Jigsaw is a 2017 American horror film directed by Michael and Peter Spierig, written by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger, and starring Matt Passmore, Callum Keith Rennie, Clé Bennett, and Hannah Emily Anderson.
It is the eighth installment in the Saw franchise, picking up over a decade after the death of the eponymous Jigsaw killer,
during the police investigation of a new succession of murders that fit his modus operandi. Saw 3D (2010) was originally deemed the final installment of the series, before Lionsgate Films commissioned the production of Jigsaw from a pitch by Stolberg and Goldfinger.
Filming began in November 2016 in Ontario, Canada, with post-production following in January. The film was released in the United States on October 27, 2017, received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $32 million worldwide.
Plot
A criminal named Edgar Munsen manages to evade police and is pursued onto a rooftop, where he activates a triggering mechanism. He is shot and severely injured by police detective Halloran and his fellow officers.
Elsewhere, five people are held captive inside of a room in a run-down barn, each with a metal noose around their neck leading them to a wall of buzzsaws. A taped recording from John Kramer explains that to escape, they must give a sacrifice of blood and will eventually need to confess their past sins. The chain nooses begin to pull them towards the saw blades. Four manage to survive by offering blood via purposely cutting themselves on the saws, though one man who was still unconscious during the message and only woke up moments before the ending of the game appears to die. The next test reveals that one of the group-members, Carly, inadvertently caused the death of an asthmatic woman by stealing her purse, which had her emergency inhaler inside. A trio of syringes are revealed; one contains an antidote for a poison in her system, another a saline solution, and the third a potent acid. She must inject one into herself in order to save the rest from being hanged. Eventually, volatile group-member Ryan stabs all three into her to save himself, partially melting Carly's face and killing her.
During the games, Halloran and his partner, Detective Hunt, begin to investigate the matter, especially with the discovery of bodies that appear to belong to the unnamed man and Carly, who were both killed in the barn. Halloran becomes suspicious of forensic pathologists Logan and Eleanor. Though in turn Logan, a military veteran and former doctor whose wife was killed two years prior, is suspicious of Halloran's motives. Munsen is kidnapped from the hospital by an unseen assailant. When the police captain orders John Kramer's grave be exhumed, Munsen's body is found inside.
In another room, Ryan tries to cheat by escaping through a door marked "No Exit", and his leg is trapped by razor-sharp wires, immobilizing him. Fellow group members Anna and Mitch discover an unlocked door leading into a grain silo, but are quickly trapped inside. A taped message explains that Anna and Mitch will be buried in grain and then killed by falling debris unless Ryan pulls a lever that will free him from the wires around his leg. Ryan eventually agrees, but upon pulling the lever, his leg is instantly severed, though Anna and Mitch survive. Mitch is tested next. A taped message reveals that he sold a motorcycle with a faulty brake to a young man revealed to be John Kramer's innocent nephew, which resulted in his death in an automobile accident. Mitch will be lowered into a spiral-shaped blade, unless he can reach for a brake lever. However, he is unable to complete the task and is subsequently killed, with his body being shredded.
Logan and Eleanor speak in a bar about their distrust of Halloran, before Eleanor takes Logan to her "studio", revealing that she is an obsessive fangirl of the "Jigsaw Killer" case, and has built replicas of many of his previous traps, which she worries could incriminate her. Detective Hunt has followed them and informs Halloran of the studio. Halloran orders the two be arrested, though Logan is able to convince Hunt, an old friend, that Halloran is actually to blame, given his past dealings with Edgar Munsen. Logan and Eleanor depart for the barn after Eleanor is able to deduce the location of the game. Halloran manages to pursue them.
Anna tries to cheat and slip through a doorway to freedom, only to be captured. She awakens with a gravely wounded Ryan, each chained up in a room with a hooded figure. The hooded figure removes his robe to reveal John Kramer. John reveals that Anna, an old neighbor of his, suffocated her infant child in a fit of rage, and threw the blame on her husband by planting the body next to him while he slept. Her husband later committed suicide in a fit of grief, thinking he accidentally smothered his own baby. John explains that the two have not yet earned their survival, and have gotten his message "backwards." He places a loaded gun between them, telling them it is the "key" to their survival. Anna misinterprets John's message and attempts to shoot Ryan, only for the gun, which is revealed to be rigged, to backfire and kill her. Ryan begins to cry upon realizing that keys to their chains were hidden inside of the gun, and destroyed when Anna pulled the trigger.
While Logan and Eleanor investigate the barn, they are ambushed by Halloran. Eleanor escapes, and while pursuing her Halloran is drugged and knocked-out by an unseen assailant. Logan and Halloran both awaken inside of collars rigged with laser cutters. The two are told that they must confess all of their sins or else they will die, and they will have the choice of who will face their test first. Halloran forces Logan to go first. Logan confesses that he made a mistake and mislabeled John Kramer's X-Rays, which caused his cancer to go un-diagnosed until it was too late. Despite confessing, Logan appears to die. Halloran confesses at the last second, admitting that he has allowed criminals and murderers to walk free for personal gain.
Suddenly, Logan's body stands up, stating that he faked his death in order to get Halloran to confess, and revealing that the barn game takes place ten years in the past. He was the unnamed man who appeared to die in the first game of the barn trap, but because he was unconscious when the first message was delivered, John Kramer saved him, feeling Logan should not die out of error. John subsequently took Logan on as his apprentice. The bodies that were found were actually the bodies of criminals that Halloran allowed to walk free, and they were placed into the same tests that Logan was meant to face ten years prior. Logan also reveals that Munsen, one of the criminals Halloran let go, was responsible for murdering his wife. However, because Halloran refused to confess all of his sins, and because he selfishly broke the rules and forced Logan to go first, he will die, and be framed as the new Jigsaw killer. Logan tells Halloran that he "speaks for the dead", and reactivates the laser-collar around his neck. Logan slams the door as Halloran's head is sliced apart, killing him.
Cast
- Matt Passmore[10] as Logan Nelson[11]
- Callum Keith Rennie[10] as Det. Halloran[12][11]
- Clé Bennett[13] as Det. Keith Hunt[12][11]
- Hannah Emily Anderson[10] as Eleanor Bonneville[11]
- Laura Vandervoort[2] as Anna[12][11]
- Paul Braunstein[13] as Ryan[12][11]
- Mandela Van Peebles[3] as Mitch[12][11]
- Brittany Allen[10] as Carly[12][11]
- Josiah Black[10] as Edgar Munsen[11]
- Shaquan Lewis[10] as Officer Solomon[11]
- Michael Boisvert[10] as Lee James[11]
- Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw[10][11][14]
Production
Development
Saw 3D was intended to be the final film Saw film.[15] The film was set to be split into two parts, but Lionsgate Films only allowed the filmmakers to make one more film after Saw VI under-performed at the box office. According to Saw 3D writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, because of the change, "the big reveal of Dr. Gordon was a bit underserved ... Perhaps creating more questions than answers. There were several ideas we never quite figured out. But I don't want to say what they were, because you never know what might happen in the future."[16]
After the conclusion, Lionsgate ceased making Saw films, while waiting to hear a pitch that they thought made it worthwhile to resurrect the series. Jigsaw was conceived when writers Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger, who had spent two years pursuing the opportunity to write a Saw entry, proposed their vision.[4][17] It became known in July 2016 that brothers Michael and Peter Spierig would direct the film.[7][18]Mark Burg and Oren Koules, who produced all of the previous entries in the Saw series, produced again.[3] Composer Charlie Clouser has described the film as a "reinvention" of the series, opining that "the Spierig brothers can deliver a fresh take on the material that will establish a new story line and new characters that can carry the saga into the future."[19] The directors further detailed their approach as being "Saw for 2017", and Michael Spierig explained, "It's perhaps not quite as vicious, and more fun. But it's still full of gore, that's for sure. It's got a really great mystery, and there's very interesting twists."[13]
Filming
In October 2016, production was confirmed to have commenced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, under the working title of Saw: Legacy.[20] The film was shot in November 2016, and entered post-production by that January.[3] On March 2, 2017, Bloody Disgusting revealed the first plot details and a full actor list, confirming that Tobin Bell would return in the role of John Kramer.[10] In June 2017, the Motion Picture Association of America listed the film under the official title of Jigsaw, rating it R, for "sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, and for language".[21] On 14 August 2017, the film passed uncut in the United Kingdom with an 18 Certificate by the BBFC.[21][8] In regard to the new title, writer Josh Stolberg clarified that "when a writer is writing a movie, they put something on the cover page to separate it from other films. So when we were writing this film, the title read Saw: Legacy but it was never official or 'decided'."[22]
Marketing
Poster releases
On September 16, 2017, Lionsgate released five posters to promote Jigsaw.[23] The posters show off people in the traditional Billy the Puppet makeup, captioned "He is Everyone". The release of the posters was Lionsgate's way of reasserting the series' dominance over the Halloween season.[24]
Halloween Blood Drive
The Annual Blood Drive is the series' tradition, where before the release of the films in October, mobile blood stations are set up around the United States, where fans who donate blood receive a free ticket to see the respective film of that year.[25] The tradition started in 2004, after the overwhelming success of Saw, and continued for each of the sequels until it stopped in 2009 before the release of Saw VI. Due to the arrival of Jigsaw in October, the blood drive was revived for another year, promoting the film with eight posters being released by Lionsgate, featuring "Nurses" Grae Drake, Dan Rockwell, Susanne Bartch, Nyakim Gatwech, Shaun Dross, Mosh, Mykie and Amanda LePore.[26]
As of September 2017, 120,000 pints (57,000 L) of blood had been donated, which has lead to over 360,000 lives being saved.[27]
Music
Charlie Clouser, who provided the score for all previous entries in the Saw series, returned to score Jigsaw. Clouser re-imagined the music of the Saw franchise, following the six-year hiatus between Saw 3Dand Jigsaw. Clouser stated, "this will be an opportunity for me to re-imagine how I approach the score, and I'll be trying a more stark, bold, and stripped-down approach that will be more in line with the strong vision that the Spierig brothers are bringing to the table."[19]
Release
The film was released in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2017, and the United States on October 27, 2017.[28] It was featured in IMAX screenings for the first week of its theatrical run.[29]
Box office
As of November 2, 2017, Jigsaw has grossed $21.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $11.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $32.4 million, against a production budget of $10 million.
In the United States and Canada, Jigsaw was released alongside Thank You for Your Service and Suburbicon, and is projected to gross around $20 million from 2,941 theaters in its opening weekend.[30] It made $1.6 million from Thursday night previews at 2,400 theaters, just below the $1.7 million Saw 3D made from midnight screenings seven years prior, and $7.2 million on its first day. It went on to open to $16.2 million, finishing first at the box office but marking the lowest debut of the franchise.[31]
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 34% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Jigsaw definitely won't win many converts to the Saw franchise, but for longtime fans, it should prove a respectably revolting—if rarely scary—diversion."[32] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film holds a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[33] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[31]
IGN the film a 4.5/10, writing "The good news is, Jigsaw is not the worst horror movie of the year. The bad news is, it's still bad enough that that's the good news...[It] doesn't capture what made the Sawfranchise work in the first place."[34] Darren French of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C", calling it disappointing and overly long.[35] Bloody Disgusting gave the film two and a half out of five, saying the film "while being a fun ride, fails to justify its existence with a story that is overly familiar and a twist that doesn't live up to most of its predecessors."[36]
Variety's Owen Gleiberman found the film "garishly rote" saying "For 92 minutes, it more or less succeeds in sawing through your boredom, slicing and dicing with a glum explicitness that raises the occasional tingle of gross-out suspense but no longer carries any kick of true shock value."[37] io9 largely panned the film saying "is one of the better films in the franchise. Unfortunately, that's not saying much.
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