Saw 3D: The Final Chapter

Game over. - Jigsaw

And so, our Saw extravaganza comes to a close with this, the last film of the series.  It's been a long road, one I've been happy to share with you.  This was my second viewing of each film, and it's been fun seeing them again.  We've cringed, we've laughed, we've been shocked and horrified, we've been up and down and every which way, including loose!  (Sorry, got excited there.)  But all good things must come to an end, and so it is with Saw.

Once again, the story is broken into two parts.  The main story follows Jigsaw's apprentice as he hunts down the last loose ends standing in the way of his getting away free and clear.  His methods are brutal and just as prescient as his master, Jigsaw himself.  What could possibly stand in his way?

The other story, running concurrent with the main one, is of one Bobby Dagen, a man who claims to have survived a Jigsaw game and has written a book about his experiences.  One night, after attending a Jigsaw victim support group (look for cameos from several previous film survivers), Bobby and his entourage end up in another Jigsaw game.  Can he save the others?  Can he save himself?

The film brought a very satisfying close to the series.  It touched on, and filled in, many plot holes and unanswered questions.  In addition to the surviver's cameos, we get scenes that touch on many plot points of previous films (including how certain previously unexplained scenes worked).  This film definitely brings the series full circle.

Casting-wise, it'd be foolish to assume we didn't get the returns of series mainstays Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Betsy Russell.  Sean Patrick Flannery played Bobby Dagen.  He was also in such films as Powder (playing the title character), Boondock Saints, Indiana Jones in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles series, as well as the SyFy film Mongolian Death Worm.  Chad Donella played IA detective Matt Gibson, the officer Jill, Jigsaw's widow, approaches with the identity of the apprentice.  He was also in Disturbing Behavior and Final Destination.  Gina Holden plays Joyce Daggen, Bobby's wife.  She's been in a lot of movies, including Final Destination 3, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and The Butterfly Effect 2.

So, a terrific conclusion to a very successful franchise.  Thanks for reading my reviews and allowing you to share in my enjoyment of the films.  I give it a very high 5 out of 5.  As always, any comments are welcome in the provided boxes below, or you can contact me here if you have a private question.  I hope that you'll keep coming back.  We've got more stuff for you, both obscure and well-known, high and low budget, well-know actors and forgotten favorites.  Happy Horrorween as only just begun!  Thank you very much for visiting and, as always, this is Red Hawk signing out!

Saw VI (2009 film)

You think it's the living that will have ultimate judgment over you, because the dead will have no claim over your soul.  But you may be mistaken. - Jigsaw

We're nearing the end of our journey, with Saw VI, one of the best of the series.  From start to end this film twists and turns, not unlike the maze our game protagonist finds himself in.  But this isn't just about our player.  Some unavoidable spoilers to previous films will unfortunately be included in here.

After the obligatory opening game, we see how the last film ended, with the apprentice getting away scott free.  Most of the rest of the film is him trying to tie up loose ends and keep the frame-up going that he started in the last film.  But will a plan from Jigsaw himself get in his way?

The game of the film is run by William Easton, an insurance executive who more or less doomed Jigsaw when he denied him an experimental treatment.  Forced to run a maze, he encounters employees and coworkers, people he knows and works with on a daily basis, and is forced to make some hard choices.  What awaist him at the end of his game?

So, in addition to the returning cast of Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Shawnee Smith and Betsy Russell, we get a new cast of characters.  Peter Outerbridge played William, and he played him well.  You could feel the tension involved in having to make every decision he's forced into.  Mark Rolston portrayed FBI agent in charge of the Jigsaw case Dan Erickson in this film and the previous one.  He's had a long career in several well-known movies: Aliens, Robocop 2, Lethal Weapon 2, The Shawshank Redemption, and Rush Hour.  Darius McCrary played Dave, one of Easton's "Dog Pit" of investigators, trying to weed out people that might be cheating their system.  He played Eddie on Family Matters, probably his best-known role, but he was also in Vampires: Los Muertos and Transformers.

The movie builds up to the usual twist ending (a double, this time), setting up for the next, final movie.  The effects are great, the traps believable, the acting's good.  I really enjoyed all aspects of the film and give it a 5 out of 5.  Tomorrow's the Final Chapter.  Once we're past that, I'll have a little more variety for you.  Until then, take care and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Saw V (2008 film)

If you're good at anticipating the human mind, it leaves nothing to chance. - Jigsaw

Day 5 of my Saw series coverage and it's getting hard to review these now.  Why, you ask?  Because starting with this one, I'm going to have to try to avoid being too spoiler-riffic in my summaries.  This film's opening seriously spoils the end of Saw IV.  The next film spoils the ending of this one.  And the seventh film spoils the ending of at least the first movie in the series!  I'll do what I can, though, with a minimal amount of reveals.

The film starts with FBI Special Agent Strahm in the room the third film ended in.  Seeing some paint glowing around a hidden passage, he finds a recorder hanging behind the doorway.  Strahm plays the tape and finds it addressed to him, telling him to stop his pursuit or he may live to regret it.  Strahm ignore the tape, tries to pursue Jigsaw and comes face-to-Pigface with an abductor.  Strahm awakens to find himself in a trap, but saves himself due to a bout of quick thinking.

The rest of the film is split between two storylines.  The first is Strahm trying to figure out the identity of Jigsaw's other accomplice, while said accomplice does their best to discredit and tear down Strahm.  The other is another set of players, stuck inside a series of rooms and forced to play Jigsaw's latest game.

In addition to Tobin Bell (who did a fantastic job, as always, as Jigsaw), Costas Mandylor (who also did a terrific job as Hoffman), Scott Patterson and Betsy Russell, we get some new characters again.  Julie Benz played Brit, a real estate developer caught in the five-person trap.  Benz also played in Romero film Two Evil Eyes, Jawbreaker, Shriek if You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth, and 8MM 2.  Meagan Good played Luba, another victim of the five-person trap.  Her acting credits include 2005's Venom, the One Missed Call remake, and 2009's The Unborn with Gary Oldman and Odette Yustman. 

The interplay between actors continues to impress me.  The scenes between Jigsaw and his accomplice work very well, each playing off the other and making the scenes work beautifully.  Tobin Bell gets even more of a chance to shine here in flashbacks to the setups to previous games, even ones we've seen such as the house in Saw II.

I give this film a 5 out of 5.  It goes a long way towards setting up the overarching endgame plot covered in the next two films.  Tune in tomorrow for the penultimate chapter in the series.  One man, several decisions.  You won't want to miss it!  Until then, this is Red Hawk signing out!

Saw IV (2007 film)

You think you will walk away untested.  I promise that my work will continue. - Jigsaw

Day 4 of my Saw run and we're picking up the pace on the series.  We get another 'maze run' with this one, but with one difference... aspects of the player's life become more of his test than ever before.

With the start of the film, we get the usual teaser trap, with two people chained to a contraption in the middle of an old mausoleum, one with his eyes hut, the other his mouth.  After the outcome of this game, we jump to S.W.A.T. commander Rigg leading his squad into another of Jigsaw's lairs.  Guiding a robot in, they get a scope of the room, but when Rigg sees the hanging body of Detective Kerry, Rigg busts through the door without thinking.  Later, Detective Hoffman gives him a severe reprimand over breaking through an unsecured door, and Rigg is sent home, relieved of duty.

Arriving home, Rigg finds his wife packing, with a note for him on the stand in the hall.  She implores him to come with her, but he turns down the idea.  After she leaves, Rigg gets an unexpected visit... from the Pigface.  Awakening in his shower, he finds a Jigsaw video waiting for him in the bedroom.  His task?  To realize that, like Jigsaw, he can't say everybody.  Will this lesson take, or will he end up like so many before him?

Once again, we get a bunch of recurring actors, plus a few new faces, gracing the screen.  Among the returning cast is Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Dina Meyer, and Donnie Wahlberg.  New actors include Louis Ferreira (going by Justin Louis here) as Art Blank, one of the two hooked up to the trap in the beginning.  His career includes over 100 screen credits, including NCIS, Breaking Bad, Criminal Minds, and movies like Blood and Donuts, and The Lazarus Child.  Scott Patterson plays FBI Special Agent Strahm, a man convinced that Jigsaw was working with a second person.  He does well in this film, but he gets a much meatier role in the next one.  Athena Karkanis plays FBI Special Agent Perez, Strahm's partner.  Other films she's been in are Repo: The Genetic Opera and Survival of the Dead.  We also meet Jill Tuck, Jigsaw's ex-wife, in this film, played by Betsy Russell.  She goes on to have a larger role in the later films, as well.

This film was a fun watch for me.  The acting was great, the story built on what happened in the previous film (and even continued some scenes from that one).  The third movie, while continuing themes and characters from the previous two, really set in stone some continuity points.  This film continues that tradition and sets up for the next really well.

My rating for this film is a 5 out of 5.  Continuing the use of likeable characters, plus really delving into Jigsaw's past to find out what started him down his dark path, was a great touch here.  Tune in tomorrow for Saw V, where we return to the second film's multi-player theme.  Take care, be safe, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Saw III (2006 film)

Suffering?  You haven't seen anything yet. - Jigsaw

So, Day 3 of our October coverage and we're getting deeper into the Saw saga.  This time around, we're following two stories, plus continuing the ongoing story from the previous film.  Who lives?  Who dies?  That's up to Jigsaw's players, now, isn't it?

After briefly touching up on what happened at the end of the second film and afterwards, we meet a somewhat jaded doctor, Lynn, who seems to just be going through the motions of her job.  We also meet Jeff, the father of a boy who was killed in a traffic accident.  Both are abducted by the series' iconic figure, the Pigface, and awaken elsewhere: Lynn in Jigsaw's workshop, where he and his apprentice want her to operate to relieve the pressure on his brain and Jeff in a maze where he'll encounter people related to his son's accident.  Will Lynn save Jigsaw's life (and her own)?  Will the father be able to sort out his feelings and grief?  Tests like this have rarely been so bloody!

This film goes for a little more minimalism.  Its kills are reduced, but what it lacks in deaths it makes up for in both imagination and gore.  There are some unique traps used in this film, though none quite as cringe-inducing for me as the syringe pit from Saw II.  Probably the most disgusting is the pig pit, where the intended victim is chained in a chamber and being slowly covered in the juices and entrails from rotting pig carcasses falling into a grinder.  Drowning in pig parts is NOT how I would choose to go.

Returning from Saw II, either for a more notable part or a cameo, are Donnie Wahlberg (Detective Williams), Shawnee Smith (Amanda), Dina Meyer (Detective Kerry), and Lyriq Bent (SWAT Lieutenant Rigg).  Besides the Saw series, Lyriq Bent also played in Four Brothers, Skinwalkers, and the 2010 Mother's Day remake.  Costas Mandylor plays Detective Mark Hoffman here.  Mr. Mandylor has had a long career in acting, all the way back to 1989, and has been in such movies as Virtuosity, Dinocroc, Immortally Yours, and is rumored (on Wikipedia) to be playing Needles Kane, driver of Sweet Tooth, in an upcoming Twisted Metal Hollywood adaptation.  And, playing Jigsaw in his third film, is the great Tobin Bell.  He has a large number of scenes in this film, and he does extremely well with the role.  He's also had a long career, with movies like Tootsie, Ruby, Goodfellas, The Quick and the Dead, and Boogeyman 2, among a host of others under his belt.

Darren Lynn Bousman did it again with another great entry into the series.  My opinionated rating gives the film a 5 out of 5, definitely a recommended viewing (with the caveat being that you enjoy and/or can stomach these types of movies, of course).  Tune in tomorrow for our next entry into the series.  There's only four left to go!  As always, until then, this is Red Hawk signing out!

Saw II (2005 film)

Oh, yes.  There will be blood. - Jigsaw

Day two of the Saw extravaganza for this year's Happy Horrorween and we get a real intense one.  The esteemable Jigsaw returns for another run, and this time we get a whole houseful of people.  The traps come pretty fast (including my least favorite of all time) and the movie ends on a twist, as most of the series has done.

After getting his son out of police custody, Detective Eric Matthews argues with him and leaves him in anger, telling him to go back to his mother if he wants to so badly.  Later, Detective Allison Kerry from the first film calls him on another Jigsaw killing (which we see in the opening of the film) and points out a message to Matthews on the ceiling.  It seems that Jigsaw has taken a certain interest in our hero.

This film was a step up from the previous film, with more traps, more 'players', more drama and more Jigsaw.  The bulk of the film switches between the players and Jigsaw talking to Detective Matthews, trying to tell him about his crusade and motivations.  The interplay between the two is amazing, the hunter and the hunted... but which is really which?  With Jigsaw, you never really know.

This film, while one of my favorites in the series, features (as I said) my least favorite task ever, a pit of syringes that has to be searched through.  As a kid, I had to have alot of shots for my asthma, so have hated needles with a passion ever since, and this sequence just got right under my skin (no pun intended).  The scene was very believable, and I applaud Shawnee Smith for the effort she brought to the scene.

Cast-wise, we have a great group of actors.  Donnie Wahlberg plays Detective Eric Matthews with a lot of passion and emotion.  His scenes with Jigsaw are a highlight of the film.  A member of the 1980s music group New Kids on the Block and brother to ex-rapper turned actor Mark Wahlberg, he also played in Ransom, Sixth Sense, Dreamcatcher and Righteous Kill.  His current acting gig is on cop drama Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck.  Shawnee Smith returned from the first film to play Amanda Young, a rare repeat performer in one of Jigsaw's games.  Acting since the age of 8, she's been alot of films and shows, including the ABC adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand, the 1988 remake of The Blob and the previously-reviewed (on my original site) Grudge 3.  Also returning from the first film was Dina Meyer who played Detective Allison Kerry.  She's best known for her roles in Starship Troopers and playing Barbara Gordon in the short-lived series Birds of Prey.  And playing Jigsaw is... well, I'll save that credit for the last film.  I don't want to spoil it for anybody who hasn't seen the first one yet!

All in all, a very suspenseful film that keeps you on the edge of your seat right up to the end and beyond.  I give it a 5 out of 5.  Do you have any comments or questions about any of my articles?  Feel free to post them below the article and I'll get back to you on it as soon as I can.  Or, you can send me an email right here.  Tomorrow we have our next film, the very originally titled Saw III.  Until then, thanks for reading, take care of yourselves, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Saw (2004 film)

I want to play a game. - Jigsaw

And so, the Saw-ga begins with the first film of what became a yearly release, the Saw series.  While the series became known for its over-the-top deathtraps and blood, this first film, while not lacking in the red stuff, was decidedly tamer than later installments.  So, let's take a look at the film that started the franchise!

The main part of the film centers on Adam and Lawrence, two men chained by the ankles to pipes on either side of an old, decrepit bathroom, with a body lying between them, dead from an apparently self-induced shot to the head.  A tape in Adam's pocket tells him to "follow his heart", while a tape in Lawrence's pocket gives him a more concrete goal: kill Adam by 6 or face the death of his wife and daughter.  Now, the clock is ticking as Lawrence and Adam must match wits with a man with nothing to lose and a message to send.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie the first time I saw it, and this second time didn't lose any of the suspense or thrills the first viewing held.  The performances were top notch, the lighting and make-up were perfect, and the film introduced us to a new movie villain in the Jigsaw Killer, a man who never really killed people himself.  He set people into escapable deathtraps and gave his victims the opportunity to save themselves, if they wanted it bad enough.  (In this way, he sort of reminded me of John Doe from Seven, the serial killer motivated by the seven deadly sins, though Jigsaw wasn't quite as overzealous in his beliefs.)

So, on to our cast.  We have a surprising number of known actors in this first film.  Lawrence Gordon is played by the great Cary Elwes, who some may remember from The Princess Bride, The Crush, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Twister and Kiss the Girls.  He had a real meaty role here and he played the part well.  Playing Detective Tapp, an officer investigating the Jigsaw Murders (so named because the killer cuts a puzzle piece shape out of the skin of whoever dies in one of his traps) is Danny Glover, who also played in the Lethal Weapon series, President Wilson in 2012, and also in Switchback.  His role here required him to reach the very limits of sanity and obsession, which he successfully conveys.  Playing hospital orderly Zep is the great Michael Emerson, one of the few character actors around today.  He will be extremely well-known to fans of The Practice (where he played a serial killer in a recurring role), Lost (where he played the mysterious Ben Linus) and his current acting gig, Person of Interest (where he plays super genius Harold Finch, creator of the Machine that drives the series).

Altogether a fine film, and an excellent start to what became a very famous (and infamous) film series.  I give it a 5 out of 5.  Tune in tomorrow for the next film in the series, Saw II.  It's going to be another wild time.  Until then, as always, this is Red Hawk signing out!