How has this franchise lasted all the way to this tenth installment? In every sense of logic, it shouldn’t have, especially in these last five or so years. The 2020s, maybe even a few years before, will go down in horror history as the Age of Elevated Horror.
CineDump Rating: ★★★★½
The arthouse installments, the heartbreaking family dramas masqueraded as supernatural horror, coming-of-age shown through a body-horror social media filter. The days of the gory torture-porn films surely had ended. The public wanted something deeper, not just movies that spat blood onto their viewers. Highbrow production and distribution companies like A24 and Neon have stolen the spotlight. But just like John Kramer, AKA Jigsaw, worms his way into the lives of others long after he’s been dead, the “Saw” franchise has found itself once again on top of the horror world, seemingly out of nowhere.
For viewers who stopped after the third or fourth installment, don’t worry. There’s no need to dredge through the pig guts and epileptic editing to get caught up for “Saw X.” This film takes place in between the events of the original and “Saw II.” We see John Kramer learning more details of his terminal brain cancer and of the tumor that’s breaking his body down. We even delve into a side we never thought we’d see in him: sympathy, empathy, and vulnerability. He even joins a support group and makes friends (yes, you read that right, friends) with other terminal cancer patients.
After a while, he comes across a friend in particular who is back in near-perfect health and in full remission. He recommends Kramer see the specialist he saw, someone who performs the surgeries outside of the US, because America’s healthcare system is so flawed and money-hungry that they wouldn’t support her truly altruistic treatments. So, Kramer travels to Mexico and is greeted with arms that hold and comfort him, a hand that holds his, and a whisper that says, “You’ll be just fine.” It’s jarring to see this prolific silver-screen serial killer moved to tears. But of course, when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. We see a rather heart-wrenching transformation of Kramer turning into Jigsaw.
Kevin Greutert is back in the director’s chair after directing “Saw VI” and “Saw 3D.” That might be rather underwhelming to hear, but he’s been involved in the franchise since the original as the film’s main editor. He brings Kramer into a world he’s not familiar with, for starters: Mexico. When things go south for him, he calls for help from his newfound partner, Amanda, and the two reunite in what is more a mentor-trainee dichotomy and a moral examination than our average blood-soaked Saw film.
Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith both give the best performances of their career, making them sympathetic to the point you find yourself rooting for them by the end. A subtitle would’ve been fitting: “Saw X: The Dawn of a Hero.” There are still plenty of inventive traps, some I would argue are the best we’ve seen yet, and Greutert and team don’t go light on the graphic violence. But the biggest payoff is we now finally understand John Kramer’s motives, and how strong his moral code really is. It makes rewatching the previous films incredibly enlightening on so many levels. And with that, I for once am eager to see what’s in store for us Jigsaw fans in the future.
Jacob Scheer