A new Saw film is in the works. Its producers revealed that a 10th instalment of the horror franchise is on the way – though currently untitled it has a release date set for October 2023. Kevin Greutert, director of Saw 6 and Saw 7, returns behind the camera, but other details about the characters and plot are still unknown.
“We have been listening to what the fans have been asking for and are hard at work planning a movie that Saw aficionados and horror fans alike will love,” said producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules to horror media company Bloody Disgusting.
But while the announcement has thrilled some, the news will leave many rolling their eyes. Why on earth do we need another Saw film when there are surely thousands of brilliant horror film ideas that get canned every year?
The primary argument for making a sequel is that it can be so lucrative – and all but two of Saw’s films made over $100 million worldwide. This is of course the reason that we’re witnessing a part ten, and good for the studios, but as cinema-goers can’t we ask for more? It all just lacks so much imagination.
We’re not forgetting that there was a time when Saw was innovative either. It was – eighteen years ago. You may or may not remember it, but the first film made waves for its sickening and original premise. It came out in 2004, and sparked a wave of imitators revelling in on-screen torture.
So our real issue is that it’s still slogging on... wouldn’t it be more fun to try and make something different?
There are dozens of other brilliant horror films out today that are much more provocative and frightening. Ari Aster’s 2018 film Hereditary looked at inherited trauma through a horror lens, 2018’s A Quiet Place investigates family dynamics that are put under pressure, and then there are those seriously chilling winners 2007’s The Orphanage and 2014’s The Babadook. Horror has moved on, and so maybe so should Saw.
Its plot is predictably pretty grisly: a serial killer plays games with his victims, testing their will to survive. The title comes from the hacksaws left in the captors’ cells – they’re supposed to use them to chop bits off themselves.
The limit of human endurance is undoubtedly interesting, but perhaps a topic better left for smarter analysis these days. Nothing nuanced comes out of Jigsaw’s chambers. It’s all “Oh my God!” And, “Eww!” And also, vomit! as characters do disgusting things like gouging out each other’s (or their own) body parts.
Okay, admittedly there are some evolving plot lines in Saw: over the course of the franchise we learn more about the motivations of Jigsaw; there are police investigations and some interesting moments that make you think for a beat about human relationships (for example in Saw 4 when one character saves another and then is stabbed by them).
And look, of course, other film franchises have hit multiple sequels. Harry Potter has eight films and we weren’t complaining (though they were book related), and there are nine Star Wars films and we were okay with that too. Fast & Furious is on its 12th film now, and while some people are tired of the franchise, we think it’s managed to keep its momentum. Same with James Bond, at 26 and counting.
So if we boil it down, it’s about content. Harry Potter lives in an expansive wizarding universe while Star Wars deals with literal space exploration. Fast & Furious takes audiences around the world, as does Bond.
Saw takes us back to dingy dungeons – with little imagination other than how awful the torture can be. Saw is all harnesses hooked to ribs, people pulling off shackles to escape bombs, keys behind eyeballs and victims being scalped - do we still need it in the 2020s?
