This weekend will see the theatrical release of the seventh and final film in the “Saw” franchise. Next year come October will be the first year since 2004 without a “Saw” installment released around Halloween. So the question seems to be whether that will be the year for celebration or is this one? What deserves more rejoicing? The nearly decade-long era of Jigsaw and his traps wreaking havoc on the big screen or the fact that such an “era” is finally coming to an end?
While you’d be hard pressed to find anyone willing to take a stand for the “Saw” movies as some of the greatest films ever their nearly $400 million cumulative intake at the box office speaks volumes about their popularity. Along with films like “Hostel” the “Saw” franchise helped usher in the cinematic niche known as “torture porn.” As a sub-genre of the horror film “torture porn” movies are full of pervasive gory violence usually perpetrated in heinous and ghoulish ways. Adored in an endearingly twisted way by its fans and passionately condemned by its critics the “Saw” franchise and other films like it provide the public with unadulterated escapism at its finest. And this is what makes the “Saw” films important and actually quite valuable to the cinematic and cultural landscapes of this country.
There’s no denying that the movies themselves are quite bad in terms of the film medium. No single film from the lot would likely earn higher than 2.5 stars out of 5 if you were to rate each one individually. Most would scrape the bottom of the barrel. But that really doesn’t matter. The point of these films is not to win Academy Awards or receive high critical marks. The point is to shock to repulse and above all entertain. And the “Saw” films consistently accomplish this in a way that few films ever have.
For the past seven years this franchise has provided the American public with a few much needed services. The films are a break from the routine glossy Hollywood blockbusters and emotional independent dramas that come out weekend after weekend. They are in a sense an excuse to turn off your brain and enjoy a ride which is something everyone should do now and again. The “Saw” movies also provide the public with an instant and open barometer of taste. Can you stand the sight of a woman having her ribcage violently and abruptly ripped out of her by a giant metal contraption? Can your 13-year-old brother? Should you be sickened by that? Should he? Once a year we’ve been reminded by these films: “This is violence. How does it make you feel?” These movies are not for numbing ourselves to or becoming desensitized by such grotesque carnage. Neither should we instantly and blindly condemn and censor this type of film. We need pop culture and in this specific instance film to keep this discussion and debate about taste continually fresh.
So should we celebrate the last installment of the franchise or the fact that it is the last installment of the franchise? Both. Because the significance of the “Saw” films is much underappreciated and their presence in theaters every year will oddly be missed. And at the same time their absence will leave empty a few needs in society— and waiting to see what will fill those voids is exciting as well.