Horror Movie Review: Jigsaw (2017)

No franchise ever stays dead. In 1984, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter was released. We would get the next film in that series a year later. Followed by even more sequels, a reboot and a crossover with Freddy Krueger. Talking of which, in 1991 that franchise, the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies supposedly came to an end with Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Only for us to get Wes Craven’s New Nightmare in 1994 as well as the Jason crossover and a reboot in 2010.

What about Halloween? Take a look at that mess! Remember when Michael Myers had his head chopped off only to return in the next film?

…but hey, those are old movies. No-one does this sort thing in modern times, do they? Think again as in 2009, the supposedly last Final Destination movie called The Final Destination was released. What did we get in 2011? Final Destination 5.

All of this relevant to this review as in 2009 we got what was supposed to be the last Saw movie. Called Saw: The Final Chapter of Saw 3D or Saw VII 3D, it wrapped up the series (mostly) and it remained this way until 2017.

Like the corpse of Jigsaw himself, it was exhumed and paraded about for us all to see. It didn’t matter that it stunk like death or that it was falling part, studio execs figured it had been long enough that people would be entertained. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and to be fair, there was some healthy excitement about the release of Jigsaw.

Excitement that translated into box office success (seriously, this movie made so much money). Which is a real shame because it is an absolute shocker of a movie, Not just the worst Saw movie to date but a terrible horror movie full stop.

You can check out all our reviews of the series to date below.

2004 – Saw
2005 – Saw II
2006 – Saw III
2007 – Saw IV
2008 – Saw V
2009 – Saw VI
2010 – Saw: The Final Chapter

It begins promisingly enough though.

Ten years after Jigsaw died, we’re introduced to a man as he is begin chased down by the police. He is cornered on a roof and babbles about being in a game while holding a remote trigger. The police manage to shoot it out of his hand but seemingly it activates as we’re then introduced to five people who are part of a new game.

The voice of Jigsaw rings out and informs them of what they need to do to survive, but how? He’s dead, right?

In each room, each person’s crimes are revealed and tested. The resulting carnage left on display for both the public and police to see. This leads the police to believe a copycat, someone inspired by Jigsaw, is responsible. It has to be. He died at the end of Saw III after all.

Well, in a moment of sheer desperation and flagrant insulting of an audience’s intelligence, here is Tobin Bell reprising his role as Jigsaw. Now normally I’d avoid revealing a Saw twist, after all it’s one of the major selling points of the movies, but in this case, it can’t be avoided. Not only that, it’s one of two twists.

John Kramer is not alive, his appearance is the tried and tested Saw flashback sequence. A tired trope that really didn’t need to be rehashed but it’s made all the worse by how the movie tries to hide it. As if John could have actually been alive. In fact, it’s almost embarrassing just how far it goes to not have anyone around him ask the burning question.

Its clear avoidance of that and early characters reactions to being in a Jigsaw game signposts the reveal.

So what is all of this setting up? Another god-damn apprentice. Yes, Jigsaw’s big reveal at the end is that John Kramer had yet another apprentice who is behind everything going on. This character is a bit-part player and is so bland, they fade into the background most of the time. The only reason anyone would be surprised by the reveal is simply because it makes no sense.

Of course, it tries to tie it in to the overall narrative but unlike Amanda, Hoffman, Dr Gordon and Jill Tuck, this character is not linked into the franchise as a whole. It tries, with flashbacks to the very early days of Jigsaw’s plans, but whereas the previous films showed the other apprentices’ involvements with series events and traps, this one was just with Jigsaw at the start apparently.

It’s laughable, it’s insulting and it’s frustrating as it makes Jigsaw such a waste of time. Desperately looking to restart the franchise while tying itself in knots as it tries to link it to the past films. It would have been better to go the copycat route.

Beyond the infuriating story, there really isn’t anything to get excited about. It’s nice to see some basic traps again and the film isn’t shy with gore but it’s paint by numbers stuff. Violence and gore that was overdone in 2009, let alone 2017.

The cast are so forgettable and there isn’t a single likable character amongst them. While no-one is terrible, being forgettable is just as bad sometimes. The highlight is Tobin Bell, his gravelly voice and presence adding some gravitas to a very light plot. It’s not enough to save this stinker though. The corpse has rotted away to almost nothing, time to stop making it dance.