‘SAW’ saga continues to bring fear, gore

Jigsaw is back with tricks on fourth movie

By Justin Thurmond, staff writer
Posted on October 29, 2007

It’s Halloween — that means it’s time for the next installment of the popular “SAW” series.  After the success of the first movie many people didn’t think they could do it again. However, with four movies out so far and two more already announced it looks like “SAW” will be around for quite some time.

“SAW IV” begins with a signature trap/death scene just like the previous three. Shortly after the first scene of blood and gore, the story begins with SWAT team member Rigg (played by Lyriq Bent) who is one of the few actors that have been in all four movies.  After the death of Kerri (played by Dina Meyer) in the last installment he tries desperately to find her and his ex partner Eric Mathews (played by Donnie Wahlberg) who went missing at the end of the second movie.  He finds that he is still alive but has to go through Jigsaw’s puzzles and games to find him. However, the only problem is that Jigsaw is dead.

The “SAW” franchise is successful because of its gruesome death traps and puzzles and its shocking twists and ends.  “SAW IV” provides just that. Although Jigsaw (still played by Tobin Bell) is dead when the movie starts, and yes, he is definitely dead, the movie still delivers the goods.  It’s really no problem that the main star is dead because, like the others, most of the movie is flashbacks, and Jigsaw gets the most screen time.

Veteran “SAW” director Darren Lynn Bousman (“SAW II, III”) has returned for another go around of bloody games and twisted puzzles.  With each movie it gets harder and harder to shock and surprise the audience, but so far Bousman has lived up to the “SAW” name and delivered new and unimaginable scenes of horror that will stay in the back of the audience’s mind for quite some time. 

Let’s face it though, eventually the series is going to have to end.  Are the movies getting more absurdly gruesome? Yes. Are the movies getting more confusing? Yes. But are they better than other horror movies that Hollywood puts out? Yes! As long as characters from the first continue to come back there will be more stories to tell. Unfortunately with each movie comes the death of the founding characters, and after they’re all gone the franchise won’t be able to impress and surprise the audience, because eventually they’ll stop caring.

At the end you’ll be left with Jigsaw dead, and a brand new killer that emerges out of a traditional end-of-the-movie twist.