Well there we have it, the “SAW” series is over and now it’s time to take a look back over the franchise. I personally feel that it is one of the strongest Horror series, and I don’t just mean in modern times, I mean EVER.
“SAW” got the bad end of the deal with being categorized as ‘torture-porn’, I personally feel that torture-porn films are films like the Hostel series, “SAW” has got a HUGE back story behind it and as hard as some people will argue it, it does have a-lot of morals in the story too.
Jigsaw is a modern day Horror icon, his catch-phrase of “I Want To play A Game” is known worldwide and so is the puppet and all that is not just down to Tobin Bell (Who I will get to later), it’s also down to the writers who created him, he is such a beautifully written character, it’s not very often you feel sorry for the person who is supposed to be the villain. His whole back story is a sad one and you can sort of feel warmth towards him, it doesn’t justify his actions but it does give a great reason for them. You also can’t deny the genius of Jigsaw, like the saying goes “Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.”
And Tobin Bell, I seriously couldn’t imagine another actor playing his role, he brings so much to the role. He has the perfect voice for Jigsaw and his eyes are just piercing, you feel he can just gather so much information by just looking at you. For the main character to die so early in the series but still carry on throughout it is not an easy feat, but is pulled off with perfection here.
One thing that does annoy me is the fact that people will just shun this series because of the traps, again it comes back to the whole ‘torture-porn’ label, I know people who refuse to watch it because of that label and as I stated it’s a label that doesn’t belong on this series. If anything the films story is more of a thriller with horror and gore elements, which I think is very clever. If you enjoy films like “Se7en” then I can’t see how you can have a problem with this.
I know I will probably get a-lot of shit for saying this but “SAW” is one of THE strongest series, beating the likes of “Friday The 13th”, “Halloween” and more. We don’t see Jigsaw in space, he doesn’t become a supernatural element, he isn’t invincible. He is a human being who is driven to madness by the actions of the world and the people in it. It is very believable to think that this could happen in our world, and that is scary.
If you are one of these people who have stayed away from the series because of the “torture-porn” label then I urge you to try and put that out of your head and give it another try because you truly are missing out on a great series that is full of twists and turns that will leave you shocked, in a good way. I hope you have enjoyed these reviews as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Until next time……….
Click the links to see each review:
Saw
SawII
SawIII
SawIV
SawV
SawVI
Saw3D
