Saw fades from view

Over the past decade a trend in horror movies has lead to the emergence of a "torture-porn" subgenre, which entails exactly what its name suggests. These movies strive to engage their audience via shock tactics that more often than not include extremely graphic imagery and cheap thrills. Critics have dismissed these films as distasteful and unintelligent. And while I partially agree with what these people have to say, I still find myself a huge fan of these movies.

Possibly the most influential film in leading this trend has been the low-budget, box-office hit Saw, directed by James Wan. Three years and two sequels later, we are presented with the fourth installment of what is expected to be at least a six-installment franchise, Saw IV, directed this time by Darren Lynn Bousman.

Renowned murderer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is dead. The movie kicks off with his autopsy, during which one of his characteristic tapes is found inside his stomach. This tape is what ultimately ends up pulling the plot of this movie full-circle. Without giving too much away, this movie is neither a sequel nor a prequel, but what it is, for the most part, works.

Bousman has commented numerous times that this installment's purpose is to give a better understanding of how John Kramer (Jigsaw) came to be obsessed with testing the human nature to survive, and furthermore set on teaching deadly life lessons through such experiments. The focus on characterization in this movie definitely helps maintain competence in a franchise on the edge of wearing its formula thin. Aiding in this characterization is Jigsaw's wife, Jill (Betsy Russell), who we also get to learn more about in this movie.

Driving this movie's plot is Jigsaw's latest victim, Rigg (Lyriq Bent), a member of the SWAT team we first got a glimpse of in Saw II. Much like the focus in the third installment, this film revolves around a series of successively interconnected tests, through which Rigg must pass and grow, before reaching a final test which is intended to evaluate what Rigg has learned. These interconnected tests involve other subjects who generally are the ones in danger of losing their lives instead of Rigg.

It is difficult to review these types of movies because they have so many different components, and consequently provide several different motivations to entice people to see them. If you have come to be a fan of the innovative torture devices, or traps, that Jigsaw imposes on his test-subjects, this movie will not disappoint you. New with this installment are traps that pin test-subjects against each other, which I found refreshing; they added a new level of intensity to a franchise with an already gripping reputation. You also get to witness Jigsaw's first trap, potentially one of his most realistic and test-subject relevant (metaphorically speaking) devices.

One problem exhibited by this movie is that with each progressive installment the traps become more elaborate and consequently less realistic. As a result of these new complexities in trap designs, the success of these traps has come to depend entirely too much on the rather arbitrary decisions of those who they encompass. There are so many places where these traps can go wrong, based on how their subjects interpret clues and act, that after a while you have to force yourself to abandon reality altogether to enjoy the movie. Not only that, but these traps are designed in such a way that highly disfavors their subjects that these subjects are really nothing more than simply victims, something which contradicts Jigsaw's intended purpose and furthermore the concept on which these movies are founded.

Another attribute for which the Saw franchise is known well is its plot twists. In that regard this movie does not disappoint, though prior installments have provided better. Unfortunately, this movie does not entirely account for its outcome, and can be rather difficult to follow and piece together at times. Not only that, but a lot of questions that arose from earlier movies go unanswered, despite much anticipation for such explanations.

Despite many flaws, Saw IV most likely will experience the same financial success as its predecessors. It sets up well for another installment, which should be expected the same time next year. This installment has definitely made me less of a Saw fan. If future installments want to be successful, they should resort back to elements contained in the first movies, namely more simplistic (and in turn, hopefully more realistic) traps and plot lines.

Saw IV, which came out last week on Oct. 26, is rated R for sequences of grisly, bloody violence and torture throughout, and for language.