SAW IV (2007)

Or as i like to call it, "SAW III, part II" as III and IV are, more so than the others, absolutely integral to each-other, along with mandatory gruesome traps and sharp music scoring, we're treated to the a truly "holy shit..i don't even?" ending.

The player this time around is SWAT team leader Rigg (Lyriq Bent of SAW II and III alumni), we see him put his commitment as a police officer to the test and the scope of the SAW-verse expanded, between Rigg and the now dead Jigsaw (Bell once again, who shows up as a chillingly still corpse in the gut wrenching opening scene) we're given the motivations behind Jigsaw's quest to help people help themselves through flashbacks. The plot weaves in and out between the events surrounding the current "Game" and police Lieutenant Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and FBI agents Straum and Perez (Scott Patterson & Athena Karkanis respectively) hunting down Jigsaw and chasing after Rigg. It ends, as ever with a twist ending, this one however SO integral to the events of III they could be 2 parts of the same movie.

An interesting observation is that this entry became the first in the franchise not to have original Creators Leigh Whanell and James Wan involved with the writing (but instead sat back as Executive producers, as they have for II and III), Director/Co-writer Darren Lynn Bousman instead teams up with new-comers Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton.

Conclusion: While the now lavish set-pieces look great, the films are starting to get a bigger budget, which for me takes away some of the charm of the previous instalments, this one (and the 2 that follow) really have a shiny new "Hollywood" feel to them, and starts to lack as much subtance as before. That said, aside from some OTT and possibly pointless traps (yet another person is subjected to two tests) and CGI blood (?) the movie continues what was set up in 3 nicely, they really are 2 sides of the coin, though, best seen back to back. 7/10.

SAW III (2006)

Third time's a charm? we'll see about that.
Another October brought us yet another SAW film, this film was released with a guaranteed fourth, which left some of the suspension a bit moot, however the actual story is probably as creative as the first.

Jigsaw (reprised by Tobin Bell) is sick, and so he must apprehend Doctor Lynn (Bahar Soomekh) A woman who is seemingly unappreciative of her husband and family, but as ever, there's more reason to her being here. While Jigsaw is being treated by the good doctor, we're flung between the current "player" Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), who is unable to move on from his son's death, causing him to pay no attention to his wife and daughter, Jigsaw pit's him against various people involved in and around his son's tragic "hit and run" passing. the film concludes with a bigger twist than II, but not a scratch on the original, again giving us the dilema of choice, with the moral being "Let go".

Series creators (and executive producers) James Wan and Leigh Whannell return to co-write with Director Darren Lynn Bousman. Creative and devilishly clever in places, there are some people in these traps featured in III that have little to no control over their fate, something that seems to go against the point of Jigsaw's motivation, the film in the end becomes partly a tale of loss and the breakdown of a family unit, hitting some emotional highs while bringing it all together in the final act.

Conclusion: The clever plot is brought down only by some of the shaky performances and seemingly unmotivated actions of some of the characters, it does it's job, and ties into it's successor beautifully. 7/10

SAW II (2005)

So begins the slew of sequels, following hot on the heals of the first, SAW II was released just a year later, in many ways it was the original SAW film in the sense that it set the template for the rest, and features the traps and "players" in equal measure as Jigsaw and his accolades.

Instead of a measly 2 guys, directer/co-writer Darren Lynn Bousman teams up with original screenwriter Leigh Wannell to bring us a roster of 7 people, each seemingly with a dark past, once the game begins the heat is on to find a cure to the nerve gas being pumped into them through the ventilation system, while outside the house we finally see Jigsaw being "caught", but is that all it seems?
we see Jigsaw<(Tobin Bell) having a back and fourth with Cop Eric Mathews (Donnie Wahlberg, brother of Mark) and discover that Mathews' son is one of our house-mates. connections between the group start to become apparent, but it is not until the end we find out how important Eric was to the rest of the group.

While lacking the first's claustrophobic nausea, the second one does spread it's wings a little, the victims had a chance to explore their surroundings, and a sort of anti-group dynamic was allowed to form, no time for love interests or comradery, these people seem to be more interested in saving themselves. that said, given the bigger scope of the film it brought with it the negatives that would plague the remaining sequels, the more technical something is the more variables there are, and a lot of what the group do or decide appears to be way too circumstantial.

Conclusion: though in contention for the best of the sequels, it can't match up to the first for depth, emotion of confinement, but we still see basic and believable traps at work (for example the pit of syringes.... *shudders*), whereas in later films everything starts looking like over-mechanical uber-traps are the only devices to hand. 6/10.

SAW (2004)

It's Halloween again, and with this time of the year comes another saw film,
this year brings us SAW 3D, which will (hopefully) be the last in the 7 film franchise, but where did it all begin? what kind of movie spawns 6 sequals and goes on to be one of the highest grossing Horror Franchises of all time? let's find out today with SAW.

The 2004 and horror/thriller movie is brought to us by Director James Wan and writer/star Leigh Whannell,based on a short film they made in 2003 (of the same name). Photographer Adam (Whannell) and Surgeon Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) wake up to find themselves chained to pipes in a dirty, windowless and quiet shower room with a body between them and tapes revealing they have only a limited amount of time to escape, or not only does Dr Gordon die, but his wife and daughter too. so it becomes a race against the clock to find out why they are there, and how they will escape.

In the wrong hands the film could have become very formulaic and mundane and wouldn't have had the lasting power it has today, but the passion and vision from creators Wan and Whanell give us the kind of horror movie never seen before. a smart one. The plot spans out beyond the confines of the enclosed shower room long enough to fill you in on what's going on on the outside as well as in the past (as flashbacks) but doesn't leave it too long before dragging you back again, leading to possibly one of the greatest endings of the 2000's.

Conclusion: Superb performances from all involved (excluding Danny Glover) made this low budget gore/thriller all the more chilling and convincing, while tight Writing, Directing and Editing made it also a beauty to behold (with a badass soundtrack and scoring to boot) 8/10