With the recent release of thebrand-new posterfor the tenth installment in theSawfranchise, the buzz around what it’s going to be about continues to generate among fans of the past movies. The original film became a launching pad for bothJames WanandLeigh Whannell’scareers in Hollywood. And would spawn eight sequels that would run throughout the mid-to-late 2000s and into the decade that would follow.
Saw Xis scheduled to hit theaters on September 29th, 2023. Between then and now, fans are heading back to the films of the past to make a judgment call as to which installments are the best and which ones are not that memorable. Although there isn’t much debate as to which ones hit big and which ones were big misses, they have become fun films to look back on in the horror genre.
9Saw 3D (2010)
Eventually, every horror franchise has to use the gimmick of 3D.Saw 3D, orSaw: The Final Chapter, Saw VII, whatever you want to call it, hit theaters in October 2010, and most people unanimously agree that the franchise was indeed a dead horse at this point. Sitting at 9% on Rotten Tomatoes,Saw 3Dhas a plot that is so farfetched that It’s almost hard to follow. There doesn’t seem to be a through-line plot in it, but at least there is the genius casting of the late Chester Bennington in a trap scene that utilized his ability to yell at the top of his lungs better than anyone else.
The film also gives us some fan service as it brings back Cary Elwes' character from the very first chapter, going head-to-head with Jigsaw’s apprentice, Hoffman. WhereSaw 3Dfails as an overall film, it makes up for it in its marketing. With the film capitalizing on the 3D buzz at the time, the point of the effect was to make you feel like you were taking part in a Jigsaw trap with the characters. However, in the end, Saw 3D feels like the Syfy Original sequel of the franchise.
Related:Tobin Bell’s John Kramer is ‘Absolutley the Hero’ of Saw X
8Saw V (2008)
2008’sSaw Vhad a tagline on the film’s poster that read,You Won’t Believe How It Ends!It’s hard to tell if the producers were hinting at this being the final film in the franchise at the time or not, but once you get to the ending, it can be very chilling as our supposed hero (Scott Patterson) is crushed by a room where the walls are closing in. But there is no sense of this being the final film in the franchise. There are a lot of twists and turns that call back to the first four movies. As well as a lot of new elements that we see in later Saw installments.Saw Vreally sees things kick into gear with Jigsaw’s new apprentice, Lieutenant Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor).
He fits the appearance of a definite psychopath, but he doesn’t have the screen presence of Tobin Bell as Jigsaw.Saw Vmarks the beginning of the end for the franchise, with its lame FBI cat-and-mouse game and a lot of cringe-worthy plot points that feel like they’re from a bad police procedural television show.
7Saw VI (2009)
Out of the Hoffman saga of the franchise,Saw VIis probably one of the better films. It is directed by franchise editor Kevin Greutert. A man who brings good structure and pace to these films. It is by far a better film than the previous one from a year earlier. There are also a lot more inventive kills happening in this one, like the dreaded oxygen crusher, the steam maze, and the one a lot of people seem to remember, the shotgun carousel. Saw VI, like most of the later sequels, lacks in plot, but makes up for it with entertainingkills that push comfort zones, if that is okay to say.
6Spiral (2021)
It’s still hard to wrap your head around the fact that Chris Rock stars in one of the films in theSawfranchise. And he was one of the figures that went out and got it made. What feels like aSaturday Night Livedigital short is actually a real movie. It’s easy to want to dislikeSpiral. Rock spends the whole movie being a burnt-out police detective trying to solve some Jigsaw copycat murders, while he has monologues in the film that make you feel like he’s fleshing out some new standup material.Samuel L. Jacksonplays his dad, which is cool if it didn’t feel like he was phoning it in.
Lastly, you can see the twist coming a mile away in this movie. But who cares? The franchise needed to go off the beaten path and try something new for once.Spiralalso has thefranchise’s trusted director, Darren Lynn Bousman,on board, calling the shots on set. It wants to be a dark ’90s crime thriller with a demented side to it. Maybe it never gets to where it wants to go, but it takes a big swing.
5Jigsaw (2017)
Jigsawwas supposed to be a reboot of the franchise in 2017, even though that was hardly mentioned in the publicity for the film.Jigsawonce again gives us the now tiring plot point of is the killer who died at the end of Chapter 2 really dead? And if he is dead, who is this new copycat killer carrying on his legacy? There’s a lot of great splatter and gore that scratches the itch of any fan of these films. With kills like The Chain Hangers and The Bucket Room standing out in this film, you may definitely tell this side of the film was given a lot of care. But in the long run, once again,Jigsawwas a pretty forgettable installment,even for its accomplishments.
Related:Jigsaw Secretly Sets Up Saw 9 and Future Sequels
4Saw IV (2007)
Saw IVis the last good sequel to the franchise. It all goes downhill after that. It is the last time you are ever intrigued by the mystery of whom the killer could be and how the pieces of the puzzle come together. After this film, you start to turn your brain off on the franchise. This great twist that this film is taking place at the same time as the events ofSaw IIIare happening is unexpected and a fresh twist nobody saw coming. There’s some clunkiness to it, which can be expected from a fourth installment, but we do get some closure onDonnie Whalberg’scharacter from Chapter 2. And it is done in a smashing manner.
3Saw III (2006)
Saw IIIhas the longest runtime of the whole franchise at 108 minutes. It uses that time well and never feels like it overstays its welcome. There doesn’t seem to be too much-convoluted plot in this installment, something that becomes more and more apparent as the franchise goes on and on.Saw IIIhas Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) being used by a dying Jigsaw in his latest gory game. Her goal is to keep him alive long enough for Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) to complete the game of traps that Jigsaw has laid out for him.Saw IIIhas deaths in it that can be burned in your memory, one of which is Timothy (Mpho Koaho),a man trapped in a contraptionthat twists limbs and even heads around till they snap. It’s a scene that starts with one emotion and ends with another.
Related:Tobin Bell Has One Condition for Returning as John Kramer in the Saw Franchise
2Saw II (2005)
As theSawfranchise went on, it strained further and further from the original and got more and more gory.Saw IIhas plenty of gore in its traps for its characters, but it remains very true to the film’s first installment. The start of the film has a trap in it that makes your heart rate skyrocket, with a man trapped in a room with the infamous Venus fly trap mask attached to him. You know from the get-go that he’s utterly screwed. The rest of the film follows Detective Eric Matthew (Donnie Whalberg) as he apprehends Jigsaw and forces him to help him find the location of a house full of his captors playing a deadly game, one of whom is Matthew’s son.
It is a movie that doesn’t get a lot of credit for how haunting it is. We really see how good Tobin Bell’s performance as Jigsaw in this one. It is without a doubt the best sequel to the original.
Related:James Wan Recalls Coming Up with the Idea for Saw
1Saw (2004)
A film that defined what horror would be for the next decade, James Wan directedSawon a limited budget with minimal locations and a cast that includes,Cary Elwes,Danny Glover, Leigh Whannell, Monica Potter, and Tobin Bell. The rest of the franchise has a lot of gore in it. The gore in Saw is mostly in your imagination. There is very little bloodshed until the film’s final moments. The dread of being isolated in a room chained to a metal pipe, left to potentially die, and knowing nobody will ever find you is what haunts you . Another great attribute of this classic is the mystery of it all.
The pieces all come together so organically inSaw’sfinal moments. And who can ever forget that twist that was right in front of us this whole time?Sawwill go down as a generation-defining horror film. Its sequels made a lot of cash at the box office, but the original gets the respect of film lovers alike.
