Two men - one with his eyes sewn shut and the other, his mouth. A metal chain attaches them with a winding contraption in the middle. One man's key to freedom"" is attached to the back of the other man's head. The chain starts to tighten, and they have to decide how to get the key. This is one of the many machines used in ""Saw IV,"" directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, to teach people a lesson in the way they value life.
""Saw IV"" begins where Saw III left off. Jigsaw and his apprentice are dead, yet ""the games have just begun,"" Jigsaw claims in his first of many tape recordings. This segment of the franchise follows the police who are trying to stop the brutal killings.
The majority of the film focuses on SWAT Commander Rigg (Lyriq Bent). He has become obsessed with saving people after experiencing many of his colleagues fall at the hands of Jigsaw. Therefore, to teach Rigg the error of his obsession, he is forced into a series of tasks to save two people in Jigsaw's traps in 90 minutes.
Rigg acts as if he is just a pawn in Jigsaw's game. Many of his actions can be questioned, and most people would not deal with the situation as he does. But it would not really be a horror movie if it were not filled with people's brainless inactions and mistakes.
Every serial killer has a past, and there is always a film that exposes why they kill. Jigsaw is no different, and this installment gazes into his loves and losses and how he turned into a murderer.
The acting is not complex, but it works for the film. The viewer sees and hears the characters' pain through their anguished cries. Tobin Bell plays the villanous Jigsaw with eerie perfection that is shown through his character's behavior.
Rapid camera movements and quick cuts are used to maintain a suspenseful rhythm and create a madhouse sensation. This chapter uses gore in quick cuts and does not use unwarranted gore for shock value, a flaw many horror movies have been replicating.
This installment of the film is highly serialized. It may be confusing to viewers who have not recently seen the previous installments of the ""Saw"" franchise. Viewers might find themselves questioning who characters are as they mysteriously appear in the complex narrative.
However, the knotty storyline has been done before in previous ""Saw"" films and repeats the story of Jigsaw teaching someone a lesson. The surprise ending is abruptly thrust upon the viewer and seems to be following the trend of twist endings, even though it does not make perfect sense.
Though this film is flawed in some aspects, viewers who enjoyed the previous installments will find ""Saw IV"" filled with remarkable editing. If the film does not impress, the contraptions that horrify and literally tear people apart will create a question about the sanity of the creators of this franchise. It will make you rethink the saying, ""It's just a game.""
