Reviewed by Katherine Ramsland
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| Tobin Bell |
Masks, dolls, traps, or saws seem de rigueur these days for the most extreme flicks about serial killers, which can make them hackneyed. The torture wizard from the Saw franchise, though, has at least been devious and intricate in his approach. There's something satisfying in these films about the way human stupidity and iniquity get their comeuppance, but it's also disturbing to be invited to applaud this vigilante of vice. Worse, over time the story lines have grown murkier, the characters flatter, and the violence more gratuitous. Nevertheless, Tobin Bell as John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer, still compels.
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| Jigsaw |
In 2004, we had our first exposure to "Jigsaw," a man with a hypnotic voice who enjoys forcing people into situations where they must kill someone to survive. In some ways, he's a modern-day H.H. Holmes, the true-life torture master of the 1890s. But Jigsaw's alleged motive is to make his targets better appreciate their lives after he's forced them to contemplate their deaths, and, indeed, they do have lessons to learn. But, as we discover along the way, Jigsaw has other issues as well, and these crystallize in this most recent installment. Unfortunately, attempting to unravel the genesis of evil often makes it seem banal, and Jigsaw's power to terrorize shrinks when it's tied to a petty vendetta.
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| Saw IV Movie Poster |
James Wan directed and co-wrote the first Saw, setting the action in a windowless industrial washroom. He made no claim that his character was psychologically realistic, which was a good thing, because while psychopaths can be clever and generally love their games, they don't devote resources to teaching others to live and love better.
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| Darren Lynn Bousman |
Successive years offered Saw II and Saw III, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, and they offered more deadly games for even more trapped people. Those who failed to follow the rules, generally because of their personal flaws, suffered the dire consequences. Although they didn't really have a chance, it was interesting to watch them try.
Not to give out spoilers, but in Saw IV there's no more Jigsaw, who's being autopsied, and his original accomplice is dead. Yet someone's out there to pick up the pieces, because SWAT Commander Rigg (Lyrig Bent) quickly finds himself thrust into the game of traps and slashes. He's got ninety minutes to get through a gory scavenger hunt to save others, but each trap he encounters threatens to delay his progress toward his ultimate goal. In pursuit is Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), assisted by two FBI profilers, trying to beat the ticking clock with the fewest lives lost. (Hint: They're not very good at it.)
As the story lines jerk back and forth over the course of about ninety minutes, we learn that Jigsaw once cared about others, and even had a wife, Jill (Betsy Russell). When investigators find her, she reveals much more of Jigsaw's deadly intent. Plain and simple, he became angry over a loss that resulted from another person's problems. In reaction, he not only developed into a serial killer but also honed an exquisite joy in making others suffer as long as humanly possible. He ordered his wife, who could no longer understand him, to leave him to (and with) his twisted devices. His obsession to be a one-man Star Chamber leaves a legacy for others to perpetuate, and so the game really has no end. It's an endless war of countless bloody skirmishes.
Like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, these films spin off each other, adding and subtracting characters along the way. Everyone is expendable, so it's not easy to predict who will survive or, increasingly, to care. Director Bousman is back for this one, but he seems uninterested himself, letting gore glue together a rickety plot. While there's a surprise ending seemingly intended to revive the original vision, so many people have been popped, skewered, blinded, shanked, and slimed that one can only wonder why there need be more. But then, as Jigsaw knew, there's no end to human stupidity, greed, and narcissism. These movies have their audience, but they seem to be losing steam and originality. One has to wonder if anything new can lie around the bend.
You think it's over? You think you're safe? October comes next year, too.
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