SAW

When the first SAW came out in 2004 it blew viewers away. It came at a time that we were seeing the supernatural and special effects take front stage in horror in movies like the Grudge, Gothica, and another installment of the Exorcist series. I think horror lovers were looking for something realistic. Enter Saw and Jigsaw.

Saw not only provided realistic horror; it was also very clever. The villain (Jigsaw) was not a gun/knife/ax wielding psychopath. He was a smart, driven man trying to teach people a life lesson. It just so happened that the lessons that were being taught were to be learned in such a way that the characters would never forget. They had to make life threatening decisions in the form of some sort of sick game. The character’s games provided both the gore and anticipation of such future gore based in the decisions the characters had to make, that it kept the blood and guts horror lovers happy, while the twists and turns and clever situations kept the suspense lovers happy. It was just what horror lovers were waiting for.

Fast forward 4 years to 2008 and we’ve just had our 5th installment of the series with the promise of a new SAW movie every Halloween. As the sequels have accumulated the games have become much more intricate and the gore levels have gone out the roof, yet the premise behind the murders/games is still present. There can only be so many twists, so many torturous games, so many crazy scenarios before they run out of ideas, but until they do jump the shark, horror fanatics will be there every Halloween taking it all in and loving every clever gory moment.

I happen to be one of those fanatics. I cant wait to see what will happen next, how they’ll twist the story, what awful decision the characters will be forced to make, and wondering realistically if I were in such a predicament how would I decide? Luckily I get to watch from the comfort of the theater seats, squirming and jumping at every plot twist and bloody turn.

My excitement and expectations were not let down for SAW V, and I cant wait for next Halloween and the release of SAW VI. Yes, that is right. SAW VI will be coming. It’s already been approved. No plot line has been released, but that movie will definitely be coming out next year (under new direction). I have some ideas as to where the storyline will go, but I’m also really interested to see how it will all unfold. After all, in SAW V they wrapped up a lot of loose ends, freeing them to go in a slightly new direction. To the best of my recollection, only one major question (besides of course “what will happen next”) was introduced. If you have seen the movie and don’t know what I’m talking about, did you forget about the box? It reminds me of the briefcase is Pulp Fiction. I’ll say no more. I’m still hooked on this series and I anticipate that I’ll go see every one that Twisted Pictures chooses to release. If history is any indicator, I’ll also re-watched every movie in the series in the weeks before I go to see each new installment.

P.S.: I’ll be posting an update to this post in the year 2020 after having just seen SAW XVII and I’m sure I’ll be just as excited about it then as I am now.