1456 - Saw VII (3D)

First off, I hate that this film is technically called Saw 3D. What a stupid name for a franchised film. Personally, I could give a shit about 3D - I don't believe that it actually adds much of anything to the art of storytelling. It's just a gimmick and if I'm wrong, well... I don't know - but I don't really care for it.
I'm a fan of this series despite everything. I'm not a torture porn guy, and I don't think that this series is that - although perhaps I'm just completely desensitized. There is an ongoing narrative and greater story at play and this (final?) installment goes a great distance towards filling in most, if not all, of the gaps. I particularly enjoyed how they finally let us know what happened to Dr. Gordon - and it was along the lines of what I thought happened to the poor guy.
I won't say too much more as to not spoil (except to say I enjoyed seeing my buddy Carlos Diaz in the film! woot woot!). If you like these films you're going to really love this installment, and if you don't give a shit then it won't matter to you.

1282 - Saw VI

Wow. This could possibly be the best of the Saw sequels. In fact... I might have liked it better than the original as well. Ironically it almost seems to say something here with it's political slant. Who'da thunk it?
The walls are closing in here, and it's interesting, it's starting to feel more like an on-going series than stand-alone films. I can't imagine coming into this thing having not seen the previous ones. I could care less about the torture-porn aspects of these films, what I like is all the plotting. I realize the use of flashbacks gives the writers lots of outs, but this film seemed to have a lot of fun with paying off things planted in previous films - to the point where I can't think of any lose threads from the previous films outside of what-happened-to-Dr. Gordon (a surprise I'm sure they'll save for the final film). For fans of the series it's a must see, for those new - start catching up now, there's a lot of pipe laid before this one, some of it better than others.

1281 - Saw V

Okay. Now I wouldn't say I'm a Saw fan - but I do find something interesting about this series, so screw it, I'm a fan. I like the mystery element. Even if the films themselves are... okay... I like the way they tease and never fill in all the blanks. Hell I'm still waiting for Cary Elwes to come back! Mostly I just watched this to gear up for the new installment which I'll try to check out sometime this week.
This isn't the strongest film in the series, but that's okay. It feels like everyone's getting a kick at the can of directing one of these films, and so here's the production designer taking his turn. He directed it like a production designer would. It looks great, but the acting suffers more in this installment than in any of the others.

1148 - Saw

I'm not really a horror person. When this first film came out, I really dug it. Watched it over and over again, and I still enjoy the series. Hell, I'll watch them as long as they keep making them. For what they are, they're enjoyable. The moral logic is a bit skewed, but that's not really the point. The films have fun with their plot twists and that's what really keeps people coming back. It's interesting that after this one they didn't both trying to get any name actors. I love that now, after the fifth film, we still don't know what happened to Dr. Gordon. Perhaps we never will. Considering how cheap and fast this film was made it's pretty impressive. Gordon's make-up is godawful, but that's the only low budget tell-tale sign in the whole piece.

1145 - Saw V

They will continue to make these films because people like me continue to go and see them. I could care less about the torture-porn aspect of it. What I find most interesting about this series is the mystery aspect of it all. The little messing with the audience that they do. And I know that they're toying with me, I know it. I know that they'll make shit up in the next one to justify bad choices they made in this and any others. I don't care. I know what kind of film I'm getting into. I just hope at some point we get some closure to what happened to Dr. Lawrence Gordon. He has to still be alive. Someone give Cary Elwes a bonus check so that we can get him back in. That would make me giggle with delight. Not the best of the series, not the worst. See you next year for Saw VI.

1053 - Saw IV

I'm a fan of the Saw films. I was never a horror guy growing up, in fact I disliked them because of a mildly traumatic occasion when one of my older cousins tried to convince a six year-old version of myself that Freddy Kruger was chasing after me. Years of therapy later I'm able to watch horror films :)

I saw this in the theaters originally and watched it this time with the director's commentary. Bousman is fun to listen to, he's got no ego and is more than willing to talk openly about the process, including his opinion on producers. If you're into these films and filmmaking, it's a worthy commentary.

Like I said up top, I do like the Saw films and I'm actually looking forward to the next one as they have this wonderful little mystery going on as to what's going to happen. And I love that Scott Patterson was in this film (pictured above) and, if the story continues along how I think it should, he'll end up in the next film. He's a great actor and brings a lot to the series.