Definitive Ranking Of The ‘Saw’ Franchise

TV & Film

Sep 26

As we enter the fall season, it means that we have officially entered spooky season. And while we have seen a lot of new concepts and original stories of the horror variety have some recent success. It seems like the concept of remakes and reboots have been not really been in the forefront to the horror genre lately but all of that changes this month with the release of Saw X. A horror franchise that asks what if Rube Goldberg drank some energy drinks and snorted protein powder while also trying to offer a morality lesson with each kill. At what length would you go to in order to save yourself.

For those not familiar, the Saw franchise focuses on a killer named Jigsaw who through a series of meticulous and devious devices a person is trapped and must make a decision about whether to save themselves becoming horribly maimed or scarred for life or die in an absolutely horrendous way and let me tell you most of the time they die in a horrendous way. The movies typically have a twist ending of some kind and we determine those who were killed or centred around the plot of the movie appear to be involved in the life of the John Kramer the infamous Jigsaw and their situation was brought about as an act of revenge.

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The movies themselves are a product of the modern horror tropes where loud musical and sound FX stings give you a jump scare and the visceral torture scenes which was the style of the time, although the loud stings and focus on jump scares every two seconds is still prominent in horror today. But did you know that this franchise has reached the levels of Friday the 13th, Halloween and even Hellraiser as horror franchises with sequels in the double digits? So, in honour of the release of Saw X, we are going to go through its history and let you know what is the best of the franchise. I will let you know now that spoilers are ahead.

9. Saw 3D (2010)

Anytime you see or hear the phrase “3D” in a movie title, you know you’re probably not going to be in for a highbrow, high quality movie. And man did this movie not disappoint. In what was supposed to be the final movie in the franchise, Saw 3D, aka Saw VII. While the movie continues to have crazy and gore filled traps, the plot itself is ripe with confusion and flashes back so much, which is a theme to the movies, you wonder if you weren’t watching a Memento fan movie.

A man who claimed to have survived a trap by Jigsaw and is using this to make money is put into the situation for real and ultimately must make choices to save those who helped feed into the lie. The ending ultimately concludes with the return of saw the return of one of the original surviving members of Jigsaw’s plan, Dr Lawerence Gordon, Cary Elwes returns as the leader of a cult dedicated to John Kramer and what he brought as the killer Jigsaw. Admittedly the addition of 3D made the trap creation more fiendish and a definite visual assault on the senses, truly nothing was gained by using the technology but during the time of 2008-2012, 3D was a fad everyone wanted to be a part of so why not a horror franchised built for visuals.

8. Jigsaw (2017)

With Saw 3D intended as the end to the franchise, it was a surprise to hear that a new movie was coming to the franchise as Lionsgate, the studio responsible said that it would take a truly amazing script but one was developed.

Like all the movies in the franchise, we focus on two things, first we follow a group of 5 people locked up in a barn and fighting through the traps of Jigsaw and at the same time we follow along detectives who are investigating murders which follow familiar traits to the Jigsaw killing but seemingly impossible thanks to the fact Jim Kramer the original killer has been “dead” for quite some time. While the traps and kills continue to be gory again we suffer from a plot which is hindered by the franchises need to show two plots on screen where one is about a day or so behind. It is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination but they were definitely trying to recapture some of the old glory days.

7. Saw IV (2007)

Following the death of John Kramer in the previous movie, investigators discover a tape which tells them that the games have just begun and we are going to get into it all over again. However, we get to meet the woman who was married to Kramer, Jill, and we get more backstory behind who Jigsaw really as and what ultimately led to him being the killer he became through the first three movies.

An officer Rigg is the focal point to this movie an honest cop being pushed to the limit and FBI agents Strahm and Hoffman who are trying to solve the crimes, again a story told with a shifting timeline. While we do get a better perspective of the mind of Jigsaw, the story again suffers and trying to keep the killer grounded in reality is truly the downfall to the end story. The saving grace is the unique traps set and the fact they truly lean into the gore.

6. Spiral (2021)

Originally, I was going to leave this film off the list as it didn’t seem to have much connection to the rest of the films but Lionsgate says it is part of the franchise that it is seen as Saw IX to some.

This was certainly a fresh take on the franchise and was certainly a bit better in keeping in line the plot to a more traditional and linear fashion with not everyone being about 1-2 days behind. I was certainly leery about Chris Rock, famous funnyman, to be front and centre in a horror movie but he treated the role well played it fairly straight the entire time. Now we don’t get any exposure to Jigsaw or John Kramer but instead we get a copycat but it seemed to make the movie a little more bearable. The traps also appeared to be a little more toned down and the violence shows a little maturity for the franchise.

5. Saw VI (2009)

FBI agent Hoffman returns to continue the legacy that is Jigsaw in this installment. In this film we follow along an insurance company executive who must answer for his pursuit of profits vs saving lives. And we get Kramer’s ex wife Jill returning and apparently aiding her ex from beyond the grave by helping move the plot along in this movie by giving us the evidence needed to justify killing all these people including that of Hoffman and his part in the killings. However, we don’t appear to see the end of Hoffman as he does escape to potentially continue the acts of horror. The plot of the movie is easy to follow and the kills are still fairly gory with a cold open involving the removal of an entire arm make for a good overall experience and perhaps a point in which the series should have ended.

4. Saw III (2006)

In what is technically the final appearance of John Kramer in the “real life”, we follow along Jeff as he is put through a series of Jigsaw challenges in the hope of learning a life lesson to help ease the pain of losing his son to a drunk driver. The b plot to the movie involves Amanda, the first official survivor of Jigsaw and now devotee, who is forcing a doctor to keep John Kramer alive as he is on his deathbed.

What makes this movie so interesting is we get to see how people who survived Jigsaw’s trap could then become a follower of someone in a trippy Stockholm Syndrome. The kills are impressive and the gore level does increase from 1 and 2 but presented it in a way that didn’t detract from enjoying the film.

3. Saw V (2008)

FBI Agent Strahm is looking into the Jigsaw murders but is faced with the trappings of the killer which appear to be fulfilled by a new Lieutenant Hoffman working from the inside to keep the Jigsaw legacy alive.

The main plot follows a group of five people in a sewer trying to escape the challenges. But the main thrust of the movie is the cat and mouse game between Agent Strahm and Hoffman. It makes for an interesting movie and certainly the kills are wonderfully executed and the story seems to have balanced out a little bit better even though disjointed at some points but it isn’t enough to take you out of the movie.

2. Saw II (2005)

In a sequel to the first film, we follow along a group of convicts who are trying to get through a house to find the antidote to a nerve agent that was given to them. The challenges appear to follow the traps set by the infamous serial killer Jigsaw who was last seen in the first movie. The delayed B plot focuses on Detective Matthews whose son was kidnapped by Jigsaw in the cold open and is part of the group in the A Plot. The pacing is great, the story is fairly easy to follow and the unique kills and traps are fantastic. The twist ending of learning about Amanda returning as a disciple of Jigsaw and essentially laying the groundwork for films to come was a perfect ending.

1. Saw (2004)

The movie that started it all and defined the franchise, shaping not only the story telling and style, the flip back and forth in time but showed us just how deadly Jigsaw can be and questioned just how far would you go if you had to save your life. In the opening of film, we see two men waking up in the bowels of some derelict washroom.

Neither man know why they are there and the only other person who might have answers is lying in the middle of the floor dead following an apparent suicide. They play a tape which says Dr. Lawerence Gordon need to kill the other guy, Adam, or his wife and kid will be murdered. The tense back and forth between Gordon and Adam truly made the film scary. In the subplot, detectives, led by Danny Glover are trying to track down the killer known as Jigsaw who uses deadly traps to make his victims make a choice to either kill someone to save themselves or face a deadly end. The two men trapped slowly begin to figure out what happened and ultimately what brought them together but the final 20 minutes where we see the desperation of Dr Gordon trying to get to his family and truly one of the most shocking reveals in a horror movie where the viewer find themselves confused and bewildered. It was a phenomenal first entry into the genre.

And there you have it, your definitive ranking to the SAW franchise. It should be interesting how the new film will fit into the overall storyline and arc within the franchise. Certainly, if there is a common thread from the movies is that you never really truly know what is happening so trying to predict the next movie is about as useful as a key to your chains behind your eyeball but we can expect to see our friend Jigsaw and another round of bewildering traps and a dash of suspension of reality to get the plot but certainly it wouldn’t be spooky season without them. How to do see these movies rank ahead of the number ten, let us know!

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