Saw VII (2010)

We start the final chapter of our journey with a scene showing Dr. Gordon ( the man who cut his foot off in the first film ) crawling to a very hot pipe and using it to cauterize his wound in order to survive.

Directed by Kevin Greutert, written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. Starring Cary Elwes, Sean Patrick Flanery, Betsy Russell, Costas Mandylor and Tobin Bell in his final appearance as John Kramer.

And that's when the good of this entire series comes to a complete halt and the crap starts to rain upon us for the remainder of this film!

The story was garbage, the acting was piss poor at best and the addition of several new characters meant their backgrounds get forced down your throat, all in order to have them relate to the current story or set of characters.

I know I stated that the slightly cheesy, 80's style of special effects were awesome in part 6. But they completely went overboard with it in this last part which in turn, really ruined all the death scenes.

One death that really irked me was was the triple-face stabbing machine. The fake body used for the kill looked horrendous. There was no realistic look to it at all and every time they showed the body off I could not help but shake my head and yell at the screen.

So clearly this movie is a piece of crap and should not be viewed by anybody who enjoyed ANY of the other films in the franchise. Stick with  1 to 6 and you will be happy you did.

This predictable piece of crap has the worst effects I have probably ever seen from any movie with a budget over a million bucks and for that it's getting a 2 out of 10. And the only reason it's getting that much from me is because I wanted to see what had happened to Dr. Gordon and they gave me that.

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Saw VI (2009)

Yet another game is afoot and Hoffman seems to always be close to getting off without a shred of evidence pointing towards him. Unfortunately for him there is always somebody lurking in the shadows who is holding new information that may just turn the tables on him.

Directed by Kevin Greutert, written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. Starring Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell, Costas Mandylor, and Tobin Bell as John Kramer.

I found the story line to be very well done and much easier to follow than some of the series' previous entries.

We still encountered the same start to finish line up as seen in all the previous films of opening game scene, following by continuing the previous films stories, new game starts, back and forth from game to continuing story and then a graceful finish.

One thing I did notice was the amount of flashbacks were minimized compared to the last few movies. This is something I was fine with due to it keeping the film from getting overly confusing and it allowed for the story line to play out smoothly.

I do have to mention that some of the gore scenes were just awesome to watch. The use of practical effects in this one was phenomenal. I know it's a little played, but when you're an 80's horror fan like I am, you really appreciate effects that aren't of a CGI nature for anything gore related.

I had an easy time figuring out things prior to their reveal but you really can't ask for too much more from a series that has gone on this long.

I will have to go and give this one a 7 out of 10.

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Saw V (2008)

Hoffman is now the new "Jigsaw" and as so has trapped the only other living officer who was involved in the case.  Unfortunately for him, the officer finds a way to survive the Jigsaw trap and is saved in time. He may be the only person who can stop Hoffman in his tracks, Meanwhile, in between it all, a new game has already begun. And this time, they are playing with a different set of rules.

Directed by David Hackl, produced by Gregg Hoffman, Mark Burg and Oren Koules. Written by Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan. Starring Betsy Russell, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor and Tobin Bell as John Kramer.

This one struck a bit of a nerve with me as the game that was set in motion, did not have anything to do with the actual story line, It seemed to basically be used so they could promote it as a Saw film but used it as filler to advance the continuing story between Hoffman and Strahm.

On that note, I did still enjoy the game and how it was played out differently this time around, I just feel like they had two different movies mashed up into one.

There were a lot of flashbacks of the first film with added scenes to show the audience how far back Hoffman has been involved in the game with John Kramer, which helped build up his back story and give the viewer a few more things to ponder upon.
 
Had they found a way to properly tie in both ongoing stories together other than the obvious "Jigsaw games" idea, I would have liked it much better. Otherwise, as two separate entities, they were both highly enjoyable and deserve a 6.5 out of 10.

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Saw IV (2007)

Lieutenant Riggs has an uncanny obsession of having to try and save everybody he finds in danger. Due to this, he has been thrown in to a game by none other than Jigsaw himself. Riggs has lost several co-worker and friends in the police force and now must make life changing decisions in order to try and save a friend.

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. Starring Lyriq Bent, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor and Tobin Bell reprising his role as John Kramer.

When the news came about that a 4th installment of the series would be filmed, I was highly skeptical about it. They had already killed Jigsaw in part three and basically closed up the story line without leaving me with any major questions next to "what happened to Lawrence". But, a forth part means money,and sometimes that's all that matter to some people.

So needless to say it took me quite a while before I even thought about watching it, but after a while, I started hearing great things about it from different sources and people, so then decided to give it a whirl.

And thankfully for us, it was not all just about money, but in fact, it was about someone who had an amazing idea and wanted to expand the series.

The story line was amazing right from the start and kept me sucked in right till the very end. They were able to not only build up low level characters from the previous films, but also gave an in-depth look at John and other characters backgrounds without it slowing down the movie's pace or ruining the mood.

The writers also were able to tie up a lot of the loose ends left in the first trilogy, connect most of the films together through timelines and left an opening to have another sequel if they chose to do so and with that said a definite 8.5 out of 10!

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Saw III (2006)

Looks like Jigsaw is back and he still has some life left in him. He starts what may be his final game and in order to survive, kidnaps a doctor to help him see the game be completed.

A man named Jeff was also taken and must overcome a series of obstacles in order to free himself from the maze that he has been placed in. He is forced to make life or death decisions that will affect not only his life, but that of others around him.

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, written by Leigh Whannell and starring Dina Meyer, Bahar Soomekh, Angus Macfadyen, Shawnee Smith and Tobin Bell as John Kramer.

This was another one that I decided would be great to watch in the theater but ended up being totally disappointed with what I had just paid to view.

I found that this entry unnecessarily slow and really killed the mood for me. All the death traps seemed to either drag on or be too few and far between from each other as the story line was being pieced together in between.

The character of Jeff was also a very pitiful excuse to have a story around. Yes, I understand the situation he has gone through but he looks like he does not give a shit what happens to him at any point throughout the film.

It really killed the momentum for me that the opening scene had started the movie off with and for that, makes this one of my least favorite entries in the series, but not the worst.

I give the third Saw movie a 4 out of 10.

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Saw II (2005)

But how could they possibly attempt to follow up something like Saw and have it been at least half as good as it's predecessor was? Well that question was answered very quickly and efficiently once I stepped into that movie theater.

Detective Matthews is hot on Jigsaw's trail and just about to put a stop to his plans. Jigsaw on the other hand, is always three steps ahead of authorities and has already kidnapped the detective's son, placing him into his newest game.

In order to get his son back safely, the detective must give Jigsaw his time and patients.

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, written by Darren Lynn Bousman and Leigh Whannell. Starring Erik Knudsen, Donnie Wahlberg, Shawnee Smith and Tobin Bell as John Kramer.

Once I heard about the possibility of a sequel being made, I jumped for joy, but how could they possibly attempt to follow up a genius film like Saw and have it be, at the minimum, half as good as it's predecessor was?

Well the moment I stepped into that theater, my question was answered and pure gold was laid out in front of me.

I went in there assuming that I would be getting a low grade flick. And what I got was another amazing film that kept you guessing all the way though till the end.

A lot of the moments were incredibly cringe worthy, especially the "pit" scene which had everybody in the theater gasping once it started playing out.

Thanks to my expectations being so low going into this one originally, it made me fall in love with this movie that much easier than I would have normally. But after watching it for my review, my love for it has stayed the same as did my rating of 8 out of 10.

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Saw (2004)

Lawrence and Adam wake up in a dark room without any recollection as to how they have arrived nor why they have been brought there

They quickly find out that they are just a small part of a larger game that a maniac named Jigsaw has put together. Will they be able to survive? Or will they be brave enough to do the unthinkable to save themselves?

Directed by James Wan, written by James Wan and Leigh Whannell. Starring Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover and Tobin Bell as John Kramer.

I first stumbled upon this film accidentally when searching online for a comedy film I wanted to see at the time, and I can not be any happier that I did.

This turned out to be such an amazing movie with plot line twists continually keeping you on the edge of your seat at all times with a conclusion that blew my mind not only the first time I had seen it, but every other time up to and including this viewing.

The traps and the gore just had me wishing for more and more throughout the film. I couldn't get enough of it and immediately watched it over again after my first viewing.

A refreshing film for the genre during the time of it's release due to the fact that most of the horror movies around it's time were teen oriented slashers / thrillers and a very, very large amount of sequels, prequels and remakes making the scene very repetitive.

I have always been a fan of this movie and never seem to get sick of it no matter how many times I watch it. I would recommend this movie to anybody whether they are horror fans or not. It has an amazing story line with a great cast to support it.

I have to give this one an almost perfect 9 out of 10. If you have not yet seen it, get out there and watch it!

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