'Saw IV' one too many

By Tanner Boyd

Published Nov. 2, 2007

The "Saw" saga is really starting to get full of itself. The film is going so bold as to tag itself with the claim, "If it's Halloween, it must be 'Saw.'" We, the viewing public, are supposed to believe that the "Saw" films are as synonymous with All Hallow's Eve as smashing pumpkins and slutty costumes.

In reality, the series is actually starting to become synonymous with one thing: complete crap.

"Saw IV" starts, as one would expect, with a bloody autopsy on the recently deceased Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). Inside Jigsaw's corpse is a tape notifying authorities that his games are not yet over and, in fact, have just begun.

So now the plot of the movie becomes a search for Jigsaw's new henchmen because his old protégé (Shawnee Smith) has also bit the dust. The movie follows Sergeant Rigg (Lyriq Bent), who has just been placed as the victim to Jigsaw's new game.

Along the way, Rigg encounters other players who are involved in their own death traps. I imagine that this part is why most people go to the film, but, sadly, the traps this time around have really lost their luster. Needless to say, forcing someone to succumb to the pain of playing "Guitar Hero" for six hours straight would have been more gut wrenching.

The bloodbath-torture genre seems to have plateaued, which is good news for us but bad news for S&M enthusiasts. Although the dollars from teenagers hoping to feel up their dates might still be pumped into the box office, the tolerance among others is waning.

Although this franchise started as something new and quirky, it has significantly beaten the horse sequel after sequel. "Saw IV" offers an inner struggle over which will prevail, your gag reflex or your poor acting tolerance. Now the plot is falling into the M. Night Shyamalan syndrome, during which people go to the movie waiting for the big twist payoff and end up horribly disappointed.

Welcome to the club, "Saw IV." Your buildup is so unnecessarily prolonged and dragged out only to fizzle into your disgruntled and slightly poorer audience muttering, "Seriously?" Your ending ambiguity that leads to more and more sequels leads gore-hungry boys begging for more, but the rest of us are stuffed to the rafters.

The "Saw" series should have ended after the original, and the only thing these sequels have to offer is insurance that the first "Saw" will be considered the best. So when the blood and guts clear on this franchise and that creepy little puppet is pawned off at the five and dime, we will be left with our memories of Jigsaw. Alas, that is all they will ever be: memories. That is the catch to poorly planned horror sequels — the cruelest game of them all.