Saw 3D

Movie – 3 out of 5

3D – 4 out of 5


Another year another Saw movie. For those not familiar with the franchise (is there anyone?) the saw series chronicles the legacy of a serial killer known as jigsaw – but here’s the twist; he isn’t actually a killer at all, he just puts people into traps where they either end up killing another person or themselves in an effort to escape.

The first one was a low budget masterpiece that genuinely injected something fresh and interesting into the horror genre, which was seriously stagnating at the time, and even though none of the sequels come anywhere near the original this series has maintained a relatively good standard (unlike most horror franchises which by the time they get to the seventh outing are really scraping the barrel… eg Jason Takes Manhattan).

If you haven’t seen the previous films this one is watchable although maybe a little confusing – the Saw movies do continue chronologically and have a single story thread that develops and runs throughout so a lot of the movie will be wasted on you if you haven’t seen the rest (particularly the last few). But to summarise – it follows a bunch of Jigsaw trap survivors, one of which has made a fortune from his experience and has his own agenda. As you would expect a bunch of crazy set pieces and traps ensue and the gore comes thick and fast.

3D wise much like Resident Evil and Piranha this is a game of two halves, the set pieces are awesome, the traps are interesting and the director is not shy of showing some seriously gross gore but the bits in between don’t really benefit from 3D at all. It’s not an essential 3D purchase by any stretch but it is a really good 3D horror to have in your collection just because of the brutal set pieces. This film is easily the most gory and horrific thing yet to have the 3D treatment. It’s just a shame that it’s come as the franchise is fizzling out and the new ideas are a bit thin on the ground.

Mark Hayhurst

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