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Entries tagged with 'Jigsaw'
Posted Jan. 21, 2008,
Saw IV, The Unrated Director's Cut: "Hard to Follow, but Easier to Watch Than the Last One."
By Dennis Dermody
I watched Saw IV (the unrated director's cut) over the weekend, out on Lionsgate DVD. Missed it in the theaters for some reason. Loved the first two Saw films -- they were smart nasty little chillers with endings that really pulled the rug out from under me at the end. But when I got to Part 3 my patience wore out. It was all about the crafty dying serial killer Jigsaw, aka John Kramer (Tobin Bell) and his accomplice Amanda finally coming to an end, but their deaths haven't stopped the franchise.
Part IV (directed by Darren Lynn Bousman) is so convoluted and filled with so many tricks that it's hard to follow, but easier to watch than the last one. Costas Mandylor plays a cop named Hoffman who's captured by a new nemesis. Buddy cop Rigg (Lyrig Bent) traces clue after clue (encountering many people in elaborate gruesome jerry-rigged traps along the way). One of my favorite new ones is a man that has to push his face through a wall of knives to get out... yikes. I guess this will just go on and on until audiences get tired of them. The thing is they're not bad -- the new ones are just way too over-written and complicated for their own good, but the fans seem to dig that about them. Think you should definitely watch the third one before you sit through this though or you'll be completely lost. But I didn't hate this one... at least it's not as bad as Cloverfield.