Scary Film Review: October 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

End of the Month Death Toll October 2009

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

From The Mail Bag Mid October 2009 Edition

Greetings from Moscow, Idaho. I moved here at the beginning of this month and it's been a bit hard adjusting. I still have no job, and out of all the applications I have sent, I've received nothing in return. No call backs, no interviews, and I'm really questioning my manhood. I'm trying to make it, but I'm not sure if I will. I'm trying to avoid moving in with my parents, as I'm married and that's hard...the couch is not forgiving at all.

This month has been terrible for me in terms of horror films. Not only have I been working like crazy to try and get money to make it, I have figured out that I can't watch enough of them to keep the site updated up to now. I have the next few reviews ready in the chamber, and have even picked up a few to watch. I haven't unpacked the last few boxes so that's where I think there's some room for improvement. I'll keep you guys posted, all 2 of you readers out there.

Now without further crap, here's what came through the pipeline in terms of mail, email, and comments:

Anonymous said in regards to my 28 Weeks Later Review:

I could not agree more with you sir. THIS MOVIE SUCKED.

Plainly put, yes, it wasn't like the first. I didn't like it, but it's not as bad as I first thought. It has grown, very little, on me. Thanks for the comment.

bassistforlife08 said in regards to REWIND: Silver Bullet Review:

this movie is amazingly scary. love it :)

There's some great cinematic motions in this film, and it's under appreciated for that. I liked it, and think it's up there with the best werewolf movies.

Panic Attack said this in regards to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 Review:

Definitely my favorite of them all. The humor that's kind of hard to catch in the original is amped up 100 fold. This is Grand Guignol at it's finest. A side note of the first scene, it was originally much tamer, but after a few test screenings, the execs asked for more gore and that's what they got. There's also a scene that Savini talks about in one of his books that describes a UT vs OU tailgate rally, where Leatherface chews through an entire crowd of celebratory UT fans...it ended up on the cutting-room floor, but it seems it's on the "gruesome edition", so, SOLD.

I have to get the new "gruesome edition" that sounds rad. The movie is one of my favorites, and I'm contemplating getting the import Japanese movie poster for my living room. The wife loves it, but not so sure she wants it as our main art piece for our living room. Anyways, thanks for the comment, keep em coming!

Anonymous left a comment in regards to my Brainscan Review:

not that i have ever been to this site, but i have stumbled upon this review and feel the need to critique it, lol sorry, ocd i guess...
Your perception of the film is dead on, but as for some facts...
you insinuate the disk is called 'the scariest game in the world' or something to that extent when really, in the movie, that was what the game was referred to, as a discription. The title of the fictional game matches the title of the movie.
" This new imaginary character cajoles the main character and his friend into running around trying to figure out how to stop the cd-rom from taking control of them and the world!"
His friend was really uninvolved w/ any aspect of the plot as far as the game goes, and i feel the obvious sarcastic joke (though funny) wont be so obvious and actually misleading to a reader who hasnt had the privilege of seeing this classic piece of cinema...
Anyway, good review, your opinion of it matches mine, but i couldnt leave w/o pointing those things out... have a good'n

Thanks. I liked the film, don't get me wrong, but it was a little hard to follow and really mustered up a sense of annoyance because of the whole "identity" crisis thing. I hate that in films. THe movie did have a lot of good points, and I recently saw the soundtrack in a record store, so obviously it didn't do so bad. Thanks for the comment, it was a good one.

That's it folks, the end of this months mail bag edition. I'm going to go watch the world series, then watch a few horror movies. I ask everyone reading this to consider buying something from amazon links found on this site. I am unemployed and looking and trying to make ends meet. I could use the help.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Saw VI Review

Oh and here we go, the sixth installment of Saw. I had high hopes for this one as I was under the impression that this this film series would get sewn up in this edition. I was surprised to see hwo good this one was in comparison to the other sequels, and found it interesting to say the least. It is definitely ranking high on my guilty pleasures list that's for sure.

Saw VI opens up with one of the sickest openings for a saw film. Two people chop body parts off to see who lives, one lives, one dies. It's a sick opening, and definitely forced, consider the gore levels we saw previously in this series.

Here is a trailer for the film Saw VI:

The movie deals with what we are told are the final six Saw victims. The story comes full circle as we see "jigsaw" in flash back format, trying to get health insurance coverage, and seeing how messed up things are. He focuses on everyone involved with the health care company that refused him coverage. So with those victims targeted, the rest of the film makes a good attempt of sewing up the other loose ends.

The film looks, sounds, and moves like a saw sequel. I've always stated that the first film was great, and the sequels were just trying too hard to be that good. They never were, but this one seems to try really hard to return to form, even though it fails a little. The amount of blood shed in this film is incredible, making things harsh for some viewers. However, you must remember you're watching a Saw film.

Saw VI is not going to make you believe in the series, if you're not already interested in the film series. You need to understand that this film isn't cerebral in any sense of the word. There are some plot holes, flash backs and so much more that you'll want to shake your head at. However, six films in, you end up letting it slide most of the time.

Saw VI fails to live up to the original, but who really is thinking about the original film? I know I wasn't, and I liked this one enough to give it a pass. Sure it's not great, sure it has some major plot holes, but overall? I liked it. I thought it was better than the other sequels in the series, and it sewed up the series nicely...assuming this is the end of the Saw series.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Saw VI Is Upon Us

Today is not Halloween. However, today might as well be Halloween. I moved to a city that only has 21,000 people and there is only 1 movie theater. So this weekend I'm going to try to drive an hour away to a major city to see none other than Saw VI. That's right, I'm somewhat of a fan of Saw and am somewhat excited to see what they come up with yet again. I am always down for a rated R scary film.

If you haven't seen the trailer for Saw VI yet, here you go, the official trailer for the latest installment of the Saw series:

I'm not too sure what's going to go down in the film, but since the last one ended with sort of a cliffhanger, I'm hoping it comes full circle and finishes itself off. I should've reviewed the other films for this week, but I didn't. I hate to admit but I'm still unpacking.

I'm a little depressed because I don't have a job and after 40 applications, I've received not one, I kid you not, not one solitary phone call.

I have previously talked about Saw and you may have missed out on my thoughts. So here are some posts from my past that feature Saw.

Saw IV Review
Mid September Mail Bag
Saw V Review
Saw: The Ride Announcement

If you hate the Saw series, that's ok, but remember...this is an R rated Horror Film. Rated R horror films are a rarity these days, so enjoy your weekend and I'll have a review of Saw VI for monday sometime..

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Nun Review

The Nun is a supernatural horror film that is not too unlike many Japanese and Korean horror films of recent times. The movie has an interesting premise, and follows through with enough gusto to get you through a horror movie fix, but overall it falls flat, and really doesn’t make any major moves to change the genre of supernatural horror, revenge horror, and doesn’t even compare to nunsploitation, which is what I thought this film really was about. This 2005 film is a good example of Spanish horror films that you may have missed, and in many cases rightfully so, as this one isn’t the greatest of them all.

The movie starts off with a group of girls at a Catholic boarding school. They are victims of abuse by a nun, and later we find out more of the back story. In modern times those same girls are now being taken out one by one by a ghost, the ghost of the nun that they all helped kill! That’s right, they helped drown a nun and now she’s come back several years later to kill them off one by one.

Here is a trailer for the supernatural horror film The Nun:

The Nun is a bit more than a sci-fi channel production. It’s on par with many other imports that we have seen in previous Lionsgate media purchases. The movie features a wide array of characters, but they aren’t given enough time to develop properly, therefore, you don’t end up caring about these characters as they are punished for murdering a nun. The ghost sequences and overall scary moments are few and far between. However, they are done well. The jump scenes are there, you get silence to loud noises and sudden appearances by the ghost, and you get some great animation for such a low budget. Overall, the ghost is nice, and is superior to some of the modern remakes like “Mirrors” and others that seem to be skimping on the CG or doing it wrong somehow.

Is The Nun Scary? No.

The Nun isn’t really all that scary, and really is only going to satisfy diehard horror movie fans. As a film critic (I use that term loosely) I found the cinematography beautiful at times. When they drown Sister Ursula and she descends into a cold bath, in full nun gear, there is such a beauty to the sequences that you’d swear you’re watching a superior film.

The use of supernatural and physical religious tones, is spot on. The superstition of the Catholic faith is interesting to see here. I don’t think many people got that when this film came out, and I don’t think that the director was intentionally slapping the Catholic church in the face with the film. This is not something like “The Exorcist” or anything that should be touted as a real religious scare. However, as a former Catholic, I understand the superstition that the characters go through upon trying to figure out what is going on.

The pacing is a little odd. It’s a little slow. The characters are somewhat self aware, and at one point one of the characters says, “what? Is this, I know What you Did 18 summers ago?” and the plotting keeps moving forward into a cliché that you are going to find in a lot of horror films. In regards to the pacing, you will find the film moves slow at times then speeds up to a point where you lose some of the transitional scenes and dialogue, moving you through another callous motion picture.

After the third act develops I had a fear that this film would somehow throw a wrench into the story and start a split personality thing…and once again I was right. The Identity Crisis in horror films starts up again and I really wanted to punch my screen. Sure it’s not as overt as some other instances, but man, it’s there and I hated that aspect.

The Nun is not a scary movie. It doesn’t change the shape of horror movies, it is not a great film. It has enough of a plot, enough scares, and a few moments of great effects (computer and other) to make this somewhat worth at least one or two views. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, The Nun is not going to win any awards soon, and it’s easily forgotten, but it has enough of a punch to keep you from falling asleep.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Technical Difficulties

Hey folks,

I'm working on a few things, but have ran into technical difficulties.

Please hold on, while I configure a few things and get a new post for you this Wednesday.

I'm sorry for the major delay.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Scare Game Web Series

Hey, all three of you readers out there, believe it or not I'm still sifting through many boxes her in my new home. I'm still unemployed, broke, and losing hope for a brighter future. I wanted to share with you guys a cool new web series that I just got emailed about. This horror/comedy web series has the same kind of production, if not better, than "Midnight Skater" and is better than "Vegas Vampires" so you know it's good. It's free, and you can see the first episode below. Make sure you check this out on a regular basis.

I'll return to review some new reviews sooner than later, I swear.

The first installment of the new horror/ comedy web series that chronicles the adventures of a group of horror enthusiasts. Their lives change drastically when they are thrust into a real horror event.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

REWIND: Mirrors Review

I'm still unpacking my dvd's and I have a ton of things to review. However, with no job, and a little depression setting in, I'm lacking the passion to finish off my move. However, I will definitely be back in action sooner than later, please...please stay with me while I make this transition.

Alex Aja comes through once again, putting together a very scary and enjoyable remake of “Into The Mirror”, creating a very easy to watch film of paranoia, ghosts, religion, and death. Mirrors, is not a cult classic by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not a bad movie, and despite what critics are going to say about this film, this was actually quite good.

The initial thing that I caught in this film was definitely great. I’m talking about typography. The typography in the beginning of the film came out backwards, as if they were in a mirror, then they flipped right side up. It was a really nice touch, and alongside the typographic effects, they used a cool (albeit beginner technique) mirror technique to display a vast city. It really was cool to see my schooling used on a real professional level.

The gore level was huge at the beginning. There is definitely a great introduction to the overall film, and it was great. However, the gore levels really just stop there for the most part. You might remember Amy Smart ripping her jaw off, but that was also in the first third of the film. It was incredible, but I think it might have been CG instead of make up techniques that I was expecting.

Here is a trailer for the movie Mirrors:

The rest of the film played out like an episode of 24. This movie really had some pacing problems, and like a lot of horror movies, I was ready to throw the towel in. However, right when I was ready to give up on this film, I really was in for a shock. The movie started to unravel, and I started to get a tense cold spike, and this film was insane. There were a lot of mirror effects that was top notch.

I didn’t like the wife’s acting. I thought she was horrible. However, the movie isn’t terrible at all. This movie was really tense at times, and besides the jump scenes, they had some great juxtaposition of religion, skepticism and reality.

For those of you that are now lost by this, I’ll take a moment to explain the film. The plot surrounds an old hotel with these indestructible mirrors. These mirrors are high, and massive. Inside the mirrors the dead seem to come alive, but in the real world there is nothing happening. The idea of dimensions is expressed in this film. Take a mirror and put it in front of another mirror slightly askew and you’ll see an infinite array of reflections. There is a theory of infinite universe and proof of God that hinges on the idea that in two mirrors you see infinite reflections. Therefore, infinite planes of existence, beyond 3-D. Math sometimes can talk of a fourth dimension, and if you are familiar with that, this film hinges on those ideas. The movie takes themes from “The Grudge”, and even “The Exorcist” and mashes them together into a relatively creepy film.

I’m not sure if I enjoyed the ending to this film, but for what it was, it was definitely better than I thought. I would recommend watching the Korean original “Into The Mirrors” but American audiences will enjoy this one for sure. It wasn’t half bad and I liked the intensity that Aja brought to this film. He’s definitely a worthwhile director. For those of you scratching your head about who Aja is, I reviewed his film P2 and High Tension!

Too bad that the studio's didn't push this one. Maybe it's because it was panned by most critics. But you know what? I liked it. I thought it was good for what it is. I paid five bucks and saw the first showing on a Saturday. My wife, who doesn't really have my taste in movies thought this was creepy, and so did my sister. Meanwhile I liked Tropic Thunder and they didn't think it was all that great. So there's definitely an audience for this, and to consider the deeper meanings of infinite universes, and transitional mirror dimensions, really makes for a creepy thing.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Friday, October 9, 2009

REWIND: Silver Bullet Review

I'm still unpacking a bunch of things here in my new home. I have also started a new exploitation film review site, as well as a complete kungfu site, so things are moving. As for this website, I'm working on new updates, they are just slower than usual because of the move. Please hang on though I will get back to good posts and even a podcast...I will keep you posted.

One of the worst things about horror are adaptations of Stephen King books, short stories, and novellas. No one really gets it right, and while I don’t think that there is a definitive greatest Stephen King movie list, I think that Silver Bullet is a strong contender for one of the better adaptations, even if I’m alone in thing this sort of thing. Stephen King’s Silver Bullet is a scary werewolf movie, even if you’re not a fan of the execution of this film.

The movie revolves around a small town, and a new string of murders that are plaguing the area. These murders are often covered up by the coroner and are never truly revealed as happenings of a Werewolf…until a kid discovers a deep dark secret, and then things go into high gear!

Here is a trailer for Stephen King’s Silver Bullet:

One of Gary Busey’s less psychotic roles, playing a good intentioned, unbelieving uncle (who happens to be an alcoholic), he actually looks young and sane. The rest of the cast play their roles well and I enjoyed it on an entertainment level. The initial set up takes some time to play out, however it isn’t really scary at first. We are introduced to the cast of characters with ease, as the murders play out as a back drop, you suspect a few people before the story turns on a dime and shows you who the culprit really is. I don’t know if you will catch it right away, but it is not exactly something that I was expecting, at least not the first time I saw it.

The main protagonist is bound to a wheelchair. One cool scene, that has nothing to do with horror, is that the kid gets an awesome upgrade thanks to his uncle. He gets this sweet looking, super wheel chair! That’s right, it’s awesome, and something that was most likely inspired by the imagination of a young child, rather than an adult, but then again, this film was made in the 80’s and these outlandish paleo-future ideas were the norm amongst Hollywood writers and director’s at the time. (Main example, Back to the Future and the hover-board)

The antagonist of this film is a werewolf, but who is the wolf? That’s the crux of these types of movies, and it’s not something that is done in movies often. Usually the occult is the vocal point of animalistic rage, or monster movies in general. If the occult is not named right away, it is implied through various sequences, and this film relies on a Judeo-Christian tinge to frighten viewers, and proclaim that people should watch out, lest wolves truly be in sheep’s clothing!

Just like in “The Howling” we get a combination of first person action and third person action. As a fan of video games and even online bingo at poshbingo, I really love the first person shots from the werewolf’s perspective where the hands are extended and the action is being followed through your television. It’s really a cryptic and weird camera perspective, and is done well for the time.

As far as its place in history, this film came out in 1985, meanwhile “The Howling” came out in 1981, and the camera angles and sequences seem stolen here. However, there aren’t a lot of scholars of horror that argue the intricacies of such a notion. Wes Craven’s “Cursed” and the Jack Nicholson movie “Wolf” also borrow subtle motions from the 1981 cult classic, but it can easily be said that they are all borrowing elements from MGM’s “The Wolf Man” from 1941 or dare I even say 1920’s? Or even the John Landis film “An American Werewolf in London”, which is regarded as one of the better werewolf movies since it was one of the first movies to film a long form transformation scene.

While on the topic of visuals, the formation of the silver bullet is done in quite the throwback to professional iron working, or maybe I’m just giving it too much credit. There are also great plays with the shadows as we see the main antagonist rise from beneath them, almost romanticizing the werewolf as a sexual predator, as we are seeing an abuse of power.

Why Silver Bullet is scary: Stephen King has been noted as being somewhat religious, and if not religious completely at least well versed in religious iconography and notion. In his novels he uses Christianity as the focal point to his villains madness (The Shining, The Stand, Misery), and in this film he really pushes the envelope to the extreme. The scary part of this film is not just the usual that no one believes the kid about the werewolves, but more over the fact that the most trusting person is the villain and the most obvious villain is not the villain!

Ok, let me settle down a little. Gary Busey plays a drunk. He shouldn’t be trusted, and he uses the drink as a crutch to somehow muster up enough courage to fight off the werewolf. However, the fight is not just his own, as Marty gets in on the action and we get a very exciting final fight of sorts. Seriously, the final fight is teased for so much of the film that when it finally goes down you get into it, if not initially, then definitely when Gary Busey gets thrown through a book shelf, creating a stand out point to get up and yell at your screen!

In regards to scary notions, this movie presents a Pastor as the villain. The Pastor is well trusted and the community is not quick to believe that he is doing anything wrong, let alone being a Werewolf. This is timely in many ways. We hear stories from victims of child abuse ranging from Catholic Priests to Youth Pastors, and that’s just religious sectors. Abuse is a sad thing, and this movie plays up the religious leader role to a tee, and if you’re reading into this a lot more than usual (like me) you’ll notice that this film sometimes parallels the notion that religious leaders are not only sometimes involved in criminal acts, but when accused, they aren’t always found guilty by the community or the leaders. I know, I’m reaching far for this one, but it seems to me that Stephen King has made a somewhat cautionary tale about abuse of power and how scary it is that those that we have trusted have caused so much pain our lives and the lives of others.

If that’s not scary, and it just seems too outlandish. Then the Cryptozoology aspect of the werewolf mythos is scary enough for you. Sure, I’m not exactly too scared about wolves coming to get me. However, we can all relate to the idea that sometimes the most trusted people screw you over the most.

I admit, Silver Bullet is not the greatest werewolf movie in the world. In fact, for some, Corey Haim’s over acting, Gary Busey’s under acting and Stephen King’s obvious jab at religious figures is just not the makings for a great horror film. Stephen King’s Silver Bullet offers a good enough thrill and scare for fans of Stephen King adaptations, but might be a little shallow in the true horror department. This movie is not gorey, doesn’t really have a lot of sexuality, and really swings the pendulum between disbelief between the notions of who is more righteous: the drunk uncle or the Baptist minister. I would recommend Silver Bullet to some fans, but not everyone is going to enjoy the obvious meddling with werewolf traditions and some blatant rip-offs of previous werewolf films like “The Howling”, but maybe I just like that film too much. I’m not sure.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Horror Movie Releases 10/6/09

The horror movie releases are starting to look good for October. Here's the list of related films that you'll want to pick up before the month is all done.

Audition: Collector's Edition DVD
Bleed With Me (Unrated Directors Cut) DVD
Children of the Corn DVD
Contact Blu-ray DVD
Dark Country DVD
A Deadly Little Christmas DVD
Feeding Grounds DVD
The Gate DVD
Ghost Ship Blu-ray DVD
It's Alive DVD
It's My Party and I'll Die if I Want To! DVD
Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics (The Walking Dead / Frankenstein 1970 / You'll Find Out / Zombies on Broadway) DVD
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Blu-ray DVD
Mirageman DVD
The Number 23 Blu-ray dvd
Offspring DVD
Seamstress DVD
Senseless DVD
Seventh Moon DVD
Six Feet Under: The Complete Series
Skull Heads DVD
Staunton Hill DVD
Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Series Collection DVD
Tales from the Cryptkeeper: The Complete First Season - Pleasant Screams
Tales from the Cryptkeeper: The Complete Second Season - All the Gory Details
The Thaw DVD
Trick 'r Treat DVD
Wolf Blu-ray DVD
Wolf / Dracula / Frankenstein Trilogy Blu-ray DVD

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

REWIND Saw IV Review

I'm now moved into my new home, I'm jacking someone elses wi-fi and I'm trying to make the best of it. The movie reviews are slower coming since I'm unpacking and getting settled, but don't worry I'll have things back into horror glory soon enough. For now, enjoy a little Rewind of a franchise film that will have yet another sequel this month. Yep...Saw.

Saw IV creates another staple in the Saw franchise, but this time around, things are more ridiculous than ever. However, that doesn’t mean that this movie isn’t scary or relevant, it just means you have to dig a little deeper to get anything out of it, besides disgust.

The opening gore of this film is tremendous if you’re not used to horror movies. Even if you’re a casual fan, this opening could make you sick. We’re treated to a complete autopsy of the mastermind Jigsaw, and we get the first mysterious piece to an overall puzzle that will take us through this side story of sorts, painfully I might add. Inside of Jigsaw a wax tape is found, and once played things start to roll. We are then treated to a story that is not too unlike “Game of Death” or “Fist of Legend” in many ways, even though those two examples are NOT horror related, they are similar…you’ll see.

A detective is called out and he has to go through different scenarios, and instead of the victims being tested alone, their fates all hinge on this detective making the proper choice. He misses all opportunities, and then we get treated to the ultimate twist ending. Oh and of course they spit in your face with the timeline as well, and I won’t spoil that for you.

Here is a trailer for Saw IV:

The gore portions of this film are elevated to craziness. If you’re easily disgusted by blood, this film is NOT going to be for you. This is not comedic gore, it’s geared toward “reality” in a lot of ways, and I can only correlate the levels to “slaughterhouse” portions as we see flesh being ripped, autopsy (initially) scenes, and just painful traps. We see heads getting crushed, barbed wire pieces, glass, and all the things that the previous 3 films had but turned into more extreme levels. This movie plays on the gore level a lot, and the twists, although interesting for a few seconds, are really not the glory of Saw IV at all.

We are also treated to clever back story, and Tobin Bell does a good job in this film, even if he is dead. The puppet is still creepy, and the voice of Jigsaw is insane to me, and really gives me quite the chill. Lets have him do trailer voiceovers now, he could sell me on any film.

What boggles my mind is the fact that the budget for this thing isn’t very high, it’s merely 10 million dollars, and yet it makes hundreds of millions worldwide and even more on dvd. This film isn’t all that great, and I have to admit that when this was coming out I was excited and even saw it opening night. To be even more honest, I’m going to be seeing Saw V opening day too, well, maybe the Saturday of the release. I’m a sucker for these marketing ploys and sequels, because I just am. I don’t even know why anymore, I just am always roped into these…but then again, I didn’t get into “Quarantine” so maybe I’m learning.

Saw IV really poops on the audience in a lot of ways with the ending and introduction of a new jigsaw to takeover the work of the now dead villain.

Why Saw IV is scary: You have to throwaway your consumer based review of this film. Do not think of Saw IV in terms of a movie, and you can really create a scary premise. A psychotic killer that is offering hope to his victims via elaborate traps is scary. What is more scary is that in this film, the people are not 100% responsible for their demise, as there is a detective that is the bigger victim, as he has to live with the consequences that are involved with the deaths of what he perceives as innocent. This of course can be stretched into a nice sermon illustration for those of you that are Christian or religious of sorts.

The scary part of this film is not so much the gore and the deaths, even if you too perceive the victims as innocent. The far scarier thing in this film is the depiction of clueless law enforcement. I don’t know about you, but I would like to have some kind of confidence in the Detectives in my city, and while I poke fun at the police a lot, I don’t want to think that the real world is like these detectives. However, reading a lot of true crime books, I’ve realized that a lot of police departments have failed to capture many serial killers in the past and some of which were NEVER captured. That boggles my mind, and every time I think about how serial killings like those found in Saw or Seven are just movie based stories, I realize that there are a lot of true crimes and unsolved mysteries in regards to murders. So that my friends is a very scary notion to me; if you remove trust in law enforcement then what do we have when we lose a loved one to ungodly acts like serial killing?

Saw IV is not the greatest piece of the Saw Franchise. In fact, it’s probably the weakest link, but closely behind Saw II if you ask me. I don’t like this one that much, but it still shows a scary enough notion when contemplated in terms of this site, but that doesn’t mean you should run to go buy it. However, if you are a fan of the series, now is the time to buy the dvd’s as they are all on sale and cheap…I mean dirt cheap. Saw IV is forgettable, but if you overthink it, like I do, it can be a scary film!

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