‘SAW 3-D’ to Be the Last For the Franchise
by Marc Patterson
Some say that Brad Pitt being officially tied to Max Brook’s film adaptation of World War Z is the big news of the day. It certainly is big news whenever a Hollywood titan signs aboard to star in a genre film, but hey – he did Inglorious Basterds didn’t he?
I personally would vie for the creators of SAW officially calling it quits on the franchise as the big news of the day. Sure, the skeptical amongst us will make the call that this is just another good old marketing ploy meant to pull asses from the couch and into theater seats. Bigger, badder, bloodier. Seems they’re laying all the cards on the table. An article in USA Today states that the producers along with Tobin Bell will make this announcement tomorrow at Comic Con. Oren Koules, producer on the series tells USA Today “It’s time to stop. We have told the story we wanted to tell, and this is going to be a great farewell.“
In addition to announcing the end of the franchise, the creators of the new 3-D film have some other announcements to make as well. SAW 3-D is promising to be heavy in the gore department. They’ve reportedly employed more traps (11 vs nearly half that in most of the prior films), and have submitted the film six times to the MPAA to bring the rating down from an NC-17 to an R. Okay. That should make some of us happy even though I’m not sure exactly what that means since the MPAA can be pretty wishy-washy in what they rate and how, and who knows how many times films get kicked back so they hit their target rating.
While some would claim that SAW’s real achievement is successfully making a new film each year for the past seven years (as the article inferred) I have a less optimistic take. One thing that is a testament to SAW is that it’s managed to survive itself. The franchise seemed to be locked in a trap of its own making for quite some time. After the second film stagnancy settled in. Parts three through five were veritable disasters. With the addition of SAW vet Kevin Greutert to the directors seat for the sixth installment the franchise finally saw a lift in quality, a return to form for the series. Despite the return of Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan as screenwriters, who some may argue just weren’t right for the series, part six was just better. It was smarter. Hell, I liked it. But the traps were really getting over the top, and perhaps fans were having enough. It got killed in the box office by rival newcomer Paranormal Activity and that rivalry, juvenile as it is, continues still with both films pushing their sequels to theaters over Halloween once again this fall.
Regardless of whether you’ve loved it, hated it, or just wished it would go away with all the indifference you could muster, SAW as a franchise has made a significant impact into the modern horror film. Jigsaw is the Jason of the 2000′s, and it’s going to be awhile before someone comes along to take his seat as king of the serial slasher killers.
Check out the trailer that debuted over at IGN today, as well as a full shot of the first image from the film.
