we get there, it's impossible to still care. It all feels thrown together at the last minute with the re-appearance of Dr. Gordon coming off as just a bone the producers are throwing at fans to make them happy because they ran out of options. Besides his flashback being clumsily edited and nothing that couldn't have been inserted into the previous sequels, a noticeably heftier Elwes is almost unrecognizable, which is unavoidable, but off-putting just the same. Since no effort was made to flesh out his back story or provide any kind of explanation for what he's been up to, the producers probably would have been better off just keeping his return a secret and working him into the narrative in a more surprising fashion. Or at least in a way that makes sense and doesn't negate the events that came before. Instead viewers are left feeling as if they've wasted their time.

The central idea this whole foundation of the franchise was built on is absent here, replaced with the most gruesome traps possible as the initial intriguing premise of a dying moralistic serial killer teaching victims a lesson is thrown out the window in favor of continuous, in-your-face murders and gore (the film was re-submitted six times to receive an R rating). The second the filmmakers turned their attention toward topping themselves with the most extreme and graphic traps, they lost their way and a series that started as a compelling mystery thriller devolved into torture-porn horror. If they do eventually reboot, the goal should be to go back to basics since we've already seen what a TV series like Dexter or a film like Se7en is capable of with a similar premise. Those should be the template, with skilled actors and a director experienced in extracting the most from that kind of material.

On the bright side, it's worth a round of applause that it took until the seventh film in the series for this to actually get as bad as everyone's accused it of being since the beginning. You could argue they just ran out of creative gas but in all honesty they've been running on fumes for a while now. It's indicative that as a longtime fan of the series, I couldn't even motivate myself to watch it in theaters (3D or not) and have problems mounting any kind of suitable defense for this fiasco. Going in I didn't believe for a second we'd seen the last of the franchise and now after seeing how open-ended they left it, I'm even surer. You can expect a re-boot a few years down the line, after the lingering stench of this final installment dissipates. Until then, it's game over.

5 Ways To Fix The Saw Franchise

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MAJOR PLOT POINTS AND SPOILERS FROM THE FIRST FOUR SAW FILMS

It’s no secret that I didn’t really care much for Saw IV. A series that I always enjoyed went off the deep end creatively with a confusing, overplotted mess of a film. The only good news is that considering it was the fourth installment in a horror franchise it could have been a lot worse and all the problems could easily be fixed in Saw V, which opens October 24th.

Still, it was a huge drop-off in writing quality from the previous three and appeared to be a shark jump if there ever was one. It’s a promising sign that the upcoming film features a couple of solid actresses in Julie Benz and Meagan Goode, but without a stronger script this time around it would be a relatively easy to make a film worse than Saw IV. In fact, from what I read about the direction they’ve taken this, that seems likely.

According to imbd.com, here’s the synopsis:

“Forensics expert Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) goes on the hunt in order to protect the secret that he is the newest person to carry on Jigsaw's legacy.”

In case you've forgotten (which would be easy to given the 75,000 characters who were in the previous film), Hoffman was the man revealed as Jigsaw’s apprentice in Saw IV’s head-scratchingly stupid final twist. That the film will focus on him is bad enough (more on that below) but the synopsis continues to tell us that we’ll also finally find out what happened to Lynn and Jeff’s daughter, who was left in danger at the end of Saw III. Um…a little late for that don’t you think? I’m betting most viewers won’t remember or care. It may have been only hours in the film’s timeline but it was two years ago for the rest of us.

Saw V will also be the first film since the original not directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who b bowed out to make his Paris Hilton horror musical. It probably doesn’t bode well for this series that Bousman’s project sounds more intriguing than this. Taking over the reins is series production designer David Hackl, but considering the problems with the previous film were completely script-related it remains to be seen what if any impact this change will have. But this is the first time in years I'm not excited for an upcoming Saw film and unsure whether to even see it. But, really, who am I kidding? Of course, I will. I have to see whether the filmmakers can dig themselves out of this hole.

Maybe the problem is that it really has turned into a horror franchise and has strayed from its original roots as a mystery/thriller. I don’t envy writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who are saddled with the near-impossible task of continuing the story after their main villain has been killed off, especially one as complex and interesting as Jigsaw. While that aspect may set it apart from other horror films it hurts the central premise of the series, which was that this sick, dying man believed he was teaching people the meaning of life with his twisted, sadistic games and traps. It seems with his death and the addition of pointless characters we’ve moved further away from that premise and even further away from the first film, which was truly great. Below are my suggestions for getting it back on track. While it isn’t often a horror series enjoys a creative resurgence in its fifth installment, it isn't impossible. If they take even just a couple of these suggestions:

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE
What was great about Saws II and III as sequels were that they worked as stand-alone efforts that didn’t depend on specific plot points from the previous film to enjoy them. I actually thought Saw III was the strongest of the three sequels because of its simplicity and laser-like focus on the main victim’s plight. I’m willing to bet Saw IV’s plot confused the hell out even the film’s most hardcore fans with too many characters (c’mon, Jigsaw’s attorney?) non-linear storytelling and overly complicated traps.

I don’t think it’s helping that all of these films now take place in a timeline that’s days or hours apart, relying on intricate knowledge of every detail to be able to follow it. In a perfect world, Saw V would be set further down the line while still incorporating the aspects necessary from the other films, but Unfortunately, the plot description implies that won’t be happening so I guess I’ll just have to live with it. But that doesn’t mean it still can’t be more focused and simple. Even he writers themselves have admitted in interviews that Saw IV was too confusing, which at least gives me some hope this will be an improvement.

2. BRING BACK THE BATHROOM
It was the setting for shocking final twist in the original film. It was also the setting for another clever one in Saw II and in Saw III we were treated to details of how Jigsaw set up his most famous trap. It needs to come back…somehow. It's simple: bathroom= awesomeness. Just its very presence in the film alerts us that something big is going down.

3. MORE JIGSAW FLASHBACKS
Sometimes it can hurt to know too much about your horror villain. This isn’t one of those cases. It seems the more we learn about John Kramer the more it enhances his mystique and the more appreciation we have for the choices Tobin Bell makes with the role. We wouldn’t even be be talking about a fifth movie if not for him and learning about that character’s origins and history was one of the few things I enjoyed in the last film. We learned about Billy The Puppet, the instigating incident that pushed Kramer over the edge and saw his very first trap. To the writers’ credit, this was very well done and I hope they expand on it in Saw V. They need to squeeze all the screen time out of Bell that they have left, but at the same time figure out a way to make his deceased presence mean just as much in the current storyline.


4. GET RID OF THIS MAN
Boy, they really have to come up with a hell of a backstory to fix this aren’t they? If not, I have no problem with Hoffman’s tape recorder exploding and blowing him to bits within the film’s first few minutes. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve spoken to who couldn’t even tell what was going on or couldn’t remember who this character even was in Saw IV’s clumsy final minutes. It seemed to be just an example of the writers throwing something out there that was completely random just for the sake of a twist. Whoever carries on Jigsaw’s legacy should be be inexorably tied to his work (see below) rather than just some nobody forensics guy.

I’ve never heard of Costas Mandylor as an actor before Saw IV but I hope he’s ready to give the performance of his life and has some really strong writing to back him up. He’s gonna need it. The easier solution would be for the producers to just cut their loss and move on. He could easily be written him off as just the latest pawn in Jigsaw’s game. Unfortunately, since Mandylor is already signed to Saw VI I better brace myself. This guy's role looks like it's is going to be HUGE. Possibly as large as Tobin Bell's in the second and third films. He better be ready to go the distance because it's gonna take a lot to win me over. It just seems like a bad idea.

5. BRING ONE OF THESE CHARACTERS BACK
And when I say bring one of them back I mean bring them back with meaning and purpose, not to just do nothing like Donnie Wahlberg’s Detective Matthews in the last film. The role doesn’t even have to be large, it just has to be important and make sense.

Dr. Lawrence Gordon-This is what everyone wants, so do it. The franchise needs him back now more than ever and rumors have been swirling about his re-appearance for nearly every installment. Of all the series’ major characters, his return would be the most welcome and fit the best. The writers have tried to top it but no Jigsaw victim suffered more physically or emotionally. Imagine what a moment it would be to see Gordon hobbling onto the screen in the film's final minutes. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the lack of discussion on the topic lately is because producers have been able to keep a potential Cary Elwes appearance under wraps rather than that they’ve abandoned the idea altogether.

Detective David Tapp-Who knows Jigsaw better than the first detective assigned to the case? It would be easy to work him back into the story somehow since for all we know he could have survived that gunshot wound. If not, flashbacks are feasible and could probably add a lot to the current storyline, given the character’s unhealthily detailed obsession with the case. And it’s not like Danny Glover would have had to clear his busy schedule.

Zepp Hindle-“Those are the rules Dr. Gordon!” Alright, I know. Michael Emerson’s creepy hospital orderly ingested a lethal poison and was beaten to death with a toilet seat at the conclusion of the original film. But you can’t tell me the producers aren’t kicking themselves for that after seeing the great work Emerson has gone on to do on Lost. I’m much more willing to believe Zepp somehow survived the traumatic events of the first film than any of the crap the writers tried to sell in the last installment. I’ll even settle for a flashback, I don’t care. By the way, he and Elwes are the only two actors from the series capable of portraying Jigsaw's successor.

The Saw franchise is hurting but things could be much worse, especially considering we’re on the fifth film. At its weakest, its still in much better shape than other horror franchises have been at this point. Better still, none of the sequels have been bad enough to negate the impact of the original film...yet. That’s largely because the central, underlying concept that powers the series is so strong. Here’s hoping on October 24th the filmmakers remembered that.

Greatest Twists in Movie History

In my recent review of Smokin' Aces I wrote the film contains "a twist ending that actually seems like it required some thought because it does make a lot of sense, is surprising, and I'd imagine it makes the film look better on repeated viewings."

This got me thinking about some of my favorite twists in movie history. For a twist to really be effective and work for me it has to accomplish a few things:

1. It can't cheat and must play fair. No "it was all a dream."
2. It can't be a one-trick pony (i.e. "He was dead the whole time").
3. Of course, it must hold up to logical scrutiny and make sense.
4. It must be shocking, but not done just simply for shock value.
5. The twist must make a larger important thematic point within the film and take the motion picture to another level it wouldn't have reached without it.

The films I'm about to list, as far as I'm concerned, represent the cream of the crop as far as twists. The twist doesn't have to come at the end of the film, but most here do. Originally I was going to do a top 10 list but realized there really aren't 10 I feel are worthy and I didn't want any crap on here. So we have 9. I'm also going to attempt to explain why they're so great without revealing any of them. No spoiler warnings here. I wouldn't dare ruin these surprises for anyone.

9. The Rules of Attraction (2002)

Over four years ago when a friend recommended this film (Roger Avary's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' 1987 novel) to me he said it should be required viewing for every incoming college freshman across America. I was wondering what he could possibly be talking about until midway through when we find out who's been putting those letters in Sean Bateman's mailbox. We and the characters in the film couldn't see what was right in front of our faces the whole time. It's at this point the movie mines territory a whole lot deeper and darker than we thought it could. This is the only twist on the list that's actually difficult to watch. Harry Nilsson's "Without You" hasn't sounded the same to me since.


8. The Village (2004)


Okay, let the hate mail pour in. I'm probably the only person in America who not only enjoyed this film, but consider it Shyamalan's best. Did he steal the twist from an episode of The Twilight Zone? He sure did, but if you're going to steal ideas from someone, Rod Serling is a damn good choice. Plus, he was able to take that twist and plug it into his own compelling story in a fresh and original way. I saw that Twilight Zone episode, but still couldn't telegraph this ending coming from a mile away. You can have your Sixth Sense, but I'll take The Village. Ask yourself this question though: Did the twist in The Sixth Sense work as a social commentary and deep meditation on the world we live in?

7. Oldboy (2003)


This one's a sensitive subject for me because this twist was actually ruined for me before I saw the film. Putting that aside however, I really hate it when a movie writes a check its ass can't cash. Oldboy doesn't do that. It creates a mystery: Why has Oh Dae-Su been locked up for 15 years? Then it delivers on its promise and that revelation not only meets, but exceeds our expectations. But that's not even the twist. That comes when he opens that mysterious box. What's inside cruelly reminds us that revenge is a dish best served cold.


6. The Usual Suspects (1995)


Like many great twists this one begins with a mystery that's solved by the end of the film: Who is Keyser Soze? Is he real or just a myth? Alright so this one breaks rule #1 a little bit and the ending admittedly does kind of negate the entire film. But it does make sense and provides an excellent showcase for Kevin Spacey, who's performance in this film led to a well deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. When the smug, smart-ass Detective Kujan thinks he has it all figured out he drops that mug to the floor and realizes…well, let me stop there. A shocking movie moment. Effectively spoofed in Scary Movie.


5. Saw (2004)


Sure Saw II and III had effective twist endings but neither worked as well as this, the original that set it all in motion. The Saw franchise is often credited as being just a blood and gore exercise, and while that may be true for the latter films, the original never really gets the credit it deserves for being a smart thriller. This is demonstrated in the big twist at the end which not only holds up to logic but accomplishes the rare feat of being completely guessable yet nearly impossible to see coming. When it does finally come in the final minutes we're introduced to one of the most memorable and complex modern horror movie villains in Jigsaw. I'm convinced part of the reason this franchise still going strong and is showing no signs of slowing is because of the clever execution of this twist in the first film. It's nice to shock (especially in a horror movie), but it's even better if you have a great story to support it.


4. The Planet of the Apes (1968)

Here's one of those twists that everyone seems determined to spoil. The shocking final image was even plastered on the VHS and DVD releases of the film. Rod Serling came in to write the twist ending, which remains to this day one of the most enduring closing images in cinema history. Like The Village it adheres strictly to my #5 rule and gives you something to think about when it's over. It's not just shocking to be shocking. Serling's specialty was social commentary and he was at the top of his game with this one.


3. Citizen Kane (1941)


You're probably thinking this isn't a twist ending, but it is, and in the most literal sense. It takes a seemingly minor detail earlier in the film and rewards the viewer at the end for paying attention to it. This is fitting because so much of what make Citizen Kane special are the little details, technical and otherwise, that are buried just beneath the surface. It's in the film's final moments that one of those little details become supremely important in answering the infamous question: What is "Rosebud?" The answer suggests that in the end the Charles Foster Kane that everyone thought was long gone was actually still there, if just barely.

While Welles' picture may be considered the greatest film ever made, its final twist is criminally underrated. It always boggles my mind that all the critics feel it's their duty to spoil this twist since they assume "everyone knows it anyway." Even worse, they hide behind the film's lofty reputation as if it affords them the right to spoil it. Even worse, they're probably keeping audiences, who are already intimidated by it, away. I love the film but would I have loved it more had I not known the big secret going in?


2. Fight Club (1999)


How deep is the twist at the end of David Fincher's Fight Club? I once wrote a 10- page thesis paper on it for a psychology course in college and I probably could have gone on for 10 more. This is one of those twists that so perfectly fits into the theme of the film and is so multi-layered I can't even get into it without giving it away. Let's just say everyone was rejoicing when Edward Norton was named as the new Bruce Banner for the upcoming Incredible Hulk film largely because of the work he does here in a tricky role. Maybe the quintessential film of the 90's.


1. The Game (1997)


This is the closest I'll get for now to reviewing a film that on any given day could compete as my all-time favorite. It's easily the best thriller I've ever seen. Much of this has to do with what unfolds in the final 10 minutes. Sure I've heard all the complaints about it not holding up logically. Well, it does. Without giving too much away, it's important to remember due to the nature of the story we couldn't be shown all the strings that were being pulled.

The twist is so simple, yet unbelievably complex. It takes a movie that up until its final minutes was a way above average thriller and turns it into a harrowing, devastating tale of redemption. When the curtain was finally pulled back on the who and the why behind Nicholas Van Orton's birthday present, my heart was in my throat, and it works just as well on repeated viewings. After watching it once go back and marvel again at the supporting performances (particularly Sean Penn's) and John Brancato and Michael Ferris' Rubik's cube of a script, that helped pull it all off.

The biggest twist of all may be that this film came from the notoriously bleak David Fincher, one of our darkest directors (just see number 2 on this list). The most unlikely director to be behind a morality tale. It's never given credit as his best film or as one of the best thrillers of the modern era. This is the very definition of a perfect twist ending.