In terms of ratings, the Saw movies are inconsistent among fan review sites.
According to Rotten Tomatoes only two of these brutal films hit above 50 percent on the Tomato Meter – and yet, after some older releases disappointing fans, this is in my opinion the best Saw since the original hit the screens in 2004.
Spoilers ahead – you have been warned.
The basic premise of the film differs to the previous nine as there is a sense of the gore not taking over the film with the focus being on John Kramer and his motivations behind the traps.
The first hour of the film focuses on the Jigsaw killer who flies to Mexico for what he thinks is treatment that could save his life as he battles brain cancer.
The only trap in this first half of the movie is hypothetical as he envisions using a trap on a hospital cleaner who steals patients belongings – so Kramer imagines a trap about removing his eyeballs – other than this one trap the focus is solely on the treatment and Kramer’s personal life.
Everything goes smoothly and it seems Kramer is on the road to recovery until it turns out that the surgeons and company are scammers and have defrauded him and many other patients out of their money and shattered any hope they had of surviving their cancer.
If you have read my previous reviews this is, like most movie twists, a swerve I did not see coming.
What then follows is a return to the classic Saw as each scammer is placed into an unsettling environment in disgustingly brilliant traps as they play John’s ‘game’ in the hopes of getting out alive.
It can be argued in previous films the blood and traps take over with some very memorable stomach churning moments such as the needle pit or the reverse bear traps (do not google these if you have a nervous disposition).
Yet, here the gore is a part, as it was always going to be, but the story and plot isn’t overshadowed by this.
The film makers are clearly very self aware of the debate around the protagonist and if he is in the right morally and here the position seems to be he is.
There is a twist towards the end of the film as the main scammer, Dr Pederson, manages seemingly to get one up on Kramer as her lover, Parker Sears, comes to rescue her to get her out the traps and forces Kramer in there.
In the process she even kills her previous associate who worked with her scamming people and she entraps a young boy in a waterboarding device that uses blood instead of water.
But, John knew this would happen and his trap reverses when Dr Pederson tries to get the money she scammed from people back, and the room locks her and Parker Sears inside – who she kills to save herself.
After watching this film clearly it seems Kramer is set up to not be seen as villainous as Pederson comes across as a psychopath as at least Kramer stands by his own views on morality and reasons behind putting people in the traps.
Amanda Young even has a character arc of being involved in the traps but struggling to let people play the games who she thinks should be released – a sympathetic side not often seen in these gory films.
Is some of the dread lost by seeing Kramer and Amanda interact with the people in their traps, potentially, and does seeing Kramer in a trap himself make the viewers feel sorry for him, arguably.
But, what it definitely did was try something not seen in the Saw movies and overall there is a reason this film is the highest rated of the franchise on a 74 per cent Tomato Meter and is the second highest rated Saw film, only behind the original, on IMDb.
A career best performance by Tobin Bell (John Kramer) and an excellent cast behind him mixed with a the best points of the franchise – outrageous traps and a focus on raising moral questions in a hugely interesting plot – makes for a great watch this halloween.
Rating – 8.5/10.