“Saw X” review — above average horror prequel restarts Jigsaw’s twisted game
★★★☆☆ Tobin Bell returns for more righteous retribution in a surprisingly not-bad franchise reboot.
Covered in blood and, presumably, other bodily fluids, the Saw series has emerged from its own putrid trappings. The third time’s the charm for the franchise, finally delivering a film worthy of the glut of movies that began terrorising with its multiplex-friendly blend of gore and insane mental gymnastics almost twenty years ago. Has it really been that long?
Following failed attempts to revive the franchise — first in 2017 with the utterly forgettable Jigsaw, and then in 2021 with Spiral: From The Book of Saw, a disastrously bad spin-off effort that saw Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson cosplay as Z-list horror fodder — the series has thankfully returned to its roots, resurrecting its iconic character and doing something I’m surprised has taken this long: Time travel.
Taking place somewhere between the first and second movies — think The Fast and the Furious series relaunch, just with far more violence and, bizarrely, the same amount of stomach-churning references to family — Saw X finds a cancer-stricken John Kramer, aka the soon-to-be-infamous moralistic serial killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), travelling to Mexico in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to treat his untreatable affliction.
In the sepia-soaked backdrop of an unlikely facility in an unknown part of the country, John believes he’s found his salvation. But it’s not long before rapturous renewal turns to righteous retribution. His experimental treatment was a scam, a trap targeting the desperate and vulnerable, concocted by the callous Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund).
But this time Pederson and her team have preyed upon the wrong victim. John and his associates spring into action, executing their twisted modus operandi. It’s not long before the scheming group wind up in a dingy warehouse, hardwired to various devastating contraptions designed to torture, maim, and maybe teach some much-needed lessons.
While far from perfect, or even excellent for that matter (these movies were never designed to be awards contenders), Saw X is probably the strongest of any Saw sequel since the third instalment.
A lot of this is thanks to the return of Tobin Bell, the veteran actor and franchise icon, returning to centre stage after years cameoing in his own movies. The choice to twist Jigsaw into a heroic character is more than a little questionable considering his gruesome methods, but the story and Synnøve Macody Lund’s frighteningly cold antagonist make this remarkably easy.
Longtime fans of the series should be delighted with the film’s return to its “golden era” blueprint. For the first time in years, the traps are inventive and back to their ironically horrific best. A personal favourite requires its victim, in a legitimately squirm-inducing scene, to amputate their leg and vacuum out their own bone marrow in order to avoid a razor-wire decapitation. Lovely.
The first half of the film is unquestionably its finest, at times feeling like a high-brow indie drama about a desperate man’s mission to save his own life. These moments give us a Saw movie that feels grown up, armed with experiences and levelled-up production value thanks to years of low-cost movies yielding high earnings.
Unfortunately, the quality tapers off from the midpoint as the film settles in the latest anonymous industrial hellhole — just where does Kramer find these places?
The traps deliver, but the mechanics of the story begin to groan as the film awkwardly shifts between moments of extreme bloody brutality and scenes of John in quiet reflection with a visibly aged Amanda (still played with great conflict by the returning Shawnee Smith), all leading to the film’s protracted and disappointingly bland finale complete with an obligatory twist set to the familiar sounds of Charlie Clouser’s sinister jingle.
All this equates to a pretty mixed experience, but fans of the series probably won’t care. This is the Saw movie we’ve been waiting for since the insufferably bad “finale” stunk out the joint back in 2010. It’s a fresh new take that recognises the strengths of the series, and adheres to them like the most devout Jigsaw apprentice.
By the evidence of a strong opening at the box office, coupled with ecstatic audience reviews, the game, it appears, is only just beginning.
