Jigsaw is the latest addition to the prolonged torture of the Saw series, and like so many recent projects, it’s both a follow-up and a reboot. Continuing in the path of Jurassic World, Vacation, Creed, Terminator Genisys, and the upcoming Mary Poppins and Flatliners, it’s a sort of matricidal sequel—a Norman Bates-style franchise offspring that kills off its own mother, loosely taking on her identity while still preserving the corpse.
As seen in this first preview, the film involves all the usual suspects one expects in a Saw entry: people chained up in dank, bare rooms; heads encased in metal devices; saw blades; the threats of a muffled voice; that marionette that looks like Noel Fielding as a Juggalo. The only suspect missing? Tobin Bell’s John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer himself, who died several sequels ago.
…OR DID HE??? (Hint: it seems like maybe he didn’t somehow.)
But, in fairness, for all its repeated elements, this thing does look more fun than an eighth entry to a drawn-out horror franchise has any right to. Give credit to Predestination and Daybreakers directors Michael and Peter Spierig for at least a pretty solid trailer. We’ll see if the rest of the film can maintain this relative high when Jigsaw hits theaters October 27.
