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Saw IV (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:68
Fresh:12
Rotten:56
Average Rating:3.7/10
Consensus: Saw IV is more disturbing than compelling, with material already seen in the prior installments.
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
US Box Office: $63,270,259
Synopsis: The fourth SAW film takes fans into uncharted waters. Now that John/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is dead, screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (writers of the Project Greenlight-produced FEAST)... The fourth SAW film takes fans into uncharted waters. Now that John/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is dead, screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (writers of the Project Greenlight-produced FEAST) give us Jigsaw's "origin" story--finally showing us why he does what he does. Along they way, they still find time to work in the usual dose of elaborate Rube Goldberg-like torture devices and heaps of MPAA-defying gore in what plays like an extreme version of CSI. During his (extremely graphic) autopsy, Jigsaw's final tape (swallowed in SAW III) is found in his stomach. Promising that his work will continue despite his passing, his message sets off a series of grisly tasks for anxious SWAT team leader Rigg (Lyriq Bent), who is given 90 minutes to rescue detectives Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) and Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), who are to be dispatched via blocks of ice and high voltage wires. Trailing Rigg are FBI agents Strahm (Scott Patterson of GILMORE GIRLS) and Perez (Athena Karkanis), who get some unexpected blood on their hands along the way. A series of flashbacks details a pivotal event between Jigsaw and his girlfriend, Jill (1980s beauty Betsy Russell, PRIVATE SCHOOL), which inspired him to devote the remainder of his life to the creation of his signature puzzles. Darren Lynn Bousman, director of the previous two sequels, returns once again to ensure that the series retains its trademark desaturated look. Though viewers starting with this installment may find the brief glimpses of characters from the previous films confusing, fans should be pleased with how the films link together. They are also sure to appreciate that, like FRIDAY THE 13th carrying on sans Jason in PART IV: A NEW BEGINNING, the death of Jigsaw won't keep the franchise from evolving into SAW V and beyond. [More]
Starring: Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Costas Mandylor
Starring: Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Costas Mandylor, Lyriq Bent, Justin Louis, Athena Karkanis, Simon Reynolds
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Screenwriter: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan
Story: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan, Thomas Fenton
Producer: Gregg Hoffman, Mark Burg, Oren Koules
Composer: Charlie Clouser
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Saw IV
Stultifying in its pseudo-sensationalistic schlock, this numbingly and nightmarish narrative has no legitimate creepy conviction beyond flexing its meaningless, morose muscles
The puzzles in this movie and the infinite number of sequels which have already been queued behind it have been designed to tear the dead presidents from your wallet like a sobriety chip from the shaky palm of Lindsay Lohan.
Like the movie’s mysterious Jigsaw doppelgänger, Saw IV is itself a poor substitute for the original (or even the first two sequels).
The games, the traps, are still the thing and as long as Jigsaw's flunkies continue to build 'em, we will come.
Perfunctory and confusing and needlessly over-plotty...but somewhat better-constructed and significantly less morally outrageous than at the very least Saw III.
Despite the clucking disapproval of the cinematic intelligentsia, the Saw films aren’t successful by accident.
The reports of torture porn's demise may have been greatly exaggerated, but this fourth entry in the mutilate-yourself-or-die series joins what may be the worst genre of the decade: the lamely ''sympathetic'' serial-killer backstory.
Even by the not exactly high standards of the Saw movies, this one's scraping the bottom of the entrails pail.
The absurdity reaches new highs in Saw IV, which asks us to swallow developments that simply aren't logistically possible, never mind realistic.
This death trap may be rusty, but as long as it keeps generating fresh blood, it's unlikely to slam shut anytime soon.
Just as Jigsaw tests his victims, the franchise’s own test will be whether such suspension can be maintained, or if matters lapse into a torture chamber of self-parody.
Those of us who quickly tired of the grisly fun and games midway through Saw II will resent the unnecessarily convoluted plotting and storylines that require a master's degree in Saw studies to make any sense.
An incomprehensible cacophony of screams, shock cuts, dour pseudo-philosophizing, heavy metal mutilation and low-rent TV-standard performances.
Saw IV is a fluid film, as neatly constructed as the deadly puzzles Jigsaw creates to snare his victims.
The Syriana of slasher films, so complicated and circuitous that your only hope of understanding everything is to eat lots of fish the night before and then watch each of the previous films, in order, right before you enter the theater.
It's somewhat better put together than Saw II or III, though there isn't a scare in it.
Latest News for Saw IV
October 20, 2009:
See Saw with Alex, Day 4: Saw IV
Suspecting they would have large significance in later sequels, I yesterday refrained from commenting on Saw III's plethora of useless shots. The camera's fixation on Agent... More...
April 08, 2008:
Hellraiser Remake Seeks New Director
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March 05, 2008:
Scott Patterson Talks Saw V
These days, Scott Patterson is known to fans of the CW's Aliens in America as the perpetually befuddled Gary Tolchuck -- but those of you who remember him as Agent Strahm in Saw... More...
February 19, 2008:
Weinsteins' Hellraiser Remake Has Its Writers
Hollywood's never-ending remake party had to take a brief hiatus during the writers' strike, but now that the lights are back on in Tinseltown, studios are moving forward with... More...
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