Saw IV

''Saw IV'' is a 2007 horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and a story by Melton, Dunstan, and Thomas Fenton. A sequel to '' Saw III'' (2006) and the fourth installment in the ''Saw'' film series, it stars Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, and Lyriq Bent.

The film picks up where the previous film left off, with the death of John Kramer. However, it is revealed that John had planned for his death and left behind a series of recordings and clues that would lead investigators to his final game. As the detectives try to unravel the mystery of John's final game, they are drawn into a web of deceit and deception that reveals more of the motives behind his lethal games.

''Saw IV'' was the first film in the franchise to not be written by Leigh Whannell or James Wan. It was released by Lionsgate Films in the United States on October 26, 2007. It received mostly negative reviews from critics and grossed $139 million worldwide. A sequel, ''Saw V'', was released in 2008.

Plot

An autopsy of the Jigsaw Killer reveals a wax-coated microcassette in his stomach, and Detective Mark Hoffman is called in to listen to it. The tape promises him that "the games have just begun." In a mausoleum, a man named Trevor and a lawyer named Art Blank are chained to a large device. Trevor's eyes have been sewn shut, and Art's mouth has been sewn shut, making communication between them impossible. When the device begins pulling them together, they panic, and Art eventually kills Trevor to retrieve a key from his collar.

Meanwhile, the police discover the remains of Detective Allison Kerry. Hoffman cautions Officer Daniel Rigg for barging through an unsecured door in attempt to save Kerry. Hoffman is introduced to FBI Agents Peter Strahm and Lindsey Perez, who deduce that Amanda, Jigsaw's apprentice, would have needed assistance with Kerry's death, indicating that there is another apprentice.

That evening, Rigg and Hoffman are kidnapped. Rigg is told that Detective Eric Matthews is in fact still alive, and is given ninety minutes to save himself. He is then given his first test, where he finds a sex trafficker named Brenda strapped to a device that scalps her. He rescues her, although he is warned not to, and Brenda later attempts to stab Rigg; Rigg subdues her and learns that Brenda was told that Rigg was there to arrest her for her crimes.

Strahm interrogates Jill Tuck, Jigsaw's ex-wife, who recounts Jigsaw's backstory. She was once pregnant with a boy named Gideon but suffered a miscarriage when Cecil, a drug addict, robbed the clinic at which she was employed and accidentally slammed a door into her stomach.

Rigg's next test is at a motel, where he is instructed to abduct the manager, Ivan Landsness, revealed to be a serial rapist. Angered by seeing videos of Ivan's exploits, Rigg forces Ivan into a prearranged trap which forces him to gouge out his eyes; he fails to do it in time and the trap dismembers him. Rigg's next test occurs in a school where Rigg attacked a man named Rex acquitted of abusing his family, though Rigg's career was saved by Hoffman. In one of the classrooms, Rigg discovers Rex and his wife, Morgan, chained back to back with a spike impaled through their bodies. Morgan has removed every spike but one, killing Rex and leaving herself barely alive; Rigg tells her she must remove the last spike herself, then pulls a fire alarm and leaves.

Strahm and Perez arrive on the scene, where it is learned that all of the victims were defended by Art, who is also Jill's lawyer. After a photographer is accidentally killed on the scene, Perez finds Billy, Jigsaw's puppet, in the office. She is told that Strahm will "soon take the life of an innocent man" and that Perez’s "next step is critical". Ignoring past clues that she is in danger, Perez leans toward Billy and is critically injured by shrapnel when its face explodes. She is rushed to the hospital.

After learning that he had terminal cancer, and after a suicide attempt, Jigsaw placed Cecil in his first trap. After Cecil got out when the trap broke, he lunged at Jigsaw to attack him but fell to his death in a mesh of razor wire. Strahm makes connections from Jill's story to the Gideon Meat Factory, the scene of Rigg's final test.

Strahm arrives but finds himself lost, accidentally trailing Jeff Denlon. Meanwhile, Rigg approaches his final test. In the next room are Art, Matthews, and Hoffman; it was revealed earlier that if the door was opened before Rigg's timer expired, Matthews' head would be crushed between two ice blocks and Hoffman would be electrocuted by a complex device. Rigg charges through the door with one second to spare and; despite Matthews' attempts to stop Rigg by shooting him, so he is killed. Rigg shoots Art while, in another room, Strahm encounters Jeff, who brandishes a gun. Strahm, who is unaware that Jeff is frantically searching for his daughter, kills him. Hoffman, who was never in any danger and is revealed to be Jigsaw's other apprentice, rises and seals a dying Rigg and a bewildered Strahm in the factory.

These games are revealed to have taken place before Jigsaw's autopsy, and Hoffman is warned via the microcassette that he can expect to face a test of his own.

Cast

Production

In January 2007, ''Saw'' writer James Wan stated that a script was under development. Leigh Whannell told ''Fangoria'' that he and Wan would be executive producers stating, "James anand I, as executive producers, are still treating it like our baby; we'll still oversee it. I've definitely been privy to the ideas they've had and the scripts they’ve been writing, and it’s coming along well. I'm actually excited". That following month, Darren Lynn Bousman, who previously directed ''Saw II'' and '' Saw III'', was announced to return as director. David Hackl, who served as production designer for the two previous ''Saw'' films, was offered to direct the film, but the day he received the offer his wife was diagnosed with cancer. Producers offered him directorial duties for ''Saw V'' and '' Saw VI''.

As Whannell was uninterested in writing any more ''Saw'' films, Twisted Pictures sought new writers and ideas for the fourth ''Saw'' film, making it the first film to not be written by him. An executive discovered Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton and read their script '' The Midnight Man''. The executive thought that the duo's script could serve as a prequel to the first film, detailing a traumatic event in Jigsaw/John's early life. However, producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules did not want to do a prequel and dropped the idea, but the script led Dunstan and Melton to be hired to write the next three ''Saw'' films. Thomas Fenton also joined Dunstan and Melton as writer to the film. Marek Posival was attached to write at one point.

Stepping into the franchise was tricky for Dunstan and Melton, given the serialized nature of the ''Saw'' films. However, they counted on Bousman and the crew to watch over them, pitching a trilogy that would start with ''Saw IV'' and conclude in '' Saw VI''. The duo did not have any trouble in bringing Jigsaw back into the story despite his death in the last film, as the character had been dying since the original film, feeling that the film would not feel like a ''Saw'' entry without the character. Like in previous entries, rewrites took place during the writing process, leading many unused ideas for the film to later be recycled for ''Saw V''.

Even though Tobin Bell's Jigsaw Killer character was killed off in the previous entry, in March 2007 it was announced that he signed on for ''Saw IV'' and ''Saw V''.

With a production budget of $10 million production budget, principal photography took place from April 16, 2007 to May 3, 2007 in Toronto.

Release

''Saw IV'' was released theatrically in the United States and Canada on October 26, 2007. Lionsgate held its fourth annual "Give Til It Hurts" blood drive for the Red Cross.

Soundtrack

"Saw IV (Music From And Inspired By Saw IV)" was released on October 23, 2007, by Artists' Addiction Records. The film's theme song " I.V." was written by Yoshiki and performed by the rock group X Japan.

Home media

The DVD and Blu-ray was released on January 22, 2008 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. It grossed $32.7 million in home sales.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $63,300,095 in the United States and Canada with an additional $76,052,538 in other markets, bringing the worldwide total to $139,352,633.

Critical reception

''Saw IV'' received mostly negative reviews from critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Scott Schueller, writing for the ''Chicago Tribune'', called it "a film as edgy as a rubber knife” and said that "if the terrible craft of Bousman's film doesn't turn your stomach, the borderline pornographic violence will. It's disconcerting to imagine anyone enjoying the vile filth splashing the screen." Frank Scheck from ''The Hollywood Reporter'' said "the famously inventive torture sequences here seem depleted of imagination", but added that "it hasn't yet jumped the shark like such predecessors as the '' Nightmare on Elm Street'' and '' Friday the 13th'' movies eventually did."

Peter Hartlaub from ''The San Francisco Chronicle'' called it "the ''Syriana'' of slasher films, so complicated and circuitous that your only hope of understanding everything is to eat lots of fish the night before and then watch each of the previous films, in order, right before you enter the theater." James Berardinelli wrote that "''Saw IV'' functions as a drawn-out, tedious epilogue to a series that began with an energetic bang three years ago with ''Saw'', then progressively lost momentum, coherence, and intelligence with each successive annual installment."

A less negative review came from Jamie Russell from the BBC, who called it "deeply unsettling; just like a horror movie should be."

Notes

References

External links

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2000s American films
2000s Canadian films
2000s English-language films
2000s serial killer films
2007 horror films
American sequel films
American splatter films
Canadian sequel films
Canadian serial killer films
Canadian splatter films
Crime horror films
English-language Canadian films
Films about torture
Films scored by Charlie Clouser
Films directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Films shot in Toronto
Lionsgate films
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English-language horror films
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