“Saw I” introduces us to Jigsaw, the gruesome killer who delights in placing his victims in torture devices and testing their desire to live. “Saw II” added Amanda, Jigsaw’s assistant and would-be heir who was also a past victim. Then, “Saw III” killed them both, ending his reign of terror. Or so we thought. This year brings the latest installment, “Saw IV”. With the main characters dead, how could they possibly make another movie?
By Vanessa Kolberg
Arts and Entertainment Editor
“Saw I” introduces us to Jigsaw, the gruesome killer who delights in placing his victims in torture devices and testing their desire to live. “Saw II” added Amanda, Jigsaw’s assistant and would-be heir who was also a past victim. Then, “Saw III” killed them both, ending his reign of terror. Or so we thought. This year brings the latest installment, “Saw IV”. With the main characters dead, how could they possibly make another movie?
By continuing Jigsaw’s reign of terror even after his death through the work of another apprentice. This one played the game correctly and won, unlike Amanda, and will keep implementing the grotesque and torturous devices on helpless victims. Oh, and grotesque they are. “Saw IV” is not short on the blood and gore we’ve all come to know and love from the “Saw” movies. If severed limbs, gouged-out eyes, and visible human organs are your thing, the movie does not disappoint.
The plot itself is a little confusing, time wise, since some of the events occurring overlap with scenes from “Saw III”. “Saw IV” picks up just minutes from when “Saw III” ends, so keep that in mind as you try to piece together the events. This installment includes another group of ill-fated detectives on a hunt for Jigsaw’s accomplice. Rigg (played by Lyriq Bent) is obsessed with finding who helped kill his friends from the last movie and is therefore thrown into Jigsaw’s latest game of terror in order to rid him of this obsession. If he plays the game, two other detectives caught in Jigsaw’s lair will go free, yet if done correctly, several bodies will die at Rigg’s hands in order to save the others.
“Saw IV” also introduces us to Jigsaw’s (aka Jonathan Kramer’s) past life before he became a serial killer. FBI Agent Strahm (played by Scott Patterson – yes, Luke from “Gilmore Girls”) believes Jigsaw’s ex-wife Jill (Betsey Russel) is connected to the recent spree of post-mortem murders and forcefully interrogates her to gain information on how a seemingly normal man could turn into a vicious (albeit genius) killer. Since so little is known about Jigsaw prior to his life as a murderer, it was nice to have a little insight into what made him a killer.
As with the other movies, “Saw IV” contains a shocking plot twist at the end that brings the story together but also creates more questions. Yes, that’s right, the movie ends in a way that almost guarantees a “Saw V”. However, I think they need to realize when enough is enough – yes, there can be too much blood.