Saw IV DVD Review

Saw IV

Review By: Kelsey Zukowski
Starring: Lyriq Bent, Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Athena Karkanis, Donnie Whalberg, Shawnee Smith
Directed By: Darren Lynn Bousman
Written By: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan
Released: 2007
Grade: B+

The Saw Franchise has become one of the more successful series in the horror genre today. With in the last few years, it has become a tradition hence the line, “If it’s Halloween, it must be Saw”. The first film was very innovative and through out all of the sequels it remains supreme. The second was somewhat of a let down as the deaths became more systematic and answered to audience demands by giving more blood. The ending was very weak and was just a set up to have another film. The third improved on this and at least the traps became more elaborate. Saw IV is the best Saw film since the first. It brings back some of the ideals that made the first film so good like testing the limits of human strength.

Jigsaw (Bell) is dead yet the games don’t stop there. Inside of his stomach another tape is found. This tape is for the next victim, Rigg (Bent), the last standing F.B.I. agent who has stood his ground against Jigsaw’s crazy and brutal antics. Rigg knows the patterns and the severity of what he is living with. He is put through a number of tests to question his abilities and what may hold them back. These include saving people who have done wrongs in the past and are thought to be “not worth saving”. It is clear that this is more than the typical test that Rigg is going through. He is putting himself on the line in order to save others. This desire is because of Officer, Eric Matthews (Whalberg), who has gone missing on one of Jigsaw’s schemes. It has been 6 months, but there is still hope that Matthews may still be alive. This puts the stakes even higher for Rigg. If he can get through all of the tests they might lead him to finding and saving Matthews from the horrible fate he might face otherwise.

This film did seem like the writers tried to put more back in the story. It can be hard to keep something like this going strong, but Saw IV succeeds on this level. Jigsaw is dead as well as his initial follower, Amanda (Smith). So he is trying to recruit a new leader that can make his ideals live on. The attempt for this is shown through Rigg. He is put in situations with those who have committed immoral acts and is told that their survival is out of his hands anyway. This reinforces Jigsaw’s ideas of the immoral paying for their sins and seeing if they can survive by their own human instincts. In the extremely painful and severe circumstances, it is nearly impossible for anyone to be able to accomplish these tasks. Amanda is the only person who ever was able to do this out of many who tried and miserably failed. There is a situation in Saw IV where one man has been blinded and the other man in the room has been deafened. They are stripped of communication as well basic senses which could help them to survive. About the only elements of human nature comes out; a revenge which is literally and figuratively like killing one self.

One interesting thing is that at some points Rigg’s desperation puts him in a worse position than he is already in. Obsession is a major theme here. His wife is frustrated because he is almost always at work and even when he is not he is mentally there. Rigg is partially being tested on whether he can let go or live in the past and let it to allow his every action. This may not just apply to him either. Jigsaw has an obsession with the games that he forces others in to. Nearly the same outcome happens every time. If it is just about proving his theories, he has accomplished that long ago. He insists on doing this so much that it becomes his life. Even when he is going to die, he can’t let this system go.

This brings me to another point, a lot more is offered in this film on Jigsaw’s past. Flashback’s are used that show us that there was a time when he wasn’t so sick and grim as he once was. When he was with his ex-wife they had ideals about appreciating life. With the combination of his diagnosis of cancer, getting in a violent accident, and losing his future son due to a drug addict who attacked his wife, he becomes the dark Jigsaw. He thought if he didn’t get to keep his life and if his child couldn’t even have a chance at life then maybe others shouldn’t have the chance at life either. Especially for those who have done wrong and possibly lost their appreciation for the chances they have had and abused like the one who took his child’s life. This led to a deeply dark approach that humans should prove their survival skills to go on surviving. The film shows Jigsaw as he is changing. It gives a sense of morality to his character while still showing evils that are brewing inside of him and will later be used on others. Saw IV is not quite as good as the first, but it is brought back to its’ roots. There is better character development and the bases that made those characters in to what they are. The story is solid and it is interesting how it has found a way to live on. The gore is of course very extreme and out does itself. With a saw film it is always entertaining to see what new traps will be shown. Saw IV displays creativity and great severity in the devices used this time. They are gruesome and hard to watch yet raise the tension and heighten the intense tone immensely. Saw IV adds a solid story line to the great gore and complex characters to make a very ideal horror film and the best Saw sequel yet.