GARFY'S GORETORIUM

WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE. I’m baaack and I want to play a game. Join me as I delve into the twisted world of The Jigsaw Killer.

JIGSAW (2017)

Cast – Matt Passmore, Tobin Bell, Callum Keith Rennie and Hannah Emily Anderson

Directors – The Spierig Brothers

Writers – Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg

Plot – When mutilated bodies start to appear around the city, investigations begin to lead to one suspect, the master of macabre  games, who has been deceased for 10 years. Tensions run high when forensic pathologists and detectives find themselves in the middle of confusing, yet twisted game.

Okay, so for those who know me you know I’m not the biggest fan of the SAW franchise. I greatly appreciate and enjoy the first movie but after that I just feel getting through the sequels is just as much torture for me as some of the “games” are for the characters. So when the news broke about another movie for the franchise it was one I was not excited about but since I had sat through all of the other movies I was going to watch this one regardless of how I felt and I did so, open to the idea that this one could just surprise me enough to be enjoyable. Although the trailer did not give me hope at all, I must admit I was actually surprised by it and did enjoy watching it!

The opening scene definitely caught me off guard and had me wondering from the start which direction this was going, it almost gave off an action movie vibe, which kind of worried me yet intrigued me at the same time. However, I did think this scene set up the first game quite well but once I realised what that game was I went straight back to worrying and expecting a let down as it felt all too similar to a previous entry in the franchise but still, I kept an open mind. As the games progressed and the story unfolded, in typical fashion, my interest grew and I felt myself eagerly anticipated the big reveal which has become synonymous with the franchise (usually pretty far-fetched in my opinion) a few of the traps weren’t all that impressive for me but there was a couple that did have me on edge and one even making me turn away (involved needles..huge phobia) which in a weird way always makes me enjoy the experience more. At times I even felt myself hoping for some characters to survive and some to meet their much deserved demise and that has not happened for me during a SAW movie since the very first one, the investigating characters also had me rooting for them and Hannah Emily Anderson’s character, Eleanor Bonneville grabbed most of my interest as I was eager to see how far her part would go but she kinda just fell off the radar which disappointed me slightly.

So for the big reveal, this was where I was expecting Jigsaw to lose major points but once again I was left rather surprised and impressed by what I witnessed. I felt it was one of the more clever reveals in the franchise and was definitely happy to accept that as part of the story.

I know the insane amounts of blood and gore are perfect for this type of movie but it still isn’t something that I am a huge fan of so that does affect my rating slightly yet it was still quite fun to watch and in my opinion, the 2nd best movie in the franchise. I rate JIGSAW (2017) 6/10 and recommend it as a must see for SAW fans but for general horror fans, I call it a rental/stream.

Review written by Gareth Young.