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More murder, more mayhem, more traps…but make sure you’ve seen Saw III.

I’m not the biggest fan of the Saw franchise.  I didn’t really care for the first film but enjoyed parts two and three.  Now part four is out on DVD in a Unrated Director’s Cut.  Precious little has been added and according to the extras, there is probably another cut of the film coming out eventually. 
Saw IV picks up where Saw III left off.  Jigsaw and his apprentice are still dead but that’s not to say that Jigsaw is done playing games.  He’s reaching out from the grave and unloading a whole batch of misery on unsuspecting victims.  While audiences could see any of the first three films without having seen the others, part IV expects you to have at least seen part III to follow the story.

Two FBI profilers (Scott Patterson and Athena Karkanis) arrive to assist Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) with the Jigsaw case.  They need to clean up the mess he left and figure out all the elaborate torture devices that haven’t been used.  When SWAT Commander Rigg (Lyriq Bent) is kidnapped and given 90 minutes to save his wife and child, the cops and FBI must stop Jigsaw’s last game.  They discover the reason behind Jigsaw’s games is his former love Jill (Betsy Russell).  Here we find out more about the game master and his macabre plans for the future.
Saw IV should please fans of the series.  It’s got the gore and plot twists that they’ve come to expect.  Even with the main killer gone, there are still plenty of nifty moments to keep fans hanging on.  Like the first three, moments of logic and reason are thrown out the window to make room for the latest killing device.

On the production side, director Darren Lynn Bousman returns for his third outing.  Familiar with the ins and outs of the franchise, Bousman keeps the film moving along at a comfortable pace.  Feast script writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton take a stab at the franchise this time and basically get it right.  They provide us with more of Jigsaw’s origin story and reveal that Amanda wasn’t the only person he had trained.  For all we know, he’s got a whole army of protégés.  We’ll have to wait until Saw V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X come out before we know for sure.  With these new revelations, Lions Gate could conceivably keep this franchise going forever (and they probably will).

Tobin Bell once again gives a great performance as Jigsaw, the man with a murderous plan.  With little screen time in part I and on his death bed in II and III, he’s up and around and we get to see him as a fully functioning psychopath for a change.  Lyriq Bent goes from bit part to featured player as he returns once again to play Rigg.  Bent gets to play all the deadly games to save his family and does a decent job running from trap to trap trying to solve the puzzles.

Fans of part III will enjoy the natural extension of the franchise with part IV.  If you’ve never seen a Saw movie, Saw IV is not where you want to start.  Where I found part III to drag in places and felt the pacing was off, Saw IV corrects those mistakes and flows from one grisly moment to the next.  The first set of victims, one with his eyes sewn shut, the other with his mouth sown shut, makes little sense as they could have used the weapons in hand to cut away the stitches instead of trying to kill each other.  But once that moment has passed and the madness gets under way, good times ensue.

Director Bousman and start Lyriq Bent offer up an interesting commentary.  Bousman recorded the commentary while the film was still playing in theatres, which allows him to offer up some answers to fans questions. Bent is rather short on comments as he hasn’t seen the movie before.  Bousman has lots to talk about including an alternate ending that didn’t make it, more violent traps and the fact that there may be an extended director’s cut of Saw IV on the horizon.  If Lion’s Gate sticks to plan, it will be out around the same time as Saw V.  The producers commentary features Oren Koules, Mark Burg, Peter Block and Jason Constantine.  They focus more on the story and movie’s timeline.  It’s not as good as Bousman’s commentary but is does compliment what he had to say.

There are three featurettes focus on the props, traps and a production diary.  “Darren’s Video Diary” is one of the best inside looks at the production of a film probably ever done.  This isn’t your “everything was roses” making-of featurette.  No, Bousman lays it on the line and spends most of his time fighting with producers, dealing with plot leaks and fighting with the actors among other things.  It’s great fun and finally gives film fans what they really want to see; the dirt behind the scenes. There is also a deleted scene and a music video for X Japan’s “I.V.”.

The Saw franchise will never be lauded as the best of any horror franchise.  It is, however, one of the most consistent as each film builds off the previous one to a greater effect.  Like all the films in the series, Saw IV will be loved by some and hated by others.  The uneven pacing of the films has always been one of its downsides.  Still, Saw IV give audiences what they want and keeps everyone hanging on with plot twists that will have them scratching their heads trying to figure out how they’ll top themselves in part V.

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