Cast:
Tobin Bell (John Kramer / Jigsaw), Shawnee Smith (Amanda Young), Synnøve Macody Lund (Cecilia Pederson), Steven Brand (Parker Sears), Renata Vaca (Gabriela), Joshua Okamoto (Diego), Octavio Hinojosa (Mateo), Paulette Hernández (Valentina), and Jorge Briseño (Carlos) Directed by Kevin Gretuert.
Review:
Admittedly, I was wondering if it sounded weird to do the tenth installment of a franchise before watching even half of the series. But Saw (2004) was a decent film, so I assumed it would go just fine to roll right into Saw X without thinking about the fact that the premise for the film was the one rejected in favor of Lionsgate going forward with Spiral (2021), the one with Chris Rock as star and no Tobin Bell. Incidentally, Kevin Greutert, who had edited a number of the previous films and directed Saw VI (2009) and Saw 3D (2010), serves as director for this film, which is set between the original film and Saw II (2005). The script was written by Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg, who had written for both Jigsaw (2017) and Spiral. It was apparently done with as many practical effects as possible, which is something to highlight when one is actually taking the time to film in a location that they are actually setting the film in (this case being Mexico). The two returning actors from previous installments may be a bit older, but it does not take long to get used to them being back here with a film set between films released nearly 20 years ago. The original film, as you probably know, involved the investigation of a series of people that had to deal with certain traps that had the shape of a puzzle piece cut into the ones that failed said test.
This time around, one is following Bell for the entirety of the film that basically sees him as a protagonist of the most basic sort: ones who don't care for others taking advantage of the most desperate. Don't get me wrong, the film is quite gnarly in horror for those who like to keep their fingers close by to wrap in fear, but it is a capable film because it has the most interest in setting a purpose beyond gory traps. It maintains a steady pace of 118 minutes that makes an engaging buildup of the con game that makes the inevitable discovery all the more involving for a decent effort. The pain inflicted by the character upon these flawed individuals makes for frightening horror if only because one doesn't really want to think about they would do in that scenario or in the other scary scenario of being bilked by a false hero of hope. For some, hope is all a person has, so imagine seeing that taken away. It lends Bell his best chance to give the character a sense of purpose and integrity that basically swings on down to what might be the most intriguing sequel of the series in years. He obviously is relishing the chance provided here to extoll what it means to be a man with nothing to lose and all the time to set rules for others to play (granted the puppet is a bit much). It may be a personal revenge story, but it is an involving revenge story. Smith is the only other returning actor from the series (okay, maybe not only...) to appear here, and she does well in well-intentioned interest to follow in the footsteps of Bell in dictating in the art of rules and order. Lund makes a quality adversarial presence against Bell, the kind of person with conniving spirit that would use intestines as a rope when the opportunity presents itself. The stakes may be a bit different because of where it sets itself, but the viewer still cares about the process of people trying to figure out what it means to be wrapped in a situation of sacrifice. The buildup to the ending (complete with flashing back to scenes we just saw a couple of minutes ago to hammer a point home) is about as ridiculously elaborate as one probably expects from the series. It is squeamish, but it is the kind of thing that followers of the series will be right at home with while proving just fine for those less familiar, and I think that makes for a suitable choice in the horror season.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
Next: Exorcist III.
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