Review of Saw IV (2007) by Halfwelshman — 09 Feb 2012

I watched Saw IV having only seen the first installment beforehand. Despite missing two installments, I didn't get the feeling that I'd missed much in terms of story. It's business as usual in Saw IV - we grimace at a series of inventive, grotesque "games" designed to teach undesirables the error of their ways.

Sort of like I'm a Celebrity's bush-tucker trials but with more blood, and less Ant and Dec. By this point, Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is dead, but that doesn't stop him pursuing his unique brand of justice from beyond the grave.

His physical absence from the film (other than as a corpse on the autopsy table) does allow the film to indulge in a series of surprisingly effective flashbacks that flesh out John Kramer's life before he became Jigsaw, and goes some way to give him understandable motivations.

The rest of the film, however, trudges through its run-time without any clear focus. The "games" are still inventive, and disconcertingly mesmerising enough if you're able to detach yourself from the gruesomeness of it all.

As I haven't yet seen Saw II and III, I can't really judge the series as a whole, but when watching IV, I can say for certain is that there has been a sharp drop in quality since the original. The first Saw worked on multiple levels - as a very effective horror, an entertaining crime-thriller, and as a mystery.

Saw IV only works on one level - as a gore-filled sideshow. You just find yourself drifting listlessly through what little flaccid plot the film has waiting for the next torture-based set-piece. You're unable to engage with anyone - all characters are just meat for the slaughter.

Thank goodness for the still brilliant Tobin Bell, as without his flashback segments, the film would have no scope at all for drama, and very little at all to offer beyond rubbery-looking bodies being brutally destroyed by nightmarish D.

I.Y. death machines. If that's your idea of entertainment, fine, I'm not going to judge - film is fantasy after all, and most adults are quite capable of distinguishing between what's on screen and reality.

Personally, I can't honestly say I get the appeal. Perhaps if I watched all the films in sequence I'd get more out of Saw IV, but I highly doubt it.