It starts out by subverting expectations, as John Kramer is immediately caught by cop Eric Matthews. Of course, Kramer has set up a complete horror show for Matthews, revealing footage that confirms his son—along with seven other people—is trapped in a house under the threat of a nerve agent and that Matthews will have to play Kramer’s game in order to rescue him.
Crafty Kramer has neglected to mention that the footage of the house and its occupants was recorded days ago and that everyone is already dead, aside from his accomplice, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), and Matthews’s son, who has been inside a safe at the factory the entire time. It’s a clever reveal that isn’t too ludicrous, which is something that these films occasionally find to be a tough balancing act.
4. Saw: The Final Chapter
I can already sense that some of you are questioning the high placement of Saw: The Final Chapter, a.k.a. Saw 3D, on this ranking. Admittedly, it’s a little controversial. Yet I stand by it! The seventh movie in the franchise successfully manages to bring everything full circle with its revelation that Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) survived the first movie and has been awaiting activation should any harm come to Kramer’s ex-wife. We find out Gordon is alive right from the get-go, and his return in the final minutes is super effective for the big twist, sticking Hoffman in the very bathroom where Gordon played his own game so many years ago and throwing away his only means of escape.
Saw: The Final Chapter is perhaps the goriest entry in the entire franchise (it had to be edited and resubmitted to the MPA six times to secure an R rating) and wears that proudly. Yes, it’s over-the-top, but this is what some of us pay money to see—let its 9% RT score be damned! A staggering 25 people meet their maker in this one, including a gang of white supremacists in an abandoned junkyard during a sequence that has to be seen to be believed. The 3D element, while ludicrous, also adds a silly, nostalgic element that hasn’t aged well, but still made for a fun time in the theater back in 2010.
3. Saw III
Saw III is darker, more unforgiving, and its gore is absolutely relentless, so I’m giving it two thumbs up! Featuring a killer screenplay by original Saw writer Leigh Whannell, the third movie in the franchise focuses on grieving father Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) who Kramer tasks with being able to forgive those who were involved in his son’s death. Spoiler: he can’t, and he ends up killing Kramer for also putting his wife in grave danger to prove a point.
No one comes out of this one in good spirits, to say the least, including Kramer’s protégée Amanda, who can’t quite get past the jealousy she feels seeing Jeff’s wife bonding with him. Dead, dead, dead. Good stuff! But honestly, the stomach-churning scene where Jeff has to deal with rescuing a guy from a grinding vat full of rotting pig carcasses is top-five material all by itself. Hang it in the Louvre.
