Saw Movies Ranked

With the latest instalment in the long running Saw franchise with Spiral: From the Book of Saw, I thought I should review all 9 movies in the series.

The original Saw was a lower budget horror movie which proved to be incredibly successful, going on to have 8 sequels, 6 in the main series, and 2 ‘soft reboots’. It was very influential, and the series would be instrumental in the forming of the infamous horror sub-genre ‘torture porn’ (even though I think that title really only belongs to just one of the movies in the franchise).

Earlier this year I watched through the franchise in preparation for Spiral and I found myself surprisingly enjoying the experience. Despite some of the silliness and very present issues in each instalment, I kept wanting to watch the next movie in the series.

Without further ado, here’s my ranking.

Minor spoiler warning for most of the movies, as many of the plots of the movies link in with each other.

9. Saw 3D: The Final Chapter

It’s actually incredibly difficult to note down everything wrong in this movie in just one list entry, my review of the movie barely covered most of the points. From its opening trap that took place in public focussing on two guys having to fight over a girl who cheated on both of them, that’s where the movie lost me. The best thing I could say about the opening scene was that it was an indication that it was going to be a very different Saw movie, and not necessarily for the better. It feels so far removed from the previous instalments, tonally it was sillier and hard to take seriously despite not having quite an overt comedic approach to it. Even aspects of the direction were quite different despite being directed the director of the previous film. Instead of the typical grungy and grimy look in the past 6 movies, Saw 3D is so brightly lit that it looks awful and doesn’t fit with the series at all, it makes it looks like a direct to DVD Saw film. The filmed-for-3D approach also heavily affected the movie too, with random things flying at the camera, and the blood being brightly coloured pink. This is the only Saw film I’d actually call torture porn, with a further emphasis on the traps (they even add a dream sequence just to include another trap scene) and the inclusion of 3D, the latter of which is to have gore and body parts flying at the screen. They even add a dream sequence just to include another scene of gore. At the same time, it’s really the least scary of the series.

The writing itself is astoundingly bad, and this is coming from someone who’s pretty lenient on the series considering that the writing across the series is generally very flawed to say the least. The actual story had some potential and interesting ideas but that’s it. The idea of someone who lied being a Jigsaw survivor and being tested for real sounds interesting, but they don’t really do much with it, and the lead character Bobby isn’t particularly compelling. Even the ongoing plot which continued from Saw VI with characters Mark Hoffman and Jill Tuck just isn’t made that thrilling. There are other little moments and ideas which don’t reach their fullest potential. The Jigsaw survivor group sounds interesting, but that’s only used in one scene. The character of Lawrence Gordon being back in the Saw movies so long after his last appearance sounds exciting, but he’s creepy in the one scene and then he has a rushed montage at the end to wrap up the plot, he’s basically just an extended cameo. On that note, while I liked the note it ended on with its last scene, the way that it tries to create a finale is very unsatisfying, in fact raising more questions than providing answers. That’s not to say that the movie doesn’t have some enjoyable parts. A few of the traps are alright if incredibly overblown. There’s a lot of comedy to come from the bad writing, dialogue, performances and even the story choices. I’m aware of all the behind-the-scenes issues, with a last minute director change, condensing the movie from two to one and more. However I’m not quite sure how it still managed to be this bad. I can’t say that I dislike this movie, not just because this wasn’t the final chapter as originally planned, but also because it’s so silly that it ends up being somewhat entertaining.

My review of Saw 3D: From the Book of Saw

8. Saw V

Now the jump from Saw 3D to Saw V is from a terrible movie to something rather average and mixed. Saw V is much better than 3D, but it’s probably the most boring of the Saw movies. It’s also the most frustrating of the series because there was a lot of potential here. The main game was about a group of selfish people needing to work together and that sounds interesting. However the game ends up being one of the weakest of the series, with some characters that are hard to like or really care about. With that and how disconnected it felt from the rest of the plot, it really just feels like it’s there just because it’s a Saw movie and it needed a game. The traps themselves were a little mixed, with the pendulum, water box, blood pint and glass coffins being quite good and standouts among the series, but the rest were rather forgettable and even boring.

The cat and mouse game between FBI Agent Strahm, and secret Jigsaw apprentice Hoffman also had some potential, unfortunately they don’t exactly handle that in the best way either. For one, Strahm’s ‘investigation’ comes across as redundant when it’s known to the entire audience that Hoffman is the apprentice. Not to mention, he spends pretty much the whole movie basically serving as a source of exposition to the audience about Hoffman. Speaking of which, much of Saw V is trying to establish Hoffman as the new Jigsaw, and the movie generally fails to get people on board with that. While I like that Hoffman is distinctly different from John Kramer’s Jigsaw, he’s just not that interesting of a character. The plot moves so slow and sluggish that it felt like a chore at times. There weren’t necessarily choices that I hated, but there’s also not a lot that grabbed me. For all my issues with the movie, there were some solid scenes. Any time that Tobin Bell shows up as Jigsaw of course it really picks up immensely. However, it is by far the worst Saw movie outside of 3D, I’m less inclined to come back to this one.

My review of Saw V

7. Jigsaw

7 years after the series ended terribly with The Final Chapter, Lionsgate ended up making a reboot of sorts. It had potential, there were some great directors on board, and the plot has a mystery as to whether John Kramer is back as Jigsaw. However what Jigsaw ultimately boiled down to was another Saw movie, just done in modern day. As it was, it was quite enjoyable to watch. The traps ranged from great to rather forgettable, but it was a decent game. It’s well shot, and features some of the best direction of the entire series. The writing is very mixed, with some lackluster characters. Some of the writing is far fetched, where characters make some pretty unbelievable decisions. However for the most part there’s really not much to say about the movie.

Then there’s the ending twist, which is where most of my issues lie. Not only is it very convoluted and doesn’t make sense, but it also breaks the Saw timeline in some ways. It even makes me look back on the rest of the movie in a less positive way overall. My issues with the eventual reveal aside, I would be interested to see story and characters at the end of Jigsaw reappear and continued in the future Saw movies. In a way, Jigsaw’s level of quality really depends on if it continues to have relevance in the next movies, especially in a post-Spiral world where that film wasn’t a continuation of the previous movie. If it doesn’t get a follow up, I’d be wondering what the point of this movie would be aside from just being another Saw movie.

My review of Jigsaw

6. Saw IV

Saw IV is one of those Saw movies that I do appreciate the more I think about it, even with its many faults. Saw IV does feel like it’s on autopilot, while managing to feel like there’s too much going on. There’s a new Jigsaw game, we also follow an investigation from the FBI, and there’s a storyline focusing on flashbacks of John Kramer becoming Jigsaw, and it just feels bloated. There are so many characters, between bringing back past characters in prominent storylines, and then introducing at least 4 new major characters. Almost every Saw movie is 90 minutes long and out of all of them, this is the one that definitely needed a lot more time given to it. The game at the forefront is better when compared to a lot of the sequels but the backbone behind it doesn’t quite work for me.

With that being said, there are story moments and reveals that are quite interesting and strong. There’s some nice twists, especially with how the movie ties to Saw III. There’s also some very impressive and memorable traps. However it’s still very much a mess on many levels. The most interesting aspect was John Kramer, and if anything I wish the whole movie was focusing on Tobin Bell’s John Kramer and his origin story. It’s one I do want to go back to, as some moments ring better for me the more I think about them, but all in all, it’s another Saw movie that I’m quite mixed on.

My review of Saw IV

5. Saw III

It was this movie where I noticed a shift, even when I saw it for the first time before my watchthrough of all the Saw movies. I liked it noticeably less than the first two movies and even on my rewatch I still had a lot of.  I noticed the slight jump in budget and the jump in the amount of gore, as well as the amount of reliance on it. Starting off with the positives though, I do like a lot of many of the ideas on display. There are some memorable and truly brutal traps with some fantastic practical effects. The plotline with the characters of John Kramer, Amanda and Lynn was actually great, with some solid dynamic between the three. The movie does try to actually add an emotional dimension to the movie and while it doesn’t completely work, I kind of respect it. The movie also makes some firm decisions, some of them work, some of them don’t work, and some of them were quite bold (for better or for worse). The ending also did end up writing the series into a bit of a corner, but I respect it to a degree.

However there’s plenty of problems. This movie really did have an overreliance of flashbacks (something that much of the series would have as well), revealing things that we really didn’t need to see. You don’t like a lot of the characters and you’re generally not that interested in them, so emotional investment is quite difficult already. Of course Tobin Bell is fantastic as Jigsaw, Lynn is not that interesting but good in her scenes with John, and I have mixed feelings about Amanda in this particular movie. Then there’s lead game character Jeff, who ends up being one of the major issues of Saw III. Probably my least favourite lead Saw character, Jeff is just frustrating to watch, with him making some annoying choices, and us having to watch him take a long time to slowly go from one trap to another. Despite an interesting setup, it was not nearly as interesting as some of the other games in the series. It really does say something that the storyline that doesn’t involve a lot of traps was more interesting than the one that did. It is also the longest of the movies at nearly 2 hours long and while I do feel like some of the other Saw movies could’ve been a little longer, you really do feel like this movie drags. Not to be that person, but its not that fun to watch, and if I had the choice to watch any of the Saw movies from here or the 5 movies below it on this list, I’m not entirely sure that I would pick III. With that all being said, it is definitely one of the better Saw movies.

My review of Saw III

4. Spiral: From the Book of Saw

This is where the list goes from mixed/okay movies to actually pretty good movies. Spiral is the latest Saw movie, and it is definitely the most different film in the series. It’s also the first Saw movie I watched in the cinema and I really enjoyed it, even if there are some issues especially on reflection. To a degree I wish there was a little more to this movie and was expecting more. I feel like even 5 extra minutes would’ve benefited it in some way, to add some more depth or explain some things. Like some have said already, some aspects of the plot and reveals were rather predictable. Additionally while I liked the themes and commentary surrounding corrupt police, I feel like it could’ve explored it just a little more and really committed to it instead of it almost feeling like a setup for the plot. The movie has some other writing issues and it can be messy. It does fall into some familiar tropes from Saw and detective/cop movies in general, and the dialogue doesn’t always work. However by Saw standards, I don’t have a huge amount of problems with the movie.

Spiral is quite a different film for the series, with it instead being more of a detective movie. It has a distinct tone, and is all around quite standalone. It removed itself from the rest of the movies, all the while still existing in the same world and being a Saw movie. While most of the traps aren’t as memorable, some of them are great, and above all else, they actually fit into the plot. The traps have reasons and meanings behind them outside of just serving for the gore (though it’s no slouch in that department either). It’s also one of the best directed Saw movies, bringing back longtime Saw director Darren Lynn Bousman turned out to be a great choice. As said earlier, the killer’s identiy was predictable, but the rest of the mystery surrounding this person(s) was more interesting than the identity, and I found myself interested in that. I was quite on board with the plot generally. The performances are good, with Chris Rock, Max Minghella and Samuel L. Jackson being delivering in their roles, definitely some of the stronger acting in the series. I am definitely interested to see where this story and these characters go after the ending of this movie, and I would love to see a sequel.

My review of Spiral: From the Book of Saw

These next three are interchangeable for me.

3. Saw VI

Looking at its first 5 movies, the Saw series had gradually been getting worse. By the time it got to IV and V, it was pretty disappointing and ranged from messy to dull. VI was the surprise instalment that really added new life back into the series. Saw VI starts out strong from the beginning and stays strong throughout. The story is reasonably straightforward in contrast to the past movies, and the pacing is much better. Unlike the last movie, while there are some lore and backstory revealed in flashbacks, they don’t feel forced and they work naturally for the characters and story, especially as they showing important moments between John Kramer and other major characters. The game itself is great and one of the best in the series. The movie is is surprisingly political, taking on health insurance in the USA, proving to be quite topical considering it came out in 2009. This approach proved to be quite fresh and fits perfectly as it would be something that Jigsaw would focus on. There are moral dilemmas that health insurance executive and lead Saw VI game character William Easton faces throughout and he has to make some hard choices. Easton as a character is the most morally bankrupt of all the Saw protagonists but with a mix of the situations he’s put into and Peter Outerbridge’s solid performance, it makes you sympathise with him and willing to follow him throughout. The traps also overall are the best in the series since Saw II. They are creative, from one based on oxygen, to one featuring a carousel, the latter of which ranks among the all time best traps. It helps that there’s a lot of meaning behind the traps and why they are like that (outside of the gore), and can even be psychological.

Even the rest of the story following the characters of Hoffman and Jill Tuck are actually quite good, especially as the former tries to deal with an FBI investigation. Hoffman who was underwhelming in Saw V despite it intended to make us actually like him as Jigsaw, really is at his best in this movie and he has some great moments. The voice lab and the ending especially sticks out as one of the best moments in the series. In terms of flaws, it does have some of the familiar issues with the rest of the series. The editing is still unnecessarily frantic and fast paced but it is reigned in and utilised a lot better here compared to many of the past movies. Saw VI is still over the top and unbelievably ridiculous, both with the story and characters and some bits with the writing. Also even though there are some stronger main performances from the likes of Tobin Bell, Peter Outerbridge and Costas Mandylor, a lot of the smaller performances can still be pretty bad. Some of the writing issues in this movie are present in the other Saw movies, and have been a lot worse there. So at this point it’s very easy to look past them. Also the over the top nature of the story and traps is easy to go along with when you see at what point the series had gotten to. Maybe it might’ve just been the previous couple of Saw movies that were disappointing, but I enjoyed VI thoroughly and didn’t have too many large complaints with it. Out of the Saw movies, this and Saw II would probably be the ones I’d be most willing to rewatch.

My review of Saw VI

2. Saw II

Saw II was the immediately greenlit sequel after the surprise that was James Wan’s Saw back in 2004. It’s quite interesting that this is based off director Darren Lynn Bousman’s script for a different movie, which was turned into the script for the Saw sequel. Not to mention that Saw II ended up playing a big part in the shaping of the series. As a sequel it is very reminiscent of the first film but made some changes. Instead of just repeating the first movie, there are two storylines at the same time, one is with people trapped in a Jigsaw game, and the other focusing on police with Jigsaw as they see the game continuing. It also expanded the scale of the game. The first film had a bathroom and relatively small traps in flashbacks. Saw II had a game in a small house and had a group of people instead of just 2. At the same time, it still felt contained and even plausible at times. It also added a lot more traps, and they are quite creative and also resulted in a lot more gore.

One thing that Saw II has over the first movie is a lot more Jigsaw. Tobin Bell made a brief appearance in the first Saw but it’s here where he really gets to shine, and has an onscreen presence throughout the whole movie. The scenes between him and Donnie Wahlberg are particularly great. This is also a movie that expanded Jigsaw’s philosophy and puts it more in the forefront, even if it’s a little conflicting (i.e. Jigsaw’s “I never killed anyone” line is a little hard to take seriously at this point). There are even some twists that are effective, that rival even the end twist of the first Saw. Overall I liked Darren Lynn Bousman’s direction but some of the technical elements are brought over from the first movie, including frantic editing and the visual style, aren’t exactly the best. In the first movie, some of the technical elements are there because the filmmakers needed to do them, but including it in Saw II made them staples of the franchise, for better or for worse. The writing is also not the best especially with the dialogue, but the story does well enough to hold your attention throughout. All in all, Saw II is one of the most enjoyable movies in the series.

My review of Saw II

1. Saw

There’s not much to say about Saw that hasn’t been said already. It had a lot working against it, the budget was really small, the filmmakers weren’t allowed many takes, and the amount of time to film was short. Despite all the odds, they pulled it off. Saw became an instant hit, and a sequel was immediately greenlit. Influenced by films like Se7en, Saw at its core was a psychological thriller about a serial killer. It’s well constructed and keeps you invested from beginning to end, focussing mainly on mystery and tension more than outright scares or even gore. The majority of the film was two men in a bathroom trying to figure out what’s going on, with a very simplistic approach to the story. The traps are known in the Saw movies but most of them in Saw I are just shown in flashbacks. They can be gruesome but are shown briefly and are more believable than those in the sequels. It is a bloody movie, but it uses these moments effectively and doesn’t feel overly reliant on them.

For a debut film, James Wan did succeed quite well despite all the problems that he and writer Leigh Whannell experienced when making this movie. Now it definitely has its issues. The acting is a mixed bag, it is quite dated, a lot of the dialogue and writing can be quite flawed. On the technical aspects too, the frantic editing was definitely done in a way to help deal with the restrictions they had. However many of its issues and rough edges adds a charm and distinct style to it, and considering everything, it’s impressive that the final movie was as good as it was. It also laid the groundwork for things that would feature in many of the sequels from the grimy and green look, the music video-esque fast paced editing, the overblown twists and the ending reveals (accompanied by an iconic score from Charlie Clouser). About a decade and a half later it still remains an incredibly iconic and influential horror film that has paved the way for other horror movies, even beyond the torture porn genre. If you read this list and you haven’t seen any of the Saw movies but you like horror movies, I do recommend watching the first film at the very least. I really understand why it remains a cult classic for many people.

My review of Saw

What are your ranking of the Saw series, and what do you think of the movies?

Advertisement

Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2010) Review

Time: 91 Minutes
Age Rating: Contains Torture & Sadistic Violence
Cast:
Tobin Bell as John Kramer/Jigsaw
Costas Mandylor as Mark Hoffman
Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck
Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon
Sean Patrick Flanery as Bobby Dagen
Director: Kevin Greutert

As a deadly battle rages over Jigsaw’s (Tobin Bell) brutal legacy, a group of Jigsaw survivors gathers to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery), a man whose own dark secrets unleash a new wave of terror.

After a number of sequels whose quality was gradually descending from the heights of being good towards being mediocre, Saw VI was a refreshing entry in the Saw series and was a return to form. I was actually surprised how much I liked it as opposed to being sort of yet another Saw movie to get through. With that said, I heard nothing but bad things about Saw 3D: The Final Chapter. Even the people who are fans of the series usually say it’s by far the worst entry. I lowered my expectations as much as possible, and I think that’s partially why I kind of enjoyed this to a degree. Nonetheless, I’m not exactly sure how this movie ended up the way it did, even for the lows the series have gone in the past, it’s a little surprising that Saw 3D is this awful.

The embarrassingly named Saw 3D: The Final Chapter tries to be so many things at once, and pretty much fails in all of them. The writing is abysmal, it is such a mess and lacks the elements that made even the weaker Saw movies somewhat work. For as goofy as the movies got, the tone was pretty dark across all of them. With the opening trap though, it establishes it as a different type of movie, feeling very goofy and campy throughout and I’m not 100% sure that it was intentional. This trap takes place in broad daylight in public and involves two guys having to fight over a girl and it’s actually worse than how I’m describing it. Not that there isn’t entertainment to be had from it, but you just can’t take it seriously. None of the story is genuinely interesting, none of the attempted twists really work, and the characters are dull. Even with Saw V, there were some aspects that were interesting. With this movie however I was just watching this as a purely camp horror film. Some of the dialogue in the movies can be bad, but this movie reaches new lows in hilariously bad lines, I sure hope that some of them  were partially intentional. This time the Jigsaw game is focusing on a character named Bobby, who lied being part of a Jigsaw game and is profiting off it for money and success, and he’s now finding himself in a real Jigsaw game. That’s fine enough and different for a Saw movie, even if it’s not as interesting compared to the last movie. It certainly had potential, but it was very mishandled in many ways. For one, the lead character is boring, but it doesn’t stop there. A massive flaw is that the movie had quite a big focus on the traps, specifically the gore, and I mean more than usual. There’s really no meaning behind the traps at this point, it just revels in extremity and the gore. With the previous movie, they tied the lead character with having to make decisions over peoples lives, like how he decided whether people got health insurance or not. You’d think that there’d be something like that for Bobby, but nothing like that happened. It’s just “here’s another gruesome trap” for you to see. With the movies it feels like there is a chance that people will get out of the traps, without that however there is no tension, and we are basically just watching gore happen. Besides, it’s already so silly that it’s hard to take any of this seriously. Additionally, by the end of the movie, the whole game doesn’t feel like it really matters to the rest of the plot.

There’s also a police subplot, which isn’t unusual for the series, as they try to investigate and hunt down Jigsaw (in this instance Hoffman). However, it’s the worst attempt at a police or investigation subplot in the series. It’s incredibly weak and boring here, and you don’t really care for it, not helped by the very bland lead detective. Hoffman is also here after Jill Tuck tried to kill him in the last movie, and he’s hunting her down. Every so often it cuts to that storyline in between Bobby and the traps, it’s not very interesting or well handled either. Then there’s the whole Final Chapter aspect, it tries to tie up so many storylines, it really fails and feels rushed. This was meant to be 2 movies and was rushed into 1, and that’s completely unsurprising looking at the results. There are plenty of callbacks to the other Saw movies which you notice but they don’t really feel earned. As can be seen with the cast list, with Cary Elwes included, Dr Gordon is back. His return was much anticipated ever since the first movie and no mention of him in the sequels. The very first scene of the movie is a flashback cutting back to him after he escapes the room at the end of the first Saw. After that he also gets a scene in the first act and for the longest time doesn’t appear in the movie again. Eventually you learn why he’s in the movie, but even then it raises a lot of questions. The most identifiably enjoyable section of the movie has to be the last third of the movie, which is so over the top I can’t help but enjoy it. I won’t go into it too much if you want to see for yourself but the movie sort of turns into a slasher movie. When I say slasher movie I don’t mean the scary kind, I mean the incredibly silly kind where a lot of people get killed but it’s just entertaining. There’s even a scene where someone is running away, and it looks straight out of one of the movies from the Scary Movie series. There is a twist and reveal at the end of the movie (since all Saw movies have these), but it ends up creating more questions than answers. Without spoiling anything, I like the last scene plotwise and in concept, it makes a lot of sense with how they end it. However the context surrounding that reveal and scene has its own issues, requiring some explanations that we aren’t getting. Saw 3D is really lucky that it’s not the last movie in the series because this was quite a bad note to end it on.  

Right after Saw VI having some of the better acting of the series, Saw 3D has some of the worst acting of the series. With Saw V and Saw VI, there’s been a reduced amount of Tobin Bell as John Kramer/Jigsaw, which wasn’t particular exciting considering that Bell is one of the only consistently good things about these movies. However in those movies, he appears in some significant flashbacks in the storylines, and does enough that it makes up for his lack of screentime. With that said, in Saw 3D he has way less scenes, you don’t get much of him, and in fact this has to be the least amount of screentime an actor has had while having top billing as in the movie. With that said, Bell brings his A game as usual. Not to mention, in one of his scenes involving a flashback with Bobby, his choice of disguise is just so… unbelievable that I almost recommend watching the movie just for that scene. Sean Patrick Flanery plays Bobby, the main victim in the Jigsaw game of this movie. I wouldn’t say he’s terrible considering some of the other acting in this movie, but he’s just passable. As for Bobby as a character, he’s not annoying or frustrating like Jeff from Saw III but he’s not interesting, he’s underdeveloped and the audience don’t have much reason to care about him. Just a very forgettable character and performance, and one of the weaker Saw protagonists. The main detective this time is Matt Gibson, a new character. If they kept any of the FBI agents from Saw VI alive, any of them easily could’ve fitted this role very well. Unfortunately, Hoffman killed both of them, so another cop character had to be created, who just so happens to be the worst of the main detectives. Gibson is such a boring and forgettable character, given particularly bad dialogue, and Chad Donella’s performance is honestly laughable. Costas Mandylor returns as ex detective and Jigsaw apprentice Mark Hoffman. I’m not sure that the film really knew what to do with him really for the majority of the movie. Then at a certain point towards the latter portion of the film, he becomes something of a slasher villain, and that’s where he shines. He basically just becomes the Hoffmanator, taking that voice recording scene from Saw VI where he killed 3 people in quick succession, and goes to a whole other level here. As said earlier, Cary Elwes returns as Doctor Gordon. He appears in the very first scene, he appears in a meeting of Jigsaw survivors, and without spoiling anything he does appear again. All I’ll say about his purpose in this movie is that the use of him wasn’t great. This Gordon isn’t developed enough in this movie, nor does he really have enough screentime to make him work as well as he could’ve. That’s not even to mention that the actual performance was… off. I know that a lot of people aren’t the biggest fan of his acting in the first Saw, but in the survivor meeting scene, he is just so creepy and sinister that is just so random. I’ve never heard anyone utter the term “promotional DVD” with such evilness. The acting from the people stuck in traps can be hilariously over the top that it really takes away even further from the gory traps. Really the only actor in the traps who I thought was good was the late Chester Bennington, who’s great in his 1-2 minutes of screentime.  

Probably the biggest surprise of this movie is that Saw 3D is helmed by Kevin Greutert, the director of the very solid Saw VI. It seems so strange that someone who did some really good work on the last instalment would then produce such a below subpar movie. As it turns out however, this movie was supposed to be made in two parts with David Hackl (director of Saw V) directing. However Twisted Pictures fired Hackl at the last minute and forced Greutert to come back to direct it as 1 movie roughly 1-2 weeks before shooting began. Keep in mind that he was about to direct Paranormal Activity 2, but was made to create the last Saw movie because of a clause in his contract. So for all the many faults, I don’t blame him at all. He wasn’t able to incorporate or bring new ideas to the movie, and had to work with what he was given. That aside, this film is terrible on a technical level. First of all, the look of the movie. All the previous Saw movies had this very grimy look to it, but it has become part of the aesthetic of the franchise, and fits perfectly for the tone and vibe of the series. Saw 3D on the other hand is so brightly lit even in the trap scenes, it looks awful especially compared to the past movies. If there’s a Saw movie that could be called torture porn, it’s this one. It really tries to pack as many traps as possible, they even use a dream sequence as an excuse to add yet another trap. Not only that but they really amp up the gore, which leads me to the effects in that they were embarrassingly bad. You can tell that for all the lows of the past movies, most of the gore scenes were made with practical effects and looked somewhat realistic. Here though the gore looks really fake, both the practical and CGI effects. As for the traps themselves, they reach new heights in being over the top, even by Saw standards. At the same time, many of them were rather uninspired, unmemorable, and don’t stand out.  

Time to address the elephant in the room, the 3D in Saw 3D. It was 2010 and unfortunately the notion of adding 3D to big movies hadn’t started to die down yet, so for the last instalment, for whatever reason some people decided that the film should be shot in 3D. It being hard to take the movie seriously with the use of 3D (and even adding it in the title), the fact that they shot the movie in this way really made it worse. First of all, there are things flying at the camera all the time, mainly the gore and body parts, and without actually watching it in 3D it just looks stupid every time it has one of those moments. Second of all, all the blood in this movie is pink, no doubt it appears red for people seeing it in 3D, but here it’s just makes it even harder to take the scenes of violence seriously. There’s a moment where they use the footage from the end of Saw VI when Hoffman escapes the reverse bear trap and his cheek is ripped open, with realistic blood and gore effects. Then it follows right after that and with the new footage in Saw 3D, when he’s sewing his face back up there’s just pink blood all over his face. In terms of standout sequences, it’s just the skinhead trap and a certain sequence involving Hoffman towards the end of the movie. The only genuinely good thing on a technical level is Charlie Clouser’s score, he’s pretty reliable but unfortunately not even he can elevate many of the scenes in this movie.

I could go on and on about Saw 3D: The Final Chapter but the short of it is that it basically fails on every level. It fails as a Saw movie because there’s no tension or really any horror (just gore), and the twists aren’t particularly good. It also fails on being a conclusion to the main 7 movie arc. Saw 3D has become unfortunately a parody of itself, and I find it particularly hard to take it seriously. The only way it doesn’t fail is that it does provide some entertainment although a lot of it is unintentional, with some of the acting, directing and writing choices being so absurd that it is quite enjoyable. As for whether or not you should watch this, if you made it through the previous 6 Saw movies, you might as well watch the final one (of the main storyline at least). Though to have the most enjoyment with this, you really have to go in with the right mindset. Lower your expectations and once you figure out what this movie is going to be early on, you might then be able to enjoy it.