Saw 3/4

Well, to further along the great 08 quest, I watched Saw 3 and 4 on back to back nights this past weekend. I had not seen either one, and it seemed like as good a plan as any to watch these. I enjoyed the first in this series, even if the acting was suspect at the time. There was a nice twist ending for that one. Of course because they had such an effective and surprising twist ending in the first one, they feel the need to continue the twist ending tradition. Of course this makes it really unsurprising and may constitute not being a twist if everyone is expecting it. Anyway, back on track.

Saw 1, enjoyed it. I saw the sequel in the theater with my wife. And as many of my dear readers will know already, I have a strong aversion to needles. I can't stand the thought of getting my blood drawn, and avoid shots more than the diseases they prevent. So when Ad said she could feel my blood pressure drop during the needle pit scene in Saw 2, I knew she wasn't lying.

This brings me to point number one about Saw 3/4, and horror movies in general. I do not consider myself a squeamish person. I watch a lot of horror movies, and have seen people die on screen in many many crazy ways. I play a lot of video games where you can dismember or behead your opponents and victims. Seeing blood on screen has never been a problem for me. Unless it is very realistic. Torture scenes and realistic forms of violence can get under my skin. There was one scene in hostel that really bothered me, but the rest of the movie was so over the top that it was much easier to handle.

In Saw 3 there are quite a few traps/scenarios that are so unbelievable that they don't' bother me. I feel like I have a pretty good disconnect in my mind when watching scary movies about suspending disbelief and rules of logic. But let's take a scene from Saw 3 as an example. Victim A is strapped to a machine designed to twist all his limbs and head until they spin all the way around. Now this is a gruesome thought, and they do a good job of conveying the horror and pain that the guy must be going through. That is until his leg spins all the way around with all the bones broken, and he continues screaming and begging for help until his head (last in the circuit of course) is spun round and his neck is broken. Now, again suspending disbelief can go only so far. That dude would have passed out from shock after 20 seconds, not the 2 or 3 minutes that was depicted. And because of this, I was able to not be affected by it at all.

That one scene demonstrates my overall feeling of Saw 3. They went over the top so far that it was easy to disconnect from it and not be fully engaged.

Saw 4 picks up right where the third instalment ended. A new set of victims is introduced, as well as new and different way for them to die. Though in the fourth movie, they seemed to cut down on the gore and death and try to focus more on story development. Which is a rare thing in a movie that is based and designed to be more fast paced and gory. It also tips the viewer off quite early that they have no intention of stop making these movies, and they will continually drop hints and foreshadow for future movies. Which means it's hard to get emotionally engaged with any of these characters. By the end of 4, we are introduced to the new main bad guy and they leave the door wide open for future sequels. And I have no doubt that once 6 comes out, 7 won't be close behind.

I'm not as shocked that this franchise is still going. Not long ago franchises like Nightmare on Elm Street and the Friday the 13th series made movies until it seemed they had run out of ideas, and then made about 3 more after that. As long as Saw makes money, which it does ever year, they will keep making them. And until they stop making money, they will extend the overall story arc. There will be just enough info given to make you want to see the next (ie spend the money) Thus I can't judge the quality of this whole series until it's over.

I like the premise, I like the actors they keep bringing in. They seem to be keeping up with themselves in terms of coming up with gruesome ways to off people. But it can only be stretched so thin before people just don't care anymore. It defiantly feels like the rubber band is stretched thin at this point. Lets hope they wrap up the series before it snaps.