RUNNING TIME: 1hr. 48
min.
RATING: R - sequences
of grisly bloody violence and torture throughout, and for language
CAST: Tobin Bell,
Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Lyriq Bent
DIRECTOR: Darren Lynn Bousman
GENRE: Horror
Okay, I don’t know what is wrong
with me. I think my wife and kids should be frightened that I am drawn to
movies that elevate mutilation and torture to an art form.
I guess there’s something primal
in me (and obviously others) that this type of film appeals to. Although I
don’t think, even with the amount of horror I write, I could write something
like the Saw movies.
They hit a little too close to
real life – people hurting people. I’m not really into that.
But I will watch it!
Gone are the days of devil kids
and possessed teenage girls. Jason, Freddy are passé.
This is the time of Hostel and
of cours,e Saw IV.
Well one thing I will give it,
the fourth installment in this very successful series is clever.
And I ain’t talking about the
traps - although they are pretty ingenious as well.
Saw IV picks up where III left
off. Jigsaw and his protégé Amanda are now dead. But that doesn’t stop John (Jigsaw’s
real name) from getting "jiggy" from the grave. Upon the news of detective
Kerry’s (Dina “god I love her
boobs from Starship Troopers” Meyer from III) death, courtesy of a Jigsaw trap,
FBI agents Strahm and Perez (played by Scott Patterson and Athena Karkanis
respectively) arrive at the depleted police department to help a beleaguered
detective played by Costas Mandylor.
What they learn early on is that
an obsessive Swat Team Commander, played by Lyriq Bent has been lured into a
game by the deceased Jigsaw – he has 90 minutes to follow a trail of clues in order
to save the life of his former partner, Eric Matthews, played by Donnie
Wahlberg.
In order to get to him, he will
have to decide whether to rescue (or aid Jigsaw) some truly horrible people.
People who probably should be put to death for their crimes.
I have to say, traps and
mutilation aside, I thought Saw IV was pretty smart. You really have to know
the other three movies in order to enjoy this one. Everything is connected –
victims, plots etc. This could have also been a prequel to the Saw movies, as
we see how John becomes Jigsaw.
But the real stars of the Saw
movies are the traps. I don’t know how an old man riddled with cancer could
build these, but hey I guess that’s what makes it a movie. From a knife slicing
machine to a machine designed to tear out a man’s eyes or rip his body open,
the traps of Saw are surprising, exciting and do make you grip your chair at
times. Tobin Bell as Jigsawis interesting to watch and now I guess he is
turning into some sort of anti-hero, such as Dexter Morgan on Showtime’s
Dexter.
I did find the ending a bit
confusing and I have to ding it for that. I think it’s also that the two main
detectives looked so much alike.
Other than that this is torture
porn for true aficionados of the genre. As for the rest of us, skip the
popcorn.
THREE BALL POINT PENS.