Review: Saw IV

Saw IV (2007)

I label Saw IV the transitional film of the Saw series. After so many characters where killed off in Saw III, new characters had to be called in to fill the void. Just like so many times before in Saw, new characters are as abundant as the gore they inevitably shed and seemingly no one is safe from the chop. It is unfortunate that Saw IV is the film to signal the first decline in standards for Saw, as it isn’t such a bad film, just unable to complete with Saw III, of which it takes place with side by side. I’d also like to apologise for a criticism I made of Saw III. I said that the detectives weren’t featured enough, however, since Rigg and Hoffman are kidnapped in Saw IV, it only makes sense that they don’t have a part to play in Saw III.

SWAT Commander Rigg is the pawn in Jigsaw’s game this time around. It is hard to justify why he’s being tested (too good of a cop?), but he makes for a good protagonist. Rigg has 90 minutes to overcome a series of traps and learn “how to save a life”, to rescue a familiar face anyone who’s watched Saw II will recognise, and Detective Hoffman. That’s the basics of the story, there’s also a twist regarding Jigsaw’s ex-wife’s lawyer, Art Blank, who shares a history with Jigsaw, and the introduction of Special Agent Strahm and Agent Lindsay Perez, who take control of the Jigsaw investigation. 

One particular scene of Saw IV attracted attention: The Autopsy. Quite interesting really, it isn’t the goriest thing to appear in Saw, but sets the atmosphere of the film quite appropriately. It makes it difficult to grasp the chronological order of events between Saw III and Saw IV, and I actually didn’t fully realise the order of events until the end of the film. I didn’t really like how the films took place concurrently, although it makes for a nice ending scene, it leaves the audience slightly confused.

The traps of Saw IV are decent. With the opening trap engaging the viewer with two people competing in competition with each other. One can’t speak, one can’t see. This brings in the introduction of the “versus” traps where one person walks free and the other is killed. Another “versus” trap sees an abused wife having to come to terms with her husband to defeat him by removing spikes from pressure points in his body. Saw IV also takes credit for the scariest scene in a Saw film, which actually provided the first shock I’ve experienced watching Saw.

The ending of Saw IV is conclusive but also rather disappointing, like always a twist occurs but nothing really to surprise me a great deal, and the final scene is just disappointing. It is also unclear what some of the characters are meant to do to survive to game, leading to a “meh...” finale. A far way from Saw III which ended on a high, and really that sums up Saw IV’s problem: It can’t find a niche where Saw hasn’t been. It fails to break free with its own identity and ends up feeling like a supplement to Saw III, and not its own film.

If you’ve watched all the Saw films up to now, then there’s no reason not to watch to number four. It actually seems like the glory days compared to Saw 3D, however this film signalled the decline in quality for the Saw franchise, and it registers the lowest score for a Saw film so far.

Score: 6.5

Recommendation: Rent if a Saw fan.