It's that time of year again. Time for the newest Saw sequel.

For those of you that haven't seen them, you should. I have to warn you, they are a bit on the grisly side though. The first one isn't as bad as you've heard though. It's more disturbing psychologically than graphically. However, as is the rule of sequels, each following movie gets bloodier and the body count gets higher.

The first Saw was beautiful for it's simplicity. Without giving anything away (as I hate to do) a serial killer named Jigsaw has chained two men in a room and given each a hacksaw. In the center there's a gun. One man is instructed that if he gets to the gun first and kills the other then his family, whom the killer has taken hostage, will be set free. Over the course of the film we learn why these two particular men were chosen and how their lives intersect. It was great because, as the killer's name implies, all the pieces fit together in the end. I loved it.



The second Saw was ok. It was originally written as a different franchise, but when the author shopped it around (shortly after Saw came out) nobody wanted to buy it because they said it was too much like Saw. So the Saw people bought it and re-wrote it. It was a good movie, but it lacked the charm (if that term can be applied to these films)of the first one in that there were too many victims so we couldn't learn how all their lives fit together. Too use a clever movie-review analogy, this puzzle had too many pieces missing. Still, if you liked the first one it's worth seeing. Especially if you plan to watch the next one.



The third Saw was better than the second one, but still not quite as good as the first. There are fewer characters involved (which goes against the convention of sequels) so we get to learn more about the circumstances that brought them together. The movie also brings the trilogy full-circle and ties it up adequately. It really didn't leave itself too open for a sequel, but since they're making these films so cheaply and they're making so much money you didn't have to be a freaking psychic to know there would be another one.

I'm not providing the trailer to the third one because it gives away a few important plot points from the first two. So here's this instead:





Nate is of the opinion, and I agree, that Saw 4 is the precipice. If they flub this one then there very well may not be another. Again, without giving anything away, the Saw 3 left little room for a third movie, so if they don't have a plausible way that this could continue then that's it.

Anyhow, if you like movies of the variety of Silence of the Lambs and Se7en then you should check them out.