Publications
Partners
What it's about:
Saw IV kicks off with the autopsy of the notorious previous killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), and a cassette is discovered in his stomach. Minutes later, at a different location, new victims are fighting for their lives in a deadly trap. Investigator Rigg (Lyriq Bent) is drawn into the deadly games, while FBI agent Strahm (Scott Peterson) pursues the new killer.
What we thought of it:
Saw IV follows on directly from the previous film, and because of some very sketchy storytelling it helps a little if you've seen Saw III. The opening scene of IV is a graphic autopsy of the original jigsaw killer, which indicates the level of gratuitous gore that will soon follow – and gore is what you're probably paying to see.
The Saw movies and their improbable traps and torture contraptions are all about the "Would you rather do this horrible thing to yourself, or that horrible thing… you know, like if some guy had a gun to your head?" question. There was a certain moral question in the original film about whether the "victims" deserved their grisly punishments, but that has long since been replaced by a sequence of lovingly constructed set pieces of mutilation and dismemberment. Anyone who tries to tell you that there's anything deep about this is either a liar or an idiot.
So what do we have? A passable horror that is very thin on plot, but fast paced enough to keep your attention off the inconsistencies and ridiculous bits for the most part. There's a bit of irritating music video type style quick cut editing, but not enough for you to expect Marilyn Manson to appear at any moment.
Saw IV will give you your fix in the recent drought of horror movies, but then you could also wait to rent it, or watch it on e-tv a year down the line. Basically, it's just the third sequel to the poor man's version of Seven.
- Ivan Sadler
Saw IV kicks off with the autopsy of the notorious previous killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), and a cassette is discovered in his stomach. Minutes later, at a different location, new victims are fighting for their lives in a deadly trap. Investigator Rigg (Lyriq Bent) is drawn into the deadly games, while FBI agent Strahm (Scott Peterson) pursues the new killer.
What we thought of it:
Saw IV follows on directly from the previous film, and because of some very sketchy storytelling it helps a little if you've seen Saw III. The opening scene of IV is a graphic autopsy of the original jigsaw killer, which indicates the level of gratuitous gore that will soon follow – and gore is what you're probably paying to see.
The Saw movies and their improbable traps and torture contraptions are all about the "Would you rather do this horrible thing to yourself, or that horrible thing… you know, like if some guy had a gun to your head?" question. There was a certain moral question in the original film about whether the "victims" deserved their grisly punishments, but that has long since been replaced by a sequence of lovingly constructed set pieces of mutilation and dismemberment. Anyone who tries to tell you that there's anything deep about this is either a liar or an idiot.
So what do we have? A passable horror that is very thin on plot, but fast paced enough to keep your attention off the inconsistencies and ridiculous bits for the most part. There's a bit of irritating music video type style quick cut editing, but not enough for you to expect Marilyn Manson to appear at any moment.
Saw IV will give you your fix in the recent drought of horror movies, but then you could also wait to rent it, or watch it on e-tv a year down the line. Basically, it's just the third sequel to the poor man's version of Seven.
- Ivan Sadler
