Saw X [Blu-ray]
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Saw X [Blu-ray]
JOHN KRAMER IS BACK
John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back in SAW X. Telling the untold chapter of John / Jigsaw’s most personal game, the film is set between the events of Saw I and II. A sick John travels to Mexico for a risky medical procedure, which he hopes will be a miracle cure for his cancer. But he discovers the operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, John returns to his unique work, turning the tables on the con artists through terrifying and ingenious traps.
Loved it but would been nice with a little more gore like the others but the Story was good on why he does what he does. Started to fill in the missing pieces
Really good film. Took you back to the early days of the saw franchise. Very enjoyable if you love horror and love the saw films, really good to see jigsaw again playing games.
he SAW franchise is literally my joint favourite franchise along side the Scream one , IMO it is a great movie and a very cool look into a bit more of the backstory for how John Kramer was on his journey to try and get rid of his cancer and more of how he started to become more and more the Jigsaw killer in the movies. I would recommend it traps are awesome takes a bit to get into the traps but it’s still fascinating to find out more about John’s journey to try and beat his cancer all while continuing to become the infamous Jigsaw killer.
This is definitely more reminiscent of early Saw films, and a little of Saw VI, which has the same director. Great story, emotional and a few twists and turns. There’s the return of several old characters as this is based at the time between Saw and Saw II, although they probably should have done a bit of de-ageing as it’s quite clear that its nearly 20 years later. Theres lots of gore, but not for just the sake of it, it’s all carefully done and with reason. All in all, a return to the glory days of Saw movies and horror in general, would definitely recommend.
The Saw franchise has never ceased to amaze me with how each new entry into the series has managed to not turn into complete and utter tripe or simply start repeating itself – it’s fared much better than most film series which have produced this number of films or similar and I really did expect this sixth entry to be the one which finally crossed the line and raised the ‘time to stop now’ flag, especially given some of the critical reviews.
But no, for me this sixth film in the series is actually a great return to form – although some parts of course continue to develop the overall story (led by Hoffman once more, albeit from a new position), a certain simplicity has returned and it works well. The 4th and 5th film were by no means terrible and I enjoyed them, but they did require a more focused viewing and previous knowledge of the series to really enjoy them to their full potential, where as this 6th film could just about be enjoyed by someone with no previous Saw convictions as we go (mostly) back to basics.
None the less, Saw 6 does continue very directly from Saw 5 as the floor is still wet with blood from Agent Strahm’s gruesome demise at the end of the 5th film – not in a figurative sense, but very literally – as the film opens with Hoffman inspecting the aftermath. From there it’s mostly a game of cat and mouse with a new cat, new traps, new victims and an inevitable increase in both the gore and the grimness in the way in which we access that gore – I’ve been quite well exposed to Saw shenanigans over the years and am no tame prude, but there were certainly a few hands-over-the-eyes for me! And although you know what to expect by now with this series there are still some jumps and surprises and Saw 6 manages quite well to balance it’s plate with equal parts crime-thriller and bloody-horror to make it a healthy all-rounder.
Now, on to the 7th course….
Having seen the first five installments of this always tense, always gory, series of Jigsaw murder movies I somehow managed to miss the last two. Most likely thanks to a divorce and home move getting in the way. Ironically it was thanks to that divorce, in a roundabout way, that I discovered Saw 6; I remarried and have been introducing my ‘not usually a hack’n’slash movie fan’ partner to Jigsaw.
Our routine for the last few weekends has been to watch a Saw movie, in order, from start to finish. Last Saturday we got to Saw 6 which, as I say, was a new movie to me.
I was a little apprehensive, being a big fan of the films, that this was going to be a poor showing. After all, it pretty much bombed in the cinema release and there are plenty of bad reviews out there. As usual though, the professional critics were wrong but the paying public believed the negative press. I’m a journalist and author myself, and once upon a blue moon ago I even used to have a gig as a TV critic. I know the pressure there is upon that genre to get the words out and make them controversial to stir up readership interest. I also know that the ‘horror’ genre (in inverted commas there as I don’t really think Saw is horror – thriller or crime drama would get my vote) isn’t best liked by the professionals.
Anyway, happy to say they were wrong. So wrong. Sure, there are no huge narrative surprises here beyond the usual plot twists and unraveling of the perpetrators behind the historical Jigsaw murders. It’s one of the things that Saw does best, considering how dire most sequels can be, in always looking back and introducing nuances to the murders (and motives) that have gone before.
[SPOILER ALERT] So we have FBI Agent Strahm squished to bits at the end of Saw 5, and the bits that remain fall from the ceiling at the start of Saw 6. Detective Hoffman is there to collect them, literally. The narrative revolves largely around whether the FBI belive the planted evidence to pin Strahm as the Jigsaw accomplice who is continuing his legacy of ‘I want to play a game’ murders or whether Detective Hoffman is a suspect. We are also introduced to a new possible accomplice of sorts, Jigsaw’s ex-wife Jill Tuck.
If there is any weakness in Tobin Bell’s sixth outing, it’s that it has the feeling of a finisher. That this was meant to be the end of the series. Yet it wasn’t. That said, I’m already looking forward to, and feeling kinda sad that it’s the end of, Saw the final chapter.
For now though, Saw 6 is by far the goriest and most gripping of all the movies in my never humble opinion. Watch it, you won’t be disappointed.
Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw’s legacy.
However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw’s grand scheme is finally understood…
After IV and V being nothing more than average, the makers of the horror behemoth return with something that gets you thinking again, something that makes some sense as a standalone film, and is probably the most accessible Saw movie since II.
Keeping up with the times, John Kramer realises from beyond the grave that the credit crunch is a bad thing, and will affect people with health care issues. So he sends a fat cat on a game (the same fat cat who denied him something earlier) and all the while Hoffman has something to do with something, and there are flashbacks galore, but it does it’s job with keeping up with the main narrative throughout.
there was a time not more than a couple of years ago when seeing the saw movies were becoming a bit of a chore. The public must of recognised this because of diminishing returns. But the trouble is, this is the kind of franchise that once you start watching it, you cannot ignore further instalments, regardless of how baffling or bizarre they have become.
Thankfully for once, the focus isn’t on the traps (although they are good) the focus is on people again, and not how much they value their life, but how much they put a value on others (very topical).
For a fifth sequel in a horror franchise, the acting is good, and production values even better, and like i have said before, the story is an integral part to everything, and really makes it more enjoyable, as the flow is smooth.
This film lived up to it’s hype. The Saw series was beginning to tail off. VI brought back the original energy of the first two. The pace was lively and the plot gripping. VI was the necessary bridge to the final conclusion in VII. There were no unreasonable twists or distortions and the recaps to the earlier episodes were not overindulgent. It was not a film were you could stop and do the washing up. I recomend it. VII doesn’t make sense without it.
The basic plot of the film is as follows: after Agent Strahm meets his sticky end, Jigsaw’s successor Detective Hoffman (Mandylor) carries out one final game for his deceased mentor in the shape of William. William is thrown into a series of traps and must decide which of his employees live and which of them die, symbolising the decisions he makes when reviewing his clients’ insurance applications. Meanwhile, Hoffman works alongside Agent Erickson (Mark Rolston) to determine if the secretly-framed Agent Strahm is in fact behind the latest Jigsaw killings, while Jigsaw’s ex-wife Jill (Betsy Russell) has an agenda of her own in carrying out the puppet-master’s will…
The traps, though not an important part of the films for me, are extremely clever and ingeniously designed, with strong direction by Saw veteran Kevin Greutert, a world away from Darren Lynn Bousman’s acid trips of filmmaking in Saw IV. In fact, there is one trap at the end which may well be my favourite scene of the series…
The film is all at once disgusting, shocking, emotional and genuinely surprising, with an astonishing pace and phenomenal editing and along with Charlie Clouser’s score ensures that the viewer is left exhilarated, enthralled and maybe even a little moved long after the credits have rolled; and, of course, eagerly anticipating the next instalment, as this one ends on a cliffhanger the size of The Italian Job. There are many of Saw’s trademark twists and turns throughout the film, keeping the viewer guessing while at the same time changing the whole perspective of the series up to this point.
Yes, it will be very confusing for those unfamiliar with the series, but in my opinion one who watches a film called “Saw VI” and expects to fully follow it without seeing the others is being a bit silly, especially with a multi-layered and interconnected series such as this.
It is very rare indeed for a fifth sequel in a horror franchise to be anything other than dire, but Saw VI stands out as an incredible achievement, a roller coaster ride more thrilling than all of the other Saw sequels combined, with more focused direction, great writing by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, some of the series’ best traps and strong performances. If you’re a horror/thriller fan then you’re in for a real treat.
Most of the extras are the usual fluff, with some brief looks at the traps, the character of Jigsaw and the new Saw maze attraction. There are also a couple of pointless music videos and a pair of commentaries, one from the producers and the other with Greutert, Melton and Dunstan. The producers’ track has its share of shaky moments, but the other commentary is certainly worth a listen.