Jigsaw

[Link Prime]

Note: Full spoilers for any Saw film prior to 2017 possible / likely.

I'm unashamed to admit that I'm a pretty big fan of the Saw series.
Yes, they had their limitations, yes the heretofore final film ('Saw 3D', 2010) was pretty terrible, but there was something very enjoyable about following what was basically an annual installment of a horror series for the best part of a decade.

So whats it all about?
In a nutshell; a deranged cancer survivor decides to play God with the morally wayward and place them in highly hazardous 'traps'- if they manage to escape / survive they will, in theory, fully appreciate their squandered lives.

In many ways, and echoed a million times throughout the internet, the series should have finished with the 3rd installment (with the main character - Jigsaw / John Kramer - and his chosen apprentice both dead), but God bless those greenback lovin' bastids at Lionsgate- they just couldn't let it go.
The next three films in the series followed the new antagonist / protagonist Detective Mark Hoffmann and his ever complex machinations to conceal the fact that he was the new Jigsaw.
Wisely, the later films also heavily featured the superb Tobin Bell (John Kramer) in flashback sequences.

One of the better installments for me was Saw VI, but it performed poorly in the box office (compared to the previous five films) , effectively killing the series off.
I've read that there were plans in place for parts VII & VIII, but they were revised, and the next film, 'Saw 3D' (also referred to as 'The Final Chapter') wrapped things up, but quite unsatisfactorily.
The story-line was approaching outlandish territory at this stage, and the final film was very poorly executed. With a heavy heart, I was glad to see it all end.

Fast forward seven years (dear lord) and we're back; Jigsaw is due to hit cinemas in October.
It features a new cast and story-line, and former apprentices / holders of the mantle (Detective Hoffman / Dr. Gordon) are nowhere in sight.

Could be a soft reboot. Could have some curve-balls. Will most likely finish with a twist (and some music by Charlie Clouser).

Regardless, I'm genuinely looking forward to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPP6aIw1vgY

[Keef Monkey]

Yeah I'll watch this no doubt. I think I saw every previous one in the cinema, mainly because as a horror fan who likes to go to the cinema round Halloween, Saw was the only show in town for a few years (until Paranormal Activity took over the yearly halloween film baton, but those got dreadful much more quickly).

The first one was really something at the time, a great concept with a great twist, I still look at it as a bit of a modern horror classic.

3 was probably the last really memorable one for me but they were always icky gross-out fun, and the way that every film would end with a completely befuddling montage that attempted to tie together everything that had happened in the film with everything that had happened in every film previous (seriously that stuff got insanely convoluted) became groan-worthy but then pushed right through that and became kind of bizarrely amusing.

This might be good, it might be bad, but there's something comforting in the fact it's firing up again. This is coming from someone who has seen all 57 Hellraiser films despite each one being worse than the last, so I might not make the best choices with movie sequels.

[Colin YNWA]

What would be really terrifying is if Jigsaw was actually a movie of Noseybonk - now he was pretty damned creepy!

[maryanddavid]

The first was great, the rest less so but a few of them were worth the time.  Mary's the horror fan, so will no doubt be watching Jigsaw!

[Link Prime]

Love the new international poster.

[Colin YNWA]

Oh cool it is about Noseybonk!

[Satanist]

Oh cool it is about Noseybonk!

That's MR Noseybonk to you.

Love the Saw movies and will no doubt watch this one no matter what.

[Link Prime]

Ok Saw fans, lets get the main question out of the way first- no, it didn't suck. (*Phew*)

I'm not going to bother covering spoilers below, so turn back now if you've any interest in seeing the film.

This was a strange enough movie. It was almost precisely 50 / 50 a prequel to Saw I and a sequel to Saw VII (taking place shortly before the first one, and approx 10 years after the last one).
Twist 1: The time difference is only revealed at the end- for a significant part of the second half of the film the audience is led to believe that somehow (despite being graphically autopsied in Saw IV) John Kramer is actually back from the dead- some genuine gasps / WTF exclamations from fellow cinema goers.

The prequel portion of the film worked best for me- reassuringly familiar set-up, the traps weren't too outlandish, and the actors were pretty decent.
The later scenes with Tobin Bell were excellent- I was delighted with the amount of screen time he got. A wonderful commanding performance from the gravelly voiced (but sprightly) 75 year old.

The present-day portion the film didn't hold up so well.
Four major new characters (all working for the same police department) are introduced, all played by competent actors, but not really given enough screen time to establish themselves properly.
Of course one of them had to be in on it, and of course it was the least suspicious one.

Twist 2: Medical examiner Logan Nelson (Matt Passmore) is the new Jigsaw.

After a feint death scene akin to Hoffman's electrocution in Saw IV, Logan is revealed as the master-mind.
An apprentice that was working with John Kramer before all others (yet somehow never referenced once before now), Logan appears to be the heir apparent that John always wanted- someone that will carry out the 'work' without cruelty or vindictiveness.
As a medical examiner he is / will be privy to cases that warrant this particular brand of vigilante justice- he will literally speak for the dead.

As a fan of the series I wasn't let down- but I wasn't blown away either. The excess of some of the previous installments was toned down (good), but there was something- a small Jigsaw sized piece of flesh-  missing, that I cant quite put my finger on. A re-watch on Blu-ray will be in order at some point.

I will nevertheless welcome Jigsaw II with open arms- in October 2018, all going well.
There's a spark of life in this old rotting corpse yet.