Jigsaw

photo courtesy of slashfilm.com

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

     There’s a new Saw movie, and I think we’re all to blame for that fact. Jigsaw is the eighth entry in the Saw franchise, and it also marks the return of the series’ famous serial killer of the same name. Sure, the Jigsaw killer (Tobin Bell) died back in Saw III, but not having a comprehensible, sane plot has never held the Saw franchise back before, so here we are.

     Jigsaw (sort of) follows Logan Nelson (Matt Passmore), a forensics expert who examines the body of a new victim whose wounds match the infamous Jigsaw killer’s M.O… years after Jigsaw’s confirmed death. Together with Detective Halloran (Callum Rennie), his partner Detective Hunt (Clé Bennett), and fellow expert Eleanor Bonneville (Hannah Emily Anderson), it’s up to Nelson to figure how to stop Jigsaw—or his copycat admirer— before the rest of his victims meet a grisly death. Meanwhile, four strangers struggle to make it out of Jigsaw’s traps alive.

photo courtesy of addictedtohorrormovies.com

     In case there was any question, no, Jigsaw is not good. I’m not sure how this franchise is still limping onto the big screen every several years, as un-killable as its dastardly villain. This time around, the film’s marketing has positioned Jigsaw as a grand, revamped return to the series (coming seven years after the last “final” installment in 2010), as if Saw has some hallowed legacy that everybody desperately missed. Alas, the marketers are wrong on both counts: 1) this series has never had anything especially memorable going for it, thriving on cheap thrills and excessive violence, and 2) Jigsaw certainly doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

     Jigsaw matches its predecessors fault for fault. There’s poor CGI, a nonsensical story, and bad acting (all functions of a noticeably low budget). But by this point, even the brighter aspects of the Saw franchise have lost their luster. The series’ greatest strength has been its visual impact: its unflinching gore, convoluted mechanical traps, and the admittedly iconic Billy the puppet mascot. The series also earns some respect for its twist endings, once genuinely surprising in the original Saw and somewhat admirable for sheer audacity ever since. Though all of these elements appear in Jigsaw, it’s been a long time since they’ve surprised or intrigued the audience.

photo courtesy of ew.com

     There are precisely zero new ideas in Jigsaw. None, at least, that can justify its existence. Hell, even the serial killer himself is consciously recycling his old tricks at this point. With a plot that’s blatantly recycled from its predecessors, Jigsaw relies on new and more horrifying traps to spice things up… but there’s nothing novel about watching people get sliced up when we’re eight movies in, no matter how inventive the torture devices.

     Having said all this, I find it necessary to issue my typical disclaimer. Jigsaw is pretty much exactly what you expect from a Saw movie, so you should know what you’re getting into: the world’s worst escape room participants alternatively being tortured and having to listen to their captor’s half-baked philosophy. If that’s what floats your boat, then Jigsaw will get the job done. If, however, you simply need a good fright in time for Halloween, there are far more deserving options out there. Have you heard of Stranger Things? The only real horror here is that people are still watching Saw movies. 

Watch the trailer here. 

photo courtesy of denofgeek.com