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Saw IV
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Wikipedia article
'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. It is the fourth installment in the 'Saw' film series, the third directed by Bousman. The film stars Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, and Lyriq Bent. The plot follows Daniel Rigg, a police officer obsessed with rescuing the Jigsaw Killer's victims, who finds himself the focus of Jigsaw's latest series of tests, in which he must rescue his partners, Eric Matthews and Mark Hoffman, while learning to overcome his obsession. The film also explores John Kramer's legacy and his ability to manipulate people into continuing his work after his death, while providing more of his backstory and an additional explanation as to why he became Jigsaw.
'Saw IV' was the first film in the franchise to not be written by Leigh Whannell. It was released by Lionsgate in the United States on October 26, 2007, and received generally negative reviews from critics. Despite this, the film was a box office success, grossing $139 million worldwide. A sequel, titled 'Saw V', was released in 2008.
Plot
An autopsy of the Jigsaw Killer reveals a wax-coated microcassette in his stomach. The tape shows Detective Hoffman promising that "the games have just begun." In a mausoleum, Trevor and Art are chained to a large device. Trevor's eyes have been sewn together, and Art's mouth has been sewn shut, making communication between them impossible. When the device begins pulling them together, they panic, and Art murders Trevor to retrieve a key from his collar.
Meanwhile, the police discover the corpse of Detective Kerry. After cautioning Lieutenant Rigg for barging through an unsecured door, Hoffman is introduced to FBI Agents Strahm and Perez, who deduce that Amanda Young, Jigsaw's apprentice, would need assistance with Kerry's death, indicating that there is another.
That evening, Rigg and Hoffman are kidnapped. Rigg is told that Detective Matthews is in fact still alive, and is given ninety minutes to save him. He is then given his first test, where he finds Brenda is slowly being scalped. 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 prostitution.
Rigg's next test is at a motel, where he is instructed to abduct the manager, Ivan, revealed to be a serial rapist. Angered by seeing videos of Ivan's exploits, Rigg forces Ivan into a prearranged trap, which dismembers him. Rigg's next test occurs in a school where Rigg attacked a man acquitted of abusing his family, though Rigg's career was saved by Hoffman. In one of the classrooms, Rigg discovers the husband and wife impaled on a pole, with the man dead and the woman clinging to life. Rigg tells the woman that she must remove the spikes herself before leaving, pulling a fire alarm as he does.
Strahm and Perez arrive on the scene, where it is learned that all of the victims were defended by Art, who is also the lawyer of Jill Tuck, Jigsaw's ex-wife. 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 her "next step is critical". Ignoring past clues that she is in danger, Perez continues with the investigation before Billy explodes; she is rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Furious, Strahm interrogates Jill, who recounts Jigsaw's backstory. She was once pregnant with a boy to be named Gideon, but suffered a miscarriage when Cecil Adams robbed the clinic at which she was employed and he slammed a door into her stomach. She and her husband grew apart and divorced. After learning that he had cancer and only a short while to live, Jigsaw placed Cecil in a trap which collapsed prematurely; Cecil then lunged at Jigsaw, but fell into a mesh of barbed 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. Rigg, meanwhile, 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 time was up, 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; despite Matthews' attempts to stop Rigg by shooting him, he is killed. Rigg shoots Art while, in another room, Strahm faces off with Jeff, who brandishes a gun, unaware that Jeff is frantically searching for his daughter. Strahm kills Jeff while Hoffman, who was never in any danger and is Jigsaw's other apprentice, rises and seals an injured Rigg and a bewildered Strahm in the factory.
Cast
Production
For 'Saw IV', there was a hunt for a director before it was officially stated that Darren Lynn Bousman, who had originally passed on it, would again direct the fourth installment, with creators and executive producers James Wan and Leigh Whannell also returning.[https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=18996 Bousman Returns to Direct Saw IV.] ComingSoon.net, 2007-02-20.[http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_12255.html Darren Lynn Bousman Interview, SAW 4.] Movies Online. Retrieved 2007-06-22. Principal photography took from April 16, 2007[http://www.canmag.com/nw/6815-saw-iv-production Date set for filming] to May 3, 2007. The filming location was Toronto, Ontario;[http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news?id=28315 Location set for the filming of 'Saw IV'] the same place where both 'Saw II'[http://www.movieweb.com/news/01/9701.php/ 'Saw II' filming location] MovieWeb retrieved 2005-27-10. and 'Saw III'[http://www.movieweb.com/news/27/12127.php/ 'Saw III' filming location] MovieWeb retrieved 2006-04-17. were filmed. The post-production period began on 19 May.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0890870/combined IMDb post-production period]
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 John Kramer's early life. However, producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules didn't 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, though Marek Posival was attached to write as well at one point.[https://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/7904 Actual writer for 'Saw IV' revealed]
Stepping into the franchise was tricky for Dunstan and Melton given the serialized nature of the 'Saw' films, but they counted with Bousman and the crew to watch over them, pitching a trilogy which would start with 'Saw IV' and conclude in 'Saw VI'. The duo didn't 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 wouldn't feel like a 'Saw' entry without the character on it. Once the duo was hired and showed 'Saw III', they begged the crew to spare Eric Matthews, who was originally depicted to be killed in the third film, but at their insistence the producers had his death scene removed from that film so they could bring him back in the fourth film. In earlier drafts, 'Saw IV' was going to take place simultaneously as the original 'Saw' and it would have included a scene of Agent Peter Strahm finding and entering the bathroom, moments after Adam Stanheight was left in there to die by Jigsaw. Adam would have attempted to shoot him out of panic, prompting the agent to kill him in self-defense. This was eventually changed to the film taking place simultaneously with 'Saw III' instead. Like in previous entries, a lot of rewrites took place during the writing process, leading many unused ideas for the film to later be recycled for 'Saw V'.
In an interview with Bousman, he stated that the last work on 'Saw IV' would happen in August to be able to have prints made. At Comic Con Intermeational 2007, it was revealed by Bousman and Burg that the MPAA had given the film an NC-17 rating. They would have to figure out whether or not to cut the film to achieve an R rating or release it as an NC-17 film,[https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=22826 Saw IV Too Much for Comic-Con] Retrieved on 2007-08-07 the former of which they accomplished.[http://www.filmratings.com/filmRatings_cara/reports/s10166925.htm] The British Board of Film Classification classified the film at 18.
Lionsgate held its fourth annual "Give Til It Hurts" blood drive for the Red Cross.
Reception
Box office
The film grossed $63,300,095 in the United States and an additional $71,228,814 internationally, bringing the theatrical total to $134,528,909. It is Lionsgate's sixth highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada.Critical reception
Critical reception to 'Saw IV' was negative. Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 20% based on 81 reviews, with an average score of 3.8/10. The site's consensus states: 'Saw IV' is more disturbing than compelling, with material already seen in the prior installments. On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 36 out of 100, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.Scott Schueller from the 'Los Angeles Times' called it a film as edgy as a rubber knife and said that if the terrible craft of Bousman's film doesnt turn your stomach, the borderline pornographic violence will. Its 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 hasnt 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." Linda Cook from 'Quad-City Times' gave it a positive review and said "The twists and turns are deadly, the 'lessons' are taught once again, and we have the perfect setup for 'Saw V'."
Home media
The Unrated Director's Cut was released on January 22, 2008, in America and March 3, 2008, in the UK, on DVD and Blu-ray. An "Extreme Edition" was released in the United Kingdom only, before the release of 'Saw V' in October 2008,[https://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/13715 Coolest DVD Packing Ever For UK 'Saw IV' Release] and features a 95-minute running time of the film. This version of the film matches the unrated version released in the United States (since the BBFC have to classify every film by law, the term 'unrated' is not permitted on UK home video releases).
Extreme Limited Edition
This edition was only released in the United Kingdom.* Exclusive automated spinning Saw with a sound clip packaging
* A copy of the 'Saw: Rebirth' comic
* Two audio commentaries (one with director Darren Lynn Bousman and actor Lyriq Bent; the other featuring the producers)
* Video diary of Darren Lynn Bousman
* Traps of 'Saw IV'
* Props of 'Saw IV'
* Music Video "I.V." by X Japan
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on October 23, 2007, by WEA/Warner Bros. Records. The film's theme song "I.V." was written by Yoshiki and performed by the rock group X Japan.
References
Buy Saw IV now from Amazon
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