Saw IV

It's a testament to how good the original Saw was that the series can fall so far and still not actually be “bad.” Saw IV was basically a scramble to keep the story going longer, but it largely ends up over-compensating with far too much story. The biggest losses are, of course, Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith as John “Jigsaw” Kramer and Amanda Young. From this point forward in the franchise their appearances are limited to flashbacks.

Beyond that, at this point the films become more like a soap opera than a series of standalone films. It's not simply that the story is serialized, but that the storylines no longer have the weight to justify individual movies. While the only Saw film I've seen in theatres is The Final Chapter, I imagine it must have been frustrating to wait an entire year for the next of what feels more like an episode in a weekly series than a yearly movie franchise.

If there is an A-plot to this movie it's the attempted recruitment of a new Apprentice. Detective Daniel Rigg (Lyriq Bent), a man whose personal life has suffered because of his obsession with trying to save as many people as possible, is taken and put through a series of traps. Rather than trying to save his own life, Rigg is told that Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is still alive, in a trap with Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), and only the tests can lead Rigg to them.

Rigg is shown a series of people guilty of horrible crimes. In each case, Riggs has to decide whether or not to interfere with the traps, and in one case whether or not to initiate a trap himself. Meanwhile we periodically get shots of Matthews standing on a block of ice with a noose around his neck, while Hoffman hovers above electrified water next to him, and a mysterious figure works around them. At the same time, Detectives Strahm and Perez (Scott Patterson and Athena Karkanis) attempt to follow Rigg's trail of bodies, and interrogate Jigsaw's ex-wife Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), as they draw the conclusion that Jigsaw may have had a second Apprentice.

If anyone hasn't watched vlogger Welshy's retrospective of the Saw series, I think he nailed it for this entry (sadly the series is incomplete, as Welshy left Channel Awesome). The movie has so much story that it seems to move at a frantic pace, with no real regard for the characters. Most notably, we never really get a sense of Rigg's emotional journey. After each of his tests are completed we cut away, not giving him time to reflect on the “lesson” he's supposed to be learning. Or, if he is reflecting, we don't see it.

There are two major pay-offs for all these plotlines. The first is the reveal that Rigg's test was designed to punish him for refusing to “let go.” Matthews' trap went off when Rigg arrived in less than ninety minutes, killing Matthews because Rigg charged in trying to be a hero. The second is that Hoffman is Jigsaw's second Apprentice (in a stroke of genius, his trap looked scary, but would be unlikely to actually kill him when he's ungrounded). The mysterious individual holding them was actually a patsy named Art Blank (Justin Louis), trapped by a device strapped to his back designed to kill him if he disobeys orders, much like Zep from the first film.

Starting with this film it becomes increasingly difficult to tell just which traps were set up by which Jigsaws. The events of these final films happen in close proximity, so there's no real reason to assume that Amanda didn't set them up on John's orders before dying. In fact, the final moments of this film establish most of it's plot as happening simultaneously with Saw III, meaning John and Amanda are still alive. Or, Hoffman might be setting them up. The Final Chapter complicates this matter further, but I'll get to that in time.

During the interview scenes with Jill we get a number of flashback to John's history. It's true these were clearly written to keep Tobin Bell in the franchise, but they still fit very well with the story. It really is quite amazing how much of a coherent narrative the writers were able to produce for the franchise while writing by the seat of their pants. They show us John's descent into madness, and the tragic events that led up to it. Tobin Bell is still, by far, the best actor in this entire franchise. If he was in a drama rather than a horror movie there's a very real possibility his performance would have merited Oscar consideration.

I should probably also comment on Hoffman, even if it's later films that establish his history and motivations. I like him a lot as a villain. While certainly he's no John Kramer, even with his reveal as the villain coming at the end of this film I can already tell that he's a cunning schemer. He's neither as honorable as Jigsaw, nor as demented as Amanda.

I also want to comment on Angus Macfayden's return as Jeff. It was one of the biggest “Screw You”s I've ever seen to the audience. Because the two films happen mostly in parallel, Strahm ends up walking in on and shooting him in a scene that takes place immediately after the events of Saw III. I know this franchise was largely written on-the-fly, and fan reactions were a major influence, so I'm guessing fans didn't like the character much, and he was dispatched casually.

It's still a cop-out, though. The ending of Saw III clearly set up a story of Jeff desperately trying to save his daughter in time. Instead, she's saved by Hoffman in a single scene in the next movie (yeah, spoiler, but whatever). For God's sake, if your set-up doesn't please your audience, make it up in the pay-off. Don't just throw out a major sub-plot after making it so critical to the cliffhanger of the previous movie!

Saw IV is a film I recommend as part of a marathon. Rigg has the only story-line that feels remotely complete without the previous or following movies, and that story in and of itself doesn't hold a candle to the previous three films, feeling a level of tension I'd more associate with a television episode than a film the audience waited a year for. It's far from terrible, but the series is on the downslide.

Saw III

Saw III was the first sequel to have been planned in the writing of the previous movie. It picks up immediately where the Saw II left off. Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is still shackled in the bathroom from the first film, and has to crush his own foot to escape from the chains.

We’re then given our opening trap in flashback, as the police investigate it. This sets up a mystery for the movie: someone is making inescapable traps, completely contrary to Jigsaw’s philosophy. It’s a point that seems forgotten for most of the movie, only becoming significant at the end. A nice little Chekov's Gun.

In Saw II the narrative was driven by two games, but the point of only one was made entirely clear from the beginning. For III there are two games, with far more obvious purposes. A man named Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), whose son died in a tragic car accident, is put through a series of traps in which he must decide whether or not to save the people he blames for his suffering. First, a witness who ran and failed to testify (Debra Lynne McCabe), then the judge who let the driver off with a light sentence (Barry Flatman), and finally the driver himself (Mpho Koaho).

Meanwhile, a young doctor named Lynn (Bahar Soomekh) is captured by Amanda (Shawnee Smith again), and forced to care for John “Jigsaw” Kramer (Tobin Bell, awesome as always). While she has no specific knowledge of Jeff’s game, she’s tied to it: She’s wearing a collar with shotgun shells, set to go off if John’s heart stops. She’s told that if John lives long enough for the game to finish, she’ll be released.

Lynn's game works as a much more grounded, realistic horror story. Instead of the usual traps, we're treated to brain surgery with power tools, as Amanda refuses to move John to a hospital. The scenes are realistic enough to make you truly uncomfortable.

Strange as it sounds, I somewhat wish there had been a bit more filler in the early Saw series. This is the only film in which John and Amanda are alive and openly working together, and the results are palpable. Smith gives an amazing performance, in which she takes on the role of daughter to John, while coming across as an imposing, terrifying, and controlling figure to everyone else. I’d pay to watch a movie that was just them talking in between games.

For Jeff’s game, I’m not sure what to say. The traps are disturbing, but other movies have had worse, and none of them are especially gory for this series. The witness is frozen, the judge is (almost) drowned in the bodily fluids of pigs, and the driver has his limbs and neck twisted and broken. Each of the traps follows a basic pattern: Jeff is torn, forgives the person, and tries to save them.

He succeeds only in saving the judge, who is killed off accidentally in the driver’s trap by a stray bullet. I suspect that the judge was given a brief reprieve so that the audience wouldn’t assume failure was the only option. The writers clearly didn’t want any of the three victims sticking around for the climax, so his death comes across as just sloppy, and he contributes nothing. The possibility of him attempting to free the driver without Jeff’s assistance is never even mentioned, even though the judge has no particular grudge against the man.

McFadyen’s performance is good, as are the performances of the other victims. However, against Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith in a Saw film, it’s nothing to write home about. The only scene that even sticks out in my mind is Jeff screaming “I forgive him!” as the driver dies.

Every article ever written on this movie has mentioned that it was originally intended to be the final entry in the series, and now so have I. Lions gate decided to continue the franchise, and the ending was hastily reshot. While we still get plenty of answers through flashback regarding the events of the previous films, we also get multiple cliffhangers.

Jeff and Lynn are husband and wife, driven apart by the loss of their child. Amanda was responsible for the inescapable traps, rejecting Jigsaw’s philosophy as anything more than a chance to vent her personal demons. When Jeff’s game ends, Amanda refuses to release Lynn, shooting and severely wounding her after a long monologue and flashback, being shot by Jeff in retaliation. However, Jigsaw covers a tape in wax and swallows it, showing he still has plans that continue past his death.

Detective Matthews is shown confronting and being further crippled by Amanda after a brief escape in flashback, with his death being edited out. Donnie Wahlberg was not happy about this, but he was eventually convinced to return for one final film. Given his initial dismissal of the franchise I find it odd that he cared so much what happened to the character.

The remaining cliffhanger was one that was resolved as an aside in the following film, but here seemed as if it would be the primary driving force going forward: Jeff kills John, causing his wife's collar to go off and finish her. He then finds out from a tape recorder that John had abducted his daughter, and she would die unless Jeff played another game. I assume this plotline was unpopular, but I do think it was a good twist that had potential.

For a movie that started out as the ending to the story, it somehow had one of the most dramatic endings of the series. Pure cliffhanger. Jigsaw is dead, but the story is far from over, and everyone is left on the edge of their seat for what John is planning from beyond the grave. While it's far from the best Saw film, it's ending is rivaled only by the original.

Saw II

Saw was an amazing film, but in many ways it left us with a blank slate. The film wrapped up all of its major storylines, while leaving Jigsaw alive, and a few minor tidbits that could later be written into a greater continuity. Saw II is where the franchise as it’s commonly remembered began. Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is given a prominent role, the traps are much more elaborate and gory, the number of characters is vastly increased, and the story is clearly written with more intention of serialization.

The film once again follows two parallel narratives, but this time the two feel far more independent. The Police, led by Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Walberg), capture Jigsaw (aka John Kramer). In the other narrative, a group of characters wake up in a strange house. This group includes Amanda (Shawnee Smith), a returning character presented briefly in the last film as a heroin addict who became the only Jigsaw survivor, and Daniel (Erik Knudsen), detective Matthews son.

Matthews, discovering that Jigsaw has taken his son, is told by the killer that he can see his son safely again if he agrees to sit and talk. Meanwhile (or so it seems), the people in the house are told by one of Jigsaw’s tape recorders that a the house will unlock in three hours, but they’ll all die from poisonous gas before then unless they navigate a series of traps to find syringes containing the antidote. The police can see this happening on monitors, but don’t know where it’s taking place.

Talking about every character in this film would take way too long, but suffice it to say that, like the original Saw, this is a story carried by the performances. The trap victims are mostly stereotypes (the prostitute, the reformed gang member, the thug, the petty criminal kid whose being scared straight by the real criminals…), but the actors are good enough that you don’t really care.

The traps vary in quality. The Venus Flytrap mask at the beginning just came across as downright silly. Other traps make more effective use of simple fire and blades. The best trap of the film by far required Amanda to crawl through used syringes to find a key (a trap intended for another victim).

The real star here, though, is Tobin. This is the movie that made Jigsaw an icon. Somehow the man manages to remain intimidating through nothing but dialogue while hooked up to an IV, and surrounded by a SWAT Team. Matthews tries every possible form of intimidation, but John is completely unphased. Meanwhile, he plays with Matthews’ head, accusing him of being a hothead guilty of police brutality.

The film does eventually try to connect the narratives, but it’s much weaker here than in the previous film: Matthews planted evidence on each of the victims, and Jigsaw planted a clue that Daniel was his son. I find this plot twist to be wholly unnecessary. Only one of the victims, Xavier (Franky G), ever actually attempts to harm Daniel, and Xavier was already a murderous thug with a motivation to try to kill everyone. After they’d failed at all the other traps, he could unlock a safe with the final syringe using numbers tattooed on the backs of each person’s neck. Did the writers think he needed a justification to try extra-hard to kill Daniel, specifically? “Your son is in a trap with people you planted evidence on” already seems Jigsaw-esque enough without the added complication.

The final twist of this film is now almost as well known as the previous film’s twist: The events in the house were prerecorded, Daniel was in the same building as Jigsaw locked in a safe, and Amanda had secretly become Jigsaw’s apprentice. Matthews fails his “test” by brutalizing Jigsaw for information, and is captured by Amanda to be dispatched in a later film, and Amanda escapes with Jigsaw.

Is this film as good as the first? Hell no, not even close. However, as a way of setting up a franchise, it worked far better. It's definitely worth a watch.

Fear Itself: Episode 6: New Years Day

The credits of this episode show that it's based on a Paul Kane story, Dead Time. I've never read that story, however I do see a clear inspiration in H.P. Lovecraft's 1926 story The Outsider. It's quite likely that Kane drew from Lovecraft himself, so this is probably an adaptation of a reimagining (I'm reluctant to say “rip-off,” since the story is public domain).

The basic story is there: a journey to seek out people, ending with the revelation that the main character is a ghoul/zombie (terminology has changed since Lovecraft's day), and is thus rejected by humans. In fact, while the set-up of this episode is quite different, it's actually much more faithful than many official Lovecraft adaptations, including the “film adaptation” of The Outsider, Castle Freak.

The apparent connection to Lovecraft, however, does not save it. This episode is just ill-conceived. The acting is decent, and Darren Lynn Bousman is a talented enough directed, but the twist simply doesn't work on the screen. In Lovecraft's story the narrator had never encountered a human before, so not realizing that he was different made a degree of sense. In this version, Helen (Briana Evigan), makes multiple phone calls to her friends over the course of the night, and somehow believes that she's speaking English when she's merely groaning.

We the audience, of course, see her as a human until the end of the episode. That feels like a cheat to me. I know there are plenty of movies, such as Fight Club and Silent House that show us the character's hallucinations from a third-person perspective, but pointing the camera directly at the narrator, and not showing us she's a zombie, is just cheap.

Another major problem concerns how intelligent Helen is. She doesn't behave aggressively or attack people, but the other zombies do, and she has constant flashbacks to her human life. However, there's no suggestion that she's a special zombie. So, do all the other zombies think they're human? Is eating human flesh something you just decide to do when you realizing you're a zombie? Helen does when she finally figures it out, so maybe it's just what's expected.

It's amazing how much of this review is devoted simply to the problems with the twist. That said, however, the episode does make a somewhat interesting love-triangle. Helen spends the entire night trying to get to James (Cory Monteith), a man she feels unrequited love for, while being followed by her zombified roommate Eddie (Niall Matter), who was in love with her in life. She calls James a number of times, and they believe that his inability to understand her is due to connection issues.

We eventually find out that Helen became a zombie because she committed suicide when she saw James with a girl named Chrissie (Zulay Henao). Eddie tried and failed to revive her, before being zombified himself by a child zombie. It's a depressing scene to be sure.

The episode ends with James shooting but failing to kill Helen, Eddie killing James, and the two holding hands before they eat Chrissie together. It is twistedly romantic, like a darker version of Warm Bodies. However, it still leaves me with the obvious question of just how intelligent Helen, or any other zombie in this episode are. She still apparently has her memories and identity, but just chooses to eat humans because...zombie?

That said, I don't hate this episode. If you want to watch it, go ahead, but expect to facepalm a lot. It's as exciting as it is dumb, and as sweet as it is cheap.