Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Country: USA

Director:  Darren Lynn Bousman

Main Stars:  Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella

Storyline:  Saw like murders are happening again but this time within the police force itself.

Review (Spoils):    A tough cop (Chris Rock) who is hated by many and has a background of police in his family is on the trail of several body pieces from different police staff or members. This all leads to a few police detective investigation across the city some with druggies, thieves, and other riff raff to find out all the connections.

While is happening one by one some of the police/detective staff get kidnapped with someone in a pig mask and plays within the game with a number of Saw like traps. Everything from water torture, electric finger thing, some saw blades, the normal tape recording of the puzzle, human skinning, some hot liquid thing on the face and of course its not a saw money if someone is not hanging up high some type of gadget.  The gore is there but its not over the top its more of storyline thing.

Rating:  Could not buy into this as a Saw movie. Yes, we have the spiral symbols, tapes, torture, deceit, pig masks and so forth but without Jigsaw this kind of reminded me more of Seven. Samuel L. Jackson did not fit in the movie to be honest and neither did Chris Rock. Sorry Rock makes a not believable tough cop sorry even the lame face expression does not help. Too me this felt like let’s jam some big names it so people will buy it as a Saw film. The film itself was not bad it just was not believable to be truly part of the franchise.

5/10 Beers!

Yacker

Saw 3D: The Final Chapter VII (2010)

Saw 3D:  The Final Chapter VII (2010)

Country: USA

Director:  Kevin Greutert

Main Stars:  Tobin Bell, Carly Elwes, Costa Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Chester Bennington, Sean Patrick Flanery, Gina Holden, Chad Donella

Storyline:  The people involved in the Jigsaw puzzle are at it again but also at each other as one of the survivors creates a Jigsaw survivor support group.

Review (Spoils):    A jigsaw survivor goes public about the experience and life changing event as he influenced by others. (ugh) This all leads to a group of survivors all getting together for support and we have flashbacks of their traps and decisions you know for a positive outcome (barf). Bobby finally gets his dues, and he needs to survive Jigsaw to save all his lame wife and business partners.

We have scenes after the first film nice leg burn, buzz saw scene, Jill dream death scene, skin goo tear, head splash with car tire, spinning fans, arm cut off, quick scene of Chester Bennington, hanging cages, Jill being Jill,key on a fishhook down the throat (fun trap actually), eye gouge to make Lucio proud, hanging trap, tooth pull, annoying wife Gina Holden, pierce hooks, machine gun, stab in the throat, furnace trap (who has time to build all this) burning body, the famous jaw trap (finally), 3D explosions and the Jigsaw full circle.

Rating:  From a series that once dark, and classic has now dropped into making fun of itself much like the Scream Series did a one point. Too bad as it just takes a few cheesy scenes to ruin a series fast. The Jill story is kind of dragging by this part of the series and the whole survivor Bobby help group is just stupid writing. What the fuck happened to this once cool series. Sure, a long horror series is allowed to have duds and fun, but this was a very dumb move.  Jigsaw in outer space could have been written better (well maybe not but you get the point).  The film does move into the right direction as Bobby needs to survive traps due to his cash ins but the whole opening bit was bad and the detective bad acting. The film does come kind of full circle in the end for the series with this film.

5/10 Beers!

Yacker

Saw IV (2007)

Saw IV (2007)

Country: USA

Director:  Darren Lynn Bousman

Main Stars:  Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Louise Ferreira, Costas Mandylor, Betty Russell, Lyriq Bent, Athena Karkanis

Storyline:  Continuing where the 3^rd film stops the jigsaw murders keep continuing as he lies with brain cancer.

Review (Spoils):   John Kramer aka Jigsaw is dying with his brain cancer and lying in a bed, but the murders seem to keep going and the FBI are drilling Jill. The traps are set, and the games have started bloody gore and all. We follow the pace of a cop within the puzzle of traps and setups.

More Chains, sewed eyes and mouths, wood hooks, neck, and leg stabs, hanging bodies with exposed rib cages, hair pull that is pretty damn nasty, a eyes gouge which was well deserved, pregnant Jill backstory, a cool steel pin body trap, pin through the head, jigsaw doll bomb, head traps, back neck trap, ice block hanging, gun shots, nasty body of Jigsaw.

Rating:  This is one is a bloody mess but at the same time the storyline is starting to become what’s next.  Sure, the series is a classic and some of puzzle traps are pretty cool but after four films you do have to wonder who have time to build all these traps and machines within the fast timeline and better yet work them. The backstory with Jill and Jigsaw works it explains a lot of the whys so it’s not all repeative and dull much where the series does start to head down.

6/10 Beers!

Yacker

Saw V (2008)

Saw V (2008)

Country: USA

Director:  David Hackl

Main Stars:  Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Julie Benz, Meagan Good, Mark Rolston, Carlo Rota, Laura Gordon

Storyline: Jigsaw starts again as this one continues right after Saw IV

Review (Spoils):   Kicking off right from the end of the last movie.We dig deeper into the connection of the survivors and Jigsaw. Jigsaw is seen as dead and has left Jill a special box as part of her inheritance and she has the key.(Yeah, a mystery box) Detective Hoffman and his whole connection to Jigsaw as everything is slowly coming to light as the murders are not over.

We have the traps as usual such as swinging blades, water box trap, collar traps (as always), beheading, baseball bats, nail bombs, fire explosions, shotgun traps, Jigsaw kidnappings, pig masks, flash backs to past murders and the behind the scenes of them. Neck stabs, bathtub with electricity, meat hook to the head, blood jars with saw blades and a nice, crushed body.

Nothing out of the ordinary for the film to the series very open ended again to be continued.

Rating:  This film is more of an explanation of how Jigsaw did it all and so was all involved in the setups, murders and how to find the guilty. Sure, there is a small group of five also being played in the background of all this but really the main purpose of this film is Jigsaw explanation. Kind of key point of the series but at the same time not as intense as the other Saw films.  The backstories on the five in the situation is kind of lame and felt just jammed together within the filming. It actual hurts the film more than adds to the horror of it.

5/10 Beers!

Yacker

Jigsaw (Saw VIII) (2017)

Jigsaw (Saw VIII) (2017)

Country: USA

Director:  Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig

Main Stars: Matt Passmore, Tobin Bell, Callum Keith Rennie, Hannah Emily Anderson, Laura Vandervoort, Cle Bennett

Storyline:  Several bodies are found could the Jigsaw killer be back from the dead?

Review (Spoils): Bodies start to turn up around the city and killed in unique ways this opens the police investigation to see if the Jigsaw killer is back from the dead.  After looking into who is doing the killing and how is it possible the police and detectives start to track it down that Jigsaw is back or there is a copy killer out there.

So back to the Saw series and yes, I have not reviewed them all in order yet. This one is a little slower on the pace and at first, I was not sure about it. The film jumps right into who are the players and the game of death. Which is fine as this has been done pretty much with all the movies of the series. We have some detectives that are trying to track down who is the Jigsaw killer or is he back from the dead. As this is going on we learn about Logan (Matt Passmore) who works as mortician and his redheaded partner Eleanor (Hannah Emily Anderson).   The story bounces back and forth from a group that are being tested and killer one by one by the fancy traps set by the killer and the police investigation. But unlike the others of the series this one does struggle with a few items.

First off the traps and puzzles in this one just seemed dumb and lazy overall. There was nothing that really screamed cool. We have lots of needles, chains around necks, buckets over the head, a strange motorcycle setup, some buzz saws, acid in the head, shotgun to the face, nasty leg cut, a slicer and a stupid laser cutter scene. Way too many needles in this one that I could not even count them all. Yes, there is blood and gore, but the Jigsaw traps just seemed dull. Secondly what in the dear god happened to Hannah Emily Anderson! Her acting in this was horrible or maybe it was just the character not being believable. Thank god she is easy on the eyes as she drove me nuts with her fake dialogue. What a car wreck!

What kind of worked was Anna (Laura Vandervoort) who is very hot but can entertain. Her character was great and the storyline behind her is great. She and the great Tobin Bell as Jigsaw was worth the watch.

Rating:  The series is running out of steam and should just close soon. The kills are lame, and the storyline seems to be in a loop. Really how many times can they use the same hook. The one scene with the falling weapons in the grain silo was enough to make me scream at the screen on how stupid these puzzles can be but then it hit a even lower low with the final death scene with the laser cutter and the cheesy CGI. Really too bad as it had some babies and it use to be a daring and unique series.

5/10 Beers!

Yacker

Saw 3 (2006)

Saw 3 (2006)

Country: USA

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Main Stars: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Donnie Wahlberg, Bahar Soomekh, Dina Meyer, Debra McCabe

Storyline: Amanda takes over where Jigsaw left.

Review (Spoils): Amanda (Shawnee Smith) is back and this time she has a Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) under wraps and places an explosive around her neck that is connected to John Kramer’s (Tobin Bell) life support. She must save John from the cancer in his brain. Jigsaw is back to his games even though Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg ) escapes. In this new twist of the game we have a young man who is trapped in it because of his inner anger over his loss of his child during an accident.

This time in Jigsaws fun games we have rib cages, freezing water, dead pigs, shotgun shots, explosions and throat slits. The gore is in the house for this part of the series and the games are wilder and tighter than before.

Rating: This is one of the last of the SAW series before it starts to become dry and stall. We have Kramer on his deathbed and Amanda doing everything she can to save his life. The movie is worth checking out and there are some nasty scenes such as the rib cage bit. The series should have died out after this one but Hollywood took over and wanted more cash under the name.

6/10 Beers!

Yacker

Saw 2 (2005)

Saw 2 (2005)

Country: USA

Director:  Darren Lynn Bousman

Main Stars: Donnie Wahlberg, Beverly Mitchell, Franky G, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Dina Meyer

Storyline: Jigsaw is back and laid traps in a shelter to punish those that have taken life for granted.

Review (Spoils): Detective Eric Mathews (Donnie Wahlberg) son gets kidnapped by the notorious Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) and starts to lay traps within a shelter in which he comes across multiple people being punished for wasting their so called lives. Time is wasting and counting…..

The film leads into an intro of a man who has a bear trap around his head and must get the key that is located behind his right eye in time to stop the clock. Jigsaw is back and just as nasty as the first time. Detective Eric Mathews has been connected to the Jigsaw murders and the madman thinks it’s time to play with him. We learn that Jigsaw himself is dying from a rapidly-advancing brain cancer and he is punishing all that waste and take advantage of life. When five people wake up in a shelter once again setup for the game (including the return of the survivor in the first film Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith)) they get placed in their paces.

We have the classic bear trap, stabs in the eye, nasty burnings, poison, neck slicing, throat slashing and the classic pig mask. Jigsaw plays out the game in full fold and introduces his first protégé and the connection between them and detective.

Rating: Not as great as the first of the series this one is still not bad. The game all made sense in the end and I love the introduction of the Amanda back into the series. Sometimes it can be confusing with the back and forth but overall this film is still pretty nasty.

6/10 Beers!

Yacker

 

Saw (2004)

Saw (2004)

Country: USA

Director:  James Wan

Main Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Dina Meyer, Shawnee Smith, Tobin Bell

Storyline:  Two men wake up in a dirty bathroom and are chained at the ankles. No idea on how they got there they are tormented by a stranger character known only as the Jigsaw Killer. Police try to solve the mystery and learn that they are not the first two victims.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review (Spoils):  When I first watch this film I was shocked and locked on the film so bad I even skipped going to the bar. This film is just that good. We great character build in this film and works on you turning away from the film as it sits so realistic that it could really happen. Sure it has the police type feel when they are trying to figure where and who is the Jigsaw Killer. But the idea of the puzzles and timer for each victim to choose and survive is out there and possible that it attacks the mind.  We have everything from traps, bear trap helmets, gorging someone to find a key for a lock and it goes on and on. It really is not over the top gore and not really torture as it is all about survival. This film lives off you being on the edge of your seat and sweating while watching someone escape a puzzle trap while the timer is running. This is brilliant and it is the best of the whole Saw series.

Rating:  Creating one of the most unique horror villains in a long time this movie holds.  Forget the lameness of the teeny bop horrors of that era and reach for this one. Yes it might not be for everyone but everyone should see this film at least once as it is a gem in the horror genre. Drink to the Jigsaw Killer as he “wants to play a game”.

 

 

9/10 Beers!

Yacker