Sawis one of the most profitable franchises in horror history. Jigsaw is a phenomenon, and torture for thesake of teaching lessonshas proven to be a real audience driver. That being said, the franchise was almost destroyed by a film set in theSawuniverse. It was a film that took the good name of the series and slapped it in the face.
WhenSpiral: From the Book of Sawwound up in theaters, people were not sure what to do with it. It wasSaw, but it was produced and starred Chris Rock (the comedian known forPootie Tang). ThenSaw Xwas announced, and Tobin Bell was to make his triumphant return to the core storyline. But did it do its job and revive a now-dead franchise?
A Missed Opportunity
Spiralwas a brazen attempt at something that often refuses to work no matter how many times studios try. It was the idea that a beloved franchise could simply leap to a new set of characters with avague tie-into the original and still be successful. In horror, this is known as theHalloween 3: Season of the Witchproblem.
People come to a franchise for all the reasons that it is a franchise and not just a standalone movie. There has been a relatively continuous narrative that, even if it moves along, brings with it at least one character from the previous films.Spiraldidn’t try. It’s the same universe with no actual connection.
Saw X Cuts Right Through Spiral’s Horrific Box Office Performance in Only 10 Days
Chris Rock’s Spiral didn’t stand a chance at the box office against the return of Tobin Bell’s Jigsaw killer in Saw X.
The film makes it very clear that the detectives think it’s the Jigsaw killer because he is setting elaborate traps. But the difference is that Jigsaw was a fan of people doing something to learn a lesson. You may not end up completely unscathed, but you will be a bit worse for wear.
InSpiral, people’s decisions often end up being one horror versus another. Do you sever your spinal column or get boiling wax poured over your face? It doesn’t seem like either option teaches you a lesson you can bring forward into your life. At leastthe real Jigsawgave you something to think about.
The film is a bit more barbaric (no, seriously) than the otherSawfilms in that it has lost the meaning behind what Jigsaw was doing. And we didn’t need a film with a Jigsaw copycat because knockoff films were already being made. The firstSawbrought the torture, and others followed suit. It was a failed experiment but something that the producers had to try so as not to anger their studio overlords.
Saw X: A Return to Form
John Kramer (Tobin Bell)is a treasure. That’s a strange thing to say about someone who is essentially a new generation’s Freddy Krueger. But he is. He’s a guy who has been through a lot of awful personal trauma, has attempted to weather an inoperable brain injury, and uses his own form of rehabilitation for those he deems to have committed crimes against humanity. He wants the best for people and is prepared to kill them to find it—a really great fella.
Did Saw X Turn Jigsaw Into a Controversial Hero?
Saw X provides us with a glimpse at an earlier Jigsaw. But this time, there may be even more truth to his message.
Saw Xbrought us back to an earlier stage in his career and took most of the movie away from the killing thing to focus on the man. At this point in his life, John knows he has a tumor that will kill him but is told there is hope. We see him grasp that hope with both arms and even take a few moments to smile, enjoy a drink, and watch the sunset.
It is here, at this moment, that we know why we came back to the series. When you strip away all the horrors that we are shown throughout theSawseries, we realize that Kramer, AKA Jigsaw, has good intentions. He’s just frustrated with the amount of people committing bad acts. But he believes in us and wants us to get better; otherwise, he would have just killed us.
Back On Track
Spiralwas an experiment that could have been the end of a franchise. It’s a hollowed-out version of a once-great horror phenomenon. But withSaw X, filmmakers took back what was theirs. They reestablished the universe andmade sure that John Kramerwas the one who got the chance to speak.
We were no longer subject to a man on oxygen attempting to get through one more round. We were watching a man with a plan who, for a moment, might have given up his crusade. The movie plays into the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah when God says, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” He is saying that if he can be shown five decent people, he will not destroy the cities.
There is that moment when Abraham has pleaded this number down from fifty. He thinks that, of course, there are five good people in that area. But there aren’t. And for John Kramer, the very people he saw as those who would save the world turn out to be just as disingenuous. They are just as spiteful. And so he puts on the mantle of Jigsaw and never takes it off again.
We know that this is a prequel of sorts. We know what comes next. But we hold out hope that maybe the narrative will change and that John will find his cure. This return to form puts everything back in the right context. We are no longer in the book ofSaw. We are not tangential. Instead, we are going back to the beginning, to a place thatfeels like home. The horror and pain are over, so feel free to sit back and immerse yourself inSaw X.
