With a character-driven approach and shifting its focus from gore to tension, “Saw X” is not only a beautifully bloody and gripping horror picture but also the best one out of the bunch. Although it contains the classic trademarks that made the franchise’s name, like the disorienting over-editing and gruesome traps, the small changes in vision and narrative structure make this tenth installment the most compelling one.
Saw and the Rise of a New Horror Movement
There have been many movements or trends that have made an impact or slight (and occasionally significant) shifts within the horror genre. One of them arrived out of the blue, although other films in the past were leaving footprints for such creations to be concocted. It was the “torture porn” movement of the early 2000s. The term is quite reductionist and silly, just like calling modern artsy horror films “elevated”. But it helps to group together similar pictures that rely on excessive violence and torture to provoke audiences. At the same time, people can’t have enough of them. Audiences enjoy watching on-screen violence, so their intrigue in seeing buckets of blood and torn limbs isn’t that surprising.
Some of the films that made this highly memorable movement were Eli Roth’s “Hostel,” films of the New French Extremity (“Martyrs,” “High Tension,” “Inside,” “Frontier(s)”), and the most recognizable one of all, the “Saw” franchise. Accompanied by the wooden puppet mascot named Billy the Puppet, the “Saw” films are immediately identifiable and influential because of their ridiculous traps, hyper-violent nature, and rash pacing. And while many may question the reasoning for why these films continue to be made, they still go to see them upon release. The effect of watching these twisted kills on-screen pulls them like a magnet. You won’t find that type of big studio violence anywhere but in John Kramer’s playground.
Twenty years have passed since the release of the first installment, directed by James Wan. And entry number ten, “Saw X”, now hits our theaters. And you know it isn’t going to hold back after this lengthy run. The last time we saw a “Saw” film, it was a complete dumpster fire starring by Chris Rock. We needed something that brought back the “joy” and tension that made the franchise fascinating. What we didn’t expect is that director Kevin Greutert has delivered not only a wince-inducing and beautifully bloody picture but also the best “Saw” film.
Shawnee Smith in “Saw X” (Photo: Lionsgate).
A New Installment That Serves as a Prequel
While some may not stomach the violence, with its set pieces executed in their chaotic and creative, there’s (weirdly so) character development that talks about the fear of time running out and our legacies. What happens throughout “Saw X”’s run-time occurs between the franchise’s first two installments. We see a brittle John Kramer (Tobin Bell) whose cancer worsens as the days pass. He’s slowly losing hope. Of course, those of us who have seen the “Saw” films know that his worries don’t center around his illness only. There’s the element of finding a successor for his cruel equilibrium and “repayment” traps, whether an apprentice or a detective. But doctors giving up on treating him isn’t helping. However, there might be some light at the end of the tunnel.
During an encounter with one of his friends from a cancer support group, he finds out about a controversial medical treatment that might cure his ailment. As a matter of fact, the drug and procedure combination might cure every type of cancer in the world. It sounds a bit too good to be true. But Kramer puts his trust in the scarred survivor. The world is turning its back on such treatment, which forced the lead doctor into hiding. But his daughter, Doctor Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund), leads the pack into this possible salvation.
One quick call is all it takes for Kramer to book a flight to Mexico and have a reserved space for the treatment. Well… as well as more than two hundred thousand dollars. Upon his arrival, everything seems too good to be true, apart from being held at gunpoint at one specific moment to verify his identity. He’s being taken care of by a team of welcoming people, like Gabriela (Renata Vaca), as well as a top-tier medical staff—Mateo (Octavio Hinojosa) and Valentine (Paulette Hernandez). After the procedure, John starts reflecting on his murderous work. Does he want to spend all his time on this planet doing such?
A New Character-Driven Narrative
As he’s concocting a recognizable design for a new trap, Kramer thinks back at his actions. He throws away his pen and paper to get inspired on other projects, like a radio tower on a hill in Mexico. For a second, he believes that everything is about to change. There is a hint of this in the first few minutes of “Saw X.” We see Kramer daydreaming of setting up a petty thief in one of his traps—the one in all the posters involving tubes in his eyes. But he holds back because the man changes his mind. In these scenes, we see some of the small yet necessary changes. We finally get proper character development for the character of John Kramer, in addition to Bell’s abilities as an actor (given that this is the most he has had to work material-wise with the franchise).
Paulette Hernandez in Saw X (Photo: Lionsgate).
The cryptic nature of his persona in the films that follow the timeline after this does not help the audience understand him. Everything is based on the traps he concocts instead of his emotions and thoughts about society or even himself. Since it was all based around a man-hunt and detective play—twists upon twists and secrets upon secrets—there was never enough time to get in the head of John Kramer. It took ten films to get a taste of his emotions, angst, and vulnerability. The fact that it is intertwined with delights for gore hounds is quite odd and ultimately expected. Some might even argue about the point of having a character-driven picture when all one cares about is the blood and guts. And, to some extent, that is true.
The franchise’s memorable aspects rely on its hyper-violent nature and caricature-esque brutality. But it is tiresome to see that on a constant basis. You need a reason to go back and watch these films in the first place. It is necessary to build up your characters so that viewers can see these movies from another angle—Kramer, Young, or even Hoffman’s perspective. At least you receive a fifty-fifty split between character work and carnage. The world has offered him a second chance. He can see it (and himself) in a new light that doesn’t involve “acts of redemption” or “cruel tests.” Right until he notices that there isn’t a scar on his head from the surgery, and Pederson and company were a bunch of crooks who took advantage of significantly fractured people and played with their psyche.
Traps, Traps, Blood, and Guts
He loses all of his hope. And Kramer now seeks revenge the only way he knows how via his “playful” persona of Jigsaw. With the help of his apprentice, Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith, who is excellent in her return), Kramer crafts a playpen for those who took advantage of him and the other cancer patients who were given hope, only to leave them broken and bankrupt. “I want to play a game” is heard immediately after. You already know that things are about to go down. Bloody brutal, its cruelty on top-notch, and its gore in full sight. I enjoyed most of what precedes the traps. But I would lie if I said that they didn’t make me very happy and entertained.
The architecture of the traps themselves is always impressive. I have always wondered how the crew has made them fit the “crime” each victim has committed. It is almost the same scenario as the “Mortal Kombat” developers and their fatality creations. Nevertheless, the games are more wince-inducing and gripping than in most installments. Amputations, severe burns, water-boarding, brain surgery… everything is on the table. Kevin Greutert offers you an array of creative mechanisms that will have horror fans jumping out of excitement. There’s more thought into the ingenuity of those designs and their intertwining with the film’s ideas. It feels mechanical. With the help of the practical and visual effects mixture, you can feel the pain of each character.
“Saw X” builds tension rapidly, just like its occasional frantic editing. All in all, I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did. The trailer sold me on the project. It wasn’t until I saw the whole thing that I realized that it was a thrilling horror picture and the best one in the franchise. The fixes in the other nine installment’s errors were a great help. And others stayed the same to remain with their gruesome persona. They bring further a more profound (in its own right) and gory movie. Non-fans of the “Saw” films might lose some of the narrative thresholds hidden in the foreshadowing factor of the story. But there’s still enough to get a hold of that’s enticing for gore hounds and horror enthusiasts.
“Saw X” is now playing in theaters worldwide.
