Saw IV

Spoiler Alert!

Like all of the other Saw movies, Saw IV relies mainly on extreme gore and brutality to shock viewers. However, this particular Saw's visuals don't shock as well as those in the other movies. Perhaps I am immune to the gruesomeness, but nothing in the movie made me gag or even feel remotely sick. I will say, however, that it does provide a few scares, if anyone is afraid of dolls like I am.

On the positive side, this movie provides background information for the Saw series. (Spoilers Ahead!) It tells the story of how the police find the body of Jigsaw. This is not apparent until the end of the movie which creates a small twist ending the somehow still fails to shock. It also explains what happened to make John Kramer (a.k.a Jigsaw) lose his mind. The back story is sad, but still cannot begin to justify his insane behavior.

Now to the negative side. There are only so many ways someone can find to torture a person. And because this is the fourth movie in the series, the ways are running low. One of the torture devices is designed to rip a woman's hair out. While this would be painful, it is not very scary or tense to watch. By this point, I'm not sure Darren Lynn Bousman could find another torture method that would be shocking or scary, because, having seen the first four Saw movies, I feel like I've pretty much seen it all. And yet, Saw VI comes out this year and I'm sure it will try it's best to gross out anyone who watches it.

Saw IV was gory and gruesome (and quite frankly better than the third movie in the series) but it still fell short in many ways. If you're a fan of the first three Saw movies then you may enjoy this movie, but if you are not a fan then don't waste your time.

-H