Saw 4 (2007)

I'll admit it, I like the Saw movies. I know a lot of people, especially horror fans, don't. I watched the first Saw movie in a creepy old theater in Hyde Park, New York, and I was totally hooked.

That said, I think it would have been a good idea if they stopped at 3. Now I'm hearing word of upcoming Saw 5 and 6, and I think this is getting to be a bit too much. Unfortunately a debut movie that could have gone down in horror history as a groundbreaking classic has garnered the chance of fading into obscurity among several sequels, each one getting further away from the point.

Anyway, Saw 4. You've probably heard about the opening scene as being gruesome, and that would be true. Old man penis, old man balls, full autopsy, scalp pulled back to expose brain...the whole nine yards. There wasn't too much of a point to it, so I feel like it's just more shock value from the Saw boys.

The first trap leaves me wondering...what city are these people in that there are so many abandoned buildings far enough from everything that these debacles can be carried on with no one hearing anything? Whatever. The next "trap" is immediately reminiscent of The Bone Collector...eeeekk, and we're back with the detectives that haven't been hacked up by Jigsaw yet. Ohhh, and Friar Fuck from Sex and the City is in this movie?! How did I miss this last time? Now I can't look at him without thinking of Samantha.

In an advanced move from the typical Saw sweeping, back and forth, and quick cut shots, they now add crazy transistions from one scene to another, things that are apparently happening simultanously. It's a cool effect, albeit slightly seizure-inducing.

We get a shot of Eric Matthews...I won't spoil anything, but it's nice to know that the ex-New Kid is still popping up in these movies. And now the detectives have split up and Rigg is working his way through some big long trap that involves a pimp, a child molester, and an abusive father. Decisions are to be made, these people must help themselves, etc. etc. We've got ice-fu, dismemberment-fu, and scalp-fu (once again)

Unfortunately, although the end of the Saw movies is usually where everything comes together, this one left me confused and kind of disappointed. There were also some loose ends from Saw 3 that weren't tied up...guess they're hanging onto those for 5 and 6? (and 7?)

Grade: D+ (Hostel 2, still shocking, gross-out and a bit scary, but pretty much a warmed-up version of the original)