Fortunately, amid all the slavishly photographed grotesquery, there's comic relief. It's called the script.
Saw IV (2007)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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
The famously inventive torture sequences here seem depleted of imagination.
The original Saw was crafted with thought and precision. Saw IV is an orgy of blood.
The series has essentially become a shell game, entertaining for a while if you can stomach the gore, and then the credits roll and you're pretty sure you've been cheated somehow.
If the gore quotient has been upped in this chapter (really, after a certain threshold has been reached, who can tell?), the style has, too.
Saw IV is no Saw III. Just as Saw III is no Saw II. But neither Lionsgate, the Saw distributor, nor the North American box office seems to care.
After two solid entries and an OK one, the franchise is getting long in the tooth: This one is Saw It Be-IV.
For devotees of the series, the gore is still there and the traps are just as weird as they were in the other entries but for the rest of us, your mind will forget it the second the end credits roll.
If it ever had a prime, the Saw franchise is well past it...a mess...and an ugly mess at that.
as cheap and cheesy as its brethren, but oddly boring for long stretches
Easily the worst and most pointless episode of the gore-saturated quadrology.
Over the course of [its] sequels, the Saw franchise took a novel, if distasteful, idea and basically tortured it to death.
A commercially savvy though ultimately empty combination of warped morality tale, mystery, gore-fest, and torture porn.
The appeal, I suppose, is that some really awful stuff is unfolding up there on the screen and not to us.
Saw IV almost makes you believe there are hundreds of rooms out there at this very minute with puppets, tricycles, and audio tapes just waiting for the next game.
If the original Saw was the kernel of a potential terror universe, Saw IV is, by this time, a series of satellites and lesser celestial bodies bound together by some of the best bloodletting in modern macabre.
I can think of five things that are more torturous than what the victims endure in Saw IV...
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
Interested in directing a Hellraiser remake? This might be your chance. More...
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...
More Movies
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 70% 70% | Where the Wild Things Are | 03/12 |
| 83% 83% | Paranormal Activity | 03/12 |
| 89% 89% | Zombieland | 03/12 |
| 76% 76% | The Informant! | 03/12 |
| | The Strength of Water | 03/12 |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.

Double passes up for grabs to the new comedy starring Paul Giamatti.

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions

Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.

We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection



Top Critic

