REVIEW: Saw IV0

So here’s my take on “Saw IV”, the fourth installment in the pretty successful horror film franchise. I came home from watching this film in the cinema just about an hour ago. I’ll try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible!

I have been looking forward to this film for quite some time now, but when I read the reviews of it (which were to say the least very poor) I got a bit confused. But, I quickly realised it had got pretty much the same score as the it’s predecessors so I decided to simply ignore the reviews and go watch it, eager to see what they could have come up with this time!

The story circulates around the fact that Jigsaw and his accomplice Amanda are dead. Detective Eric Matthews has been gone for six months and not soon after, more police officers start to dissapear. S.W.A.T. Commander Riggs soon gets chosen by Jigsaw (or by an unknown new accomplice) to truly save the missing detectives. And so the games begin again! Since all of these films are extremely story-focused, I won’t talk a long time about the story, since I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. But I must say it’s very thought through, and connects the earlier films with this one in a great and believeable way. I loved the story of the film. Maybe it had a bit too many “talky” parts, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that this is probably the most violent film I’ve ever seen, and the amount of gore is quite disgusting. But overall, the story is great and gets two thumbs up! Oh, and by the way, this film has almost got the same intensity level as “28 Weeks Later” in terms of the beginning of the film. So it starts off with quite a big and violent bang, even before the title rolls on screen.

I liked the acting of the film, particulary Tobin Bell as Jigsaw who brings a bit more humanity and emotion to his character than what we’ve seen in the last three films. He has some great scenes that explain how he became what he is (or what he was, since he’s dead), and the actions that started the emotions driving the future Jigsaw. The other actors’ behave just as you’d expect them too, with not much to really comment about. Two shining exceptions are Costas Mandaylor, who plays Forensic Hoffman. He has a great acting talent and his fate in the film is really quite cool. Another person that does her acting very well is Betsy Russel, who plays Jigsaw’s ex-wife Jill, in the multiple flashbacks taking place in the film. She plays her part very well, and she goes through some very traumatic scenes and situations, which Russel handles perfectly!

The locations, setpieces, lightning and cinematography are just stunning! They all come together to produce a very amazing atmosphere, and in a very strange way, some of the sets featuring some very disgusting traps actually look beatutiful. The sets seemed to be focused around a specific colour, such as red, orange, yellow or green. This might have been a post-production colour grading choice, but never-the-less, it looks very good and really keeps the viewer (at least me) interested in what’s going on on the screen. A similar technique is used in Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine” (a truly amazing film) where the scenes taking place inside the ship lacks red and orange colour, just to blast the audience with very bright orange once it shifts to an exterior perspective. I guess some things could be said about some of the rapid shots and edits, but actually, I think it works quite well, as it’s not as overused as in Tony Scott’s film “Domino”. I think the rapid edits fit well with what’s going on on-screen, particulary towards the very unexpected ending, where the tension is extremely high.

One of my favorite composers, Charlie Clouser, did a great score for the film. Some themes are re-used from the former scores, but it all comes together very nicely with some new tunes for the characters. I will definently look into buying the score for the film, but right now only a lousy soundtrack with odd rock songs is available. If anyone knows where I could find the film’s score, don’t hesitate to comment or drop me an e-mail.

So overall, I thought this was a very, very good and exciting film to see. It was actually the first “Saw” film I’ve seen in theatres, and I will definently see the inevitable fifth one next year. It’s not really as good as the first one, but since that was by my book pretty much perfect it might be a bit hard to live up to. But it’s definently the best of the sequels, and I’d recommend seeing it if you like horror films (make sure to see it’s prequals before this one though, since it very much connects with the older films both story- and character-wise), and you’re not too sensitive to an extreme amount of blood, violence and gore. Definently one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year.

Verdict: 9 out of 10

P.S. What’s up with idiots going to cinemas? I mean, seriously, this showing was full of them. Just please, if you’re going to watch a movie, don’t talk during it! These kinds of people seem to have increased the last couple of years, and I really can’t see why you’re paying to see a film if you’re just talking right through the whole thing.