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"SAW IV" (2007) (Lyriq Bent, Tobin Bell) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons *None Extreme Extreme *Extreme Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Moderate Extreme None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: Police and FBI agents try to figure out who's continuing a dead killer's spree of sadistic and deadly traps. PLOT: With the death of Jigsaw (TOBIN BELL), everyone assumes the killer's spree of enacting his own brand of morality and justice via sadistic and deadly traps has come to an end. That is, until yet another message from him is found, this time via an autopsy of his body. When a cop who had been previously working on the case is found dead via similar means, FBI agents Strahm (SCOTT PATTERSON) and Perez (ATHENA KARKANIS) arrive to assist Detective Hoffman (COSTAS MANDYLOR) in investigating what's either a copycat crime, or the continuation of the killer's ways. The suspected accomplice is Jigsaw's ex-wife, Jill (BETSY RUSSELL), but while the cops and feds question her, SWAT commander Rigg (LYRIQ BENT), who previously lost many from his team to Jigsaw's traps, finds himself stuck in one of his own. For all involved, it then becomes a race against time to figure out who's responsible and stop them before the victims succumb to their respective traps. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of any/all of the first three films, they probably will. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture throughout, and for language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: LYRIQ BENT plays the SWAT commander who's most affected by Jigsaw's continued legacy, not only due to having lost members of his team to the killer, but also because he's now caught in one of the traps. He uses strong profanity and must also contend with his wife apparently leaving him. SCOTT PATTERSON plays an FBI agent who wants to find out who's carrying out Jigsaw's practice, believing Jill is the main culprit. He uses some strong profanity. ATHENA KARKANIS plays his partner with a similar goal. COSTAS MANDYLOR plays a local cop who realizes Jigsaw's ways are not finished. TOBIN BELL plays the now deceased killer, seen in flashback, both before and after the genesis of his morality-based, sadistic behavior. He uses strong profanity. BETSY RUSSELL plays his ex-wife, a suspect in the current story, his pregnant wife in flashbacks who must contend with losing her unborn child. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated horror film. Profanity consists of at least 72 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. A sadist is briefly seen crawling on top of a tied down rape victim (no nudity), while a male corpse's genitals are briefly seen on an autopsy table, a man is briefly seen in just his small boxers, and a prostitute briefly solicits a man, but he declines the offer. Violence consists of people being murdered or otherwise killed by various and often sadistic means, while others are injured, and fighting is also present. Much of that has extremely bloody/gory results, while the autopsy of a dead body is about as extreme as one can imagine can be shown in an R-rated film. Those scenes, the related visuals, and various moments of potential peril may be unsettling, suspenseful, and/or scary for some viewers, particularly the young and/or the squeamish. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, and it's possibly some of the sadistic behavior might be enticing for some troubled kids to imitate. Tense family material includes the aftermath of the unexpected termination of a 7-month-old fetus, as well as another couple suffering brief marital stress. A character briefly smokes, and he and others are noted as being drug addicts, but no use is seen. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, the film contains various flash images, while several scenes also include flashes of light. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, a great deal of camera movement, including handheld footage, occurs throughout the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE None, but we see a flashback to when Jill ran some sort of drug clinic, with Jigsaw's help. Addicts are there, but no drug use is seen. BLOOD/GORE We see Jigsaw's body on an autopsy table, and note the large open gash in his neck, as well as various bloody cuts to his head. The medical examiner then takes a scalpel and cuts along his forehead, lifting the skin back so that we see his bloody skull. A chunk of that then comes out, followed by the examiner using a rotary bone saw to cut through the skull (seen and heard in full gory detail). The skull is then removed, as is the bloody brain that is then weighed. The examiner then uses his scalpel to cut the length of the body's torso, peeling that skin back revealing the bloody organs and other such material inside the body. The rotary saw is then used to cut through the rib cage, that's then pried apart to reveal even more body organs, blood, and viscera. The stomach is then removed and cut open, revealing a small case inside. We see two men chained to some sort of contraption that starts pulling in the chains toward it. One man's eyes have been gouged out (with bloody results), while the other man's mouth has been stitched shut (also with bloody results). The two end up fighting, with the blind man jabbing something into the mute man's leg (with bloody results). More such contact continues, including the mute man stabbing something into the blind man's back (with bloody results), and then repeatedly striking the blind man until he's presumably dead. We then see a lot of blood flow forth from the mute man's mouth. We see a dead and strung up person who appears to have been cut open (there's even a rat on one of the open wounds). We also see what appear to be chunks of flesh on various hooks hanging from the ceiling. We see the phrase "cherish your life" written in blood on the wall. Later in the film, other bloody messages are also seeing written on walls and other surfaces. Rigg gets notice from Jigsaw that he has 90 minutes to save others, and the first person he finds is a woman tied to a chair with a pig mask over her head. We then see that her ponytail is wrapped around a gear in some sort of mechanism that slowly starts pulling it in. The woman panics and screams, as Rigg frantically tries to free her, including firing his gun repeatedly into the mechanism. That briefly stops it, but the winding starts again, thus slowly pulling the woman's hair and scalp from her head, with very bloody results. Rigg does manage to free her, but when he comes back from the other room, the woman repeatedly swings a large knife at him (she is doing this to follow Jigsaw's rules for her survival). Rigg then grabs that woman and throws her through some large piece of glass, bloodying her even more. We later see her dead and bloody body on the floor. We see a flashback to some fighting where a woman knocks a man out and then drags his somewhat bloody body along the floor. We see photos of the bloody and bound victims of a torturer. Still continuing with Jigsaw's instructions, Rigg pushes that man to the floor and then ties him down to his torture bed, and plays Jigsaw's instructions about the man's choices of freeing himself. That includes either gouging his eyes out, or having his limbs torn off, but we then see that both occur, with very bloody results including blood splattering onto the wall. We later see this man's dead body on the floor, as well as a severed leg by him. We see a flashback to Rigg punching a man in the face, with bloody results. We see a flashback to a man inadvertently slamming a door into Jill who is seven months pregnant. We then see blood dripping down onto the floor from her, as well as blood on her clothing. We then see Jill's blood on Jigsaw's shirt. We see a husband and wife standing back to back with various rods going through both of their bodies, and both are quite bloody. We then see a flashback where both are still alive and it is indicated that those rods, while injuring the wife, will not prove fatal if they are removed. However, we see a diagram that shows that the rods all go through major arteries in the husband's body, meaning if they are removed he will die. Panicked, the wife starts pulling out the rods, with the husband trying to prevent that from happening, but he is unsuccessful, resulting in lots of blood coming out from him. A booby-trap fires some sort of rod through the side of a cop's mouth, with bloody results. A puppet head suddenly explodes, leaving a woman's face with various bloody holes and cuts in it. A FBI agent has his partner's blood on his shirt. We briefly see flashback footage of Jigsaw's car accident, including him being quite bloody and pulling something out of his body. We see a flashback to Jigsaw having captured his first victim, where bindings around his wrists are slowly bleeding him to death. Jigsaw then places an array of sharp knives over the man's head, telling him that he has a choice of what will happen to him. He can either slowly bleed to death from his wrists, or if he presses his face hard enough against the various sharp knives, that will free his wrist constraints. The man is reluctant to do this, but then realizes he has no choice. However, it takes him several tries to push his face hard enough on the knives, with each subsequent push bloodying him even more. As stated, that does free him, and he slips on his own blood before trying to attack Jigsaw. Two huge chunks of ice swing down and slam into a man's head from either side, crushing it with bloody and gory results. We see a flashback that shows various dead and bloody bodies. We see various quick flashback views of violence with bloody results. Rigg is bloody after being shot. We see quick views of the previously seen autopsy from the beginning of the film, with similar bloody and gory views. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Jigsaw and others obviously have bad attitudes for their sadistic actions (putting people into elaborate traps where they're forced to do unspeakable things to try to get out alive, kidnapping, etc.). We see that a motel worker is really a sadistic kidnapper, and brief video playback shows him apparently getting ready to rape a victim. We see a flashback to Rigg consoling a young schoolgirl who has bruises on her body. The implication is that the school principal or some related official is the culprit, and Rigg rushes to that man and punches him in the face, with bloody results. We see a flashback to a clinic junkie who suddenly grabs Jill and holds a shiv on her to enter another room. When that man comes back out, he inadvertently slams the door into Jill who is seven months pregnant. We then see blood dripping down onto the floor from her, as well as blood on her clothing. We then see Jigsaw rushing her to the hospital, and then see reactions which indicate that the baby is dead. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" (especially the graphic autopsy scene) and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. We see two men chained to some sort of contraption that starts pulling in the chains toward it. One man's eyes have been gouged out (with bloody results), while the other man's mouth has been stitched shut (also with bloody results). Accordingly, the men can't communicate with each other about what is occurring, prompting the blind man to throw things at the second man who he believes to be his tormentor. At the same time, the mute man sees a key on the other man that he believes will unlock his shackles. Thus, the mute man strikes the blind man who then hits him back, including jabbing something into the mute man's leg. More such contact continues, including the mute man stabbing something into the blind man's back (with bloody results), and then repeatedly striking the blind man until he's presumably dead. We then see a lot of blood flow forth from the mute man's mouth. Various cops carry automatic weapons as they slowly make their way into the killer's lair. When he sees a cop strung up and believes that she might still be alive, Rigg rushes to her, only to find that she is dead and appears to have been cut open (there's even a rat on one of the open wounds). We also see what appear to be chunks of flesh on various hooks hanging from the ceiling. Rigg hears something at night, and thus slowly walks around his place in the dark trying to find the source of it, we see all sorts of construction material around the place, including floor to ceiling plastic, through which a figure suddenly grabs Rigg. We see a bound person strung up by their neck and standing on a melting block of ice (with the implication being that when the ice melts away, the person will be hanged). In addition, there is a bound and gagged person in a chair on a counterweight next to the other man, with the implication being that when the man is hung, the weight distribution will switch to the seated man. Then the melted water will flow down around his feet, and an electoral charge will electrocute him. Many scenes feature the duo in this predicament, most notably the hanging man slowly starting to strangle. Rigg gets notice from Jigsaw that he has 90 minutes to save others, and the first person he finds is a woman tied to a chair with a pig mask over her head. We then see that her ponytail is wrapped around a gear in some sort of mechanism that slowly starts pulling it in. The woman panics and screams, as Rigg frantically tries to free her, including firing his gun repeatedly into the mechanism. That briefly stops it, but the winding starts again, thus slowly pulling the woman's hair and scalp from her head, with very bloody results. Rigg does manage to free her, but when he comes back from the other room, the woman repeatedly swings a large knife at him (she is doing this to follow Jigsaw's rules for her survival). Rigg then grabs that woman and throws her through some large piece of glass, bloodying her even more. We later see her dead and bloody body on the floor. Rigg enters a room in a decrepit motel, and finds a case on the bed from which some hair sticks out. He and we believe it is his wife's head inside, but when he opens that case, he discovers just a mask with hair on it. Following Jigsaw's instructions, Rigg takes a motel worker hostage at gunpoint. It turns out, however, that this worker is really a sadist who has abducted, tortured, and killed many victims (we see photos of the bloody and bound people, as well as video footage of that man climbing on top of a woman tied to a bed, presumably to rape her, but that act is not seen in full). Still continuing with the instructions, Rigg pushes that man to the floor and then ties him down to his torture bed, and plays Jigsaw's instructions about the man's choices of freeing himself. That includes either gouging his eyes out, or having his limbs torn off, but we then see that both occur, with very bloody results including blood splattering onto the wall. We later see this man's dead body on the floor, as well as a severed leg by him. We see a flashback to a clinic junkie who suddenly grabs Jill and holds a shiv on her to enter another room. When that man comes back out, he inadvertently slams the door into Jill who is seven months pregnant. We then see blood dripping down onto the floor from her, as well as blood on her clothing. We then see Jigsaw rushing her to the hospital, and then see reactions which indicate that the baby is dead. The man strung up over the ice has had enough, and tries to hang himself, but Jigsaw's accomplice rushes over and prevents the strangulation from occurring (as well as the other man on the counterweight from being electrocuted). We see a husband and wife standing back to back with various rods going through both of their bodies, and both are quite bloody. We then see a flashback where both are still alive and it is indicated that those rods, while injuring the wife, will not prove fatal if they are removed. However, we see a diagram that shows that the rods all go through major arteries in the husband's body, meaning if they are removed he will die. Panicked, the wife starts pulling out the rods, with the husband trying to prevent that from happening, but he is unsuccessful, resulting in lots of blood coming out from him. We see a flashback to Jigsaw preparing some chloroform to use on his first victim, a man who unintentionally killed Jigsaw's unborn child. At some sort of festival, Jigsaw slams a mask over that man's head, and the next thing we see is the man bound to a chair, where the bindings around his wrists are slowly bleeding him to death. Jigsaw then places an array of sharp knives over the man's head, telling him that he has a choice of what will happen to him. He can either slowly bleed to death from his wrists, or if he presses his face hard enough against the various sharp knives, that will free his wrist constraints. The man is reluctant to do this, but then realizes he has no choice. However, it takes him several tries to push his face hard enough on the knives, with each subsequent push bloodying him even more. As stated, that does free him, and he slips on his own blood before trying to attack Jigsaw. However, the man ends up falling into a large tangle of barbed wire into which he then becomes stuck. Rigg and Strahm slowly and separately enter an abandoned warehouse with their guns drawn, hoping to find the killers and free their intended victims. In another part of that warehouse, we see that the accomplice is also a victim, with some sort of contraption around the back of his neck, which presumably will kill him. Having been previously handed a gun with which he must choose what to do, the man hanging above the ice shoots a person as they start to come through a door (due to be feared chain reaction that will cause). The injured man that comes through the door, shoots another man, and the chain reaction then takes place, resulting in two huge chunks of ice swinging down and slamming into a man's head from either side, crushing it with bloody and gory footage. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Automatic Weapons/Shiv/Various deadly torture devices/Booby-traps Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "What the f*ck /are you doing/are you looking at/is this/is this place/is that?" "I'll f*cking kill you," "You f*cking hear me?" "You f*cking m*therf*cker," "Shut the f*ck up," "Are you out of your f*cking mind?" "F*ck's your problem?" "F*cking c*cks*cker," "Who the f*ck are you?" "A federal f*cking indictment," "Get the f*ck out of here," "You're f*cking nuts," "You sick f*ck," "You're f*cking dead," "Oh f*ck," "You stupid m*therf*cker," "You f*cking did this," "F*cking piece of sh*t," "What the hell?" "The games have just begun" and "Shut up." It's possible some of the sadistic behavior and imaginative traps might be enticing for some troubled kids to imitate. We see the phrase "cherish your life" written in blood on the wall. Later in the film, other bloody messages are also seeing written on walls and other surfaces. JUMP SCENES A figure suddenly grabs Rigg through some floor to ceiling plastic. We suddenly see the image of a pig mask near a person. Rigg finds a husband and wife with rods going completely through both of their bodies, and believes both to be dead, but the wife then suddenly moves. A booby-trap fires some sort of rod through the side of a cop's mouth, with bloody results. Two FBI agents find Jigsaw's signature puppet with a tape recorder attached to it. When the woman plays that tape, the puppet's head suddenly explodes, leaving the woman's face with various bloody holes and cuts in it. In a flashback, Jigsaw suddenly grabs his wife's hand. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays throughout the movie. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 72 "f" words (2 used with "mother"), 10 "s" words, 2 slang terms using male genitals ("c*cks*cker"), 7 hells, 1 ass (used with "hole"), 1 damn, 1 S.O.B. and 3 uses of "Jesus." SEX/NUDITY We see Jigsaw's full nude body on an autopsy table, including both a side view and one from his feet looking up that show his penis, but not in any great detail. We see Rigg shirtless at night as he walks around his place, looking for the source of the noise he heard. After he is grabbed and then regains consciousness, he finds himself in the bathtub, and we then briefly see him in just his small and very tight briefs. A woman shows a little bit of cleavage. We see a flashback to a prostitute walking up to Jigsaw in his car, asking if he wants some company, but he declined the offer. SMOKING A miscellaneous junkie briefly smokes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Rigg returns home to find his wife leaving, saying that she's going to her mother's, but obviously upset and concerned with the amount of time he has spent on the Jigsaw case. We see a husband and wife standing back to back with various rods going through both of their bodies, and both are quite bloody. We then see a flashback where both are still alive and it is indicated that those rods, while injuring the wife, will not prove fatal if they are removed. However, we see a diagram that shows that the rods all go through major arteries in the husband's body, meaning if they are removed he will die. Panicked, the wife starts pulling out the rods, with the husband trying to prevent that from happening, but he is unsuccessful, resulting in lots of blood coming out from him. The accidental death of their unborn child puts a great deal of strain on Jigsaw and his wife, all seen in flashbacks. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The question of how far people will go to save themselves or others. We briefly see flashback footage around the time when Jigsaw received his cancer diagnosis. How traumatic events can transform individuals into different sorts of people. VIOLENCE We see two men chained to some sort of contraption that starts pulling in the chains toward it. One man's eyes have been gouged out (with bloody results), while the other man's mouth has been stitched shut (also with bloody results). Accordingly, the men can't communicate with each other about what is occurring, prompting the blind man to throw things at the second man who he believes to be his tormentor. At the same time, the mute man sees a key on the other man that he believes will unlock his shackles. Thus, the mute man strikes the blind man who then hits him back, including jabbing something into the mute man's leg. More such contact continues, including the mute man stabbing something into the blind man's back (with bloody results), and then repeatedly striking the blind man until he's presumably dead. We then see a lot of blood flow forth from the mute man's mouth. Rigg hears something at night, and thus slowly walks around his place in the dark trying to find the source of it, we see all sorts of construction material around the place, including floor to ceiling plastic, through which a figure suddenly grabs Rigg. Rigg gets notice from Jigsaw that he has 90 minutes to save others, and the first person he finds is a woman tied to a chair with a pig mask over her head. We then see that her ponytail is wrapped around a gear in some sort of mechanism that slowly starts pulling it in. The woman panics and screams, as Rigg frantically tries to free her, including firing his gun repeatedly into the mechanism. That briefly stops it, but the winding starts again, thus slowly pulling the woman's hair and scalp from her head, with very bloody results. Rigg does manage to free her, but when he comes back from the other room, the woman repeatedly swings a large knife at him (she is doing this to follow Jigsaw's rules for her survival). Rigg then grabs that woman and throws her through some large piece of glass, bloodying her even more. We later see her dead and bloody body on the floor. We see a flashback to some fighting where a woman knocks a man out and then drags his somewhat bloody body along the floor. We see a flashback to one drug addict hitting another, resulting in the two of them struggling and fighting on the floor. Following Jigsaw's instructions, Rigg takes a motel worker hostage at gunpoint. It turns out, however, that this worker is really a sadist who has abducted, tortured, and killed many victims (we see photos of the bloody and bound people, as well as video footage of that man climbing on top of a woman tied to a bed, presumably to rape her, but that act is not seen in full). Still continuing with the instructions, Rigg pushes that man to the floor and then ties him down to his torture bed, and plays Jigsaw's instructions about the man's choices of freeing himself. That includes either gouging his eyes out, or having his limbs torn off, but we then see that both occur, with very bloody results including blood splattering onto the wall. We later see this man's dead body on the floor, as well as a severed leg by him. We see a flashback to Rigg consoling a young schoolgirl who has bruises on her body. The implication is that the school principal or some related official is the culprit, and Rigg rushes to that man and punches him in the face, with bloody results. We see a flashback to a clinic junkie who suddenly grabs Jill and holds a shiv on her to enter another room. When that man comes back out, he inadvertently slams the door into Jill who is seven months pregnant. We then see blood dripping down onto the floor from her, as well as blood on her clothing. We then see Jigsaw rushing her to the hospital, and then see reactions which indicate that the baby is dead. We see a husband and wife standing back to back with various rods going through both of their bodies, and both are quite bloody. We then see a flashback where both are still alive and it is indicated that those rods, while injuring the wife, will not prove fatal if they are removed. However, we see a diagram that shows that the rods all go through major arteries in the husband's body, meaning if they are removed he will die. Panicked, the wife starts pulling out the rods, with the husband trying to prevent that from happening, but he is unsuccessful, resulting in lots of blood coming out from him. A booby-trap fires some sort of rod through the side of a cop's mouth, with bloody results. Two FBI agents find Jigsaw's signature puppet with a tape recorder attached to it. When the woman plays that tape, the puppet's head suddenly explodes, leaving the woman's face with various bloody holes and cuts in it. The guy hung above the ice kicks his captor. We briefly see flashback footage of Jigsaw's car accident, including him being quite bloody and pulling something out of his body. We see a flashback to Jigsaw preparing some chloroform to use on his first victim, a man who unintentionally killed Jigsaw's unborn child. At some sort of festival, Jigsaw slams a mask over that man's head, and the next thing we see is the man bound to a chair, where the bindings around his wrists are slowly bleeding him to death. Jigsaw then places an array of sharp knives over the man's head, telling him that he has a choice of what will happen to him. He can either slowly bleed to death from his wrists, or if he presses his face hard enough against the various sharp knives, that will free his wrist constraints. The man is reluctant to do this, but then realizes he has no choice. However, it takes him several tries to push his face hard enough on the knives, with each subsequent push bloodying him even more. As stated, that does free him, and he slips on his own blood before trying to attack Jigsaw. However, the man ends up falling into a large tangle of barbed wire into which he then becomes stuck. We see Jigsaw smashing a previously cherished clock with a bat. Having been previously handed a gun with which he must choose what to do, the man hanging above the ice shoots a person as they start to come through a door (due to be feared chain reaction that will cause). The injured man that comes through the door, shoots another man, and the chain reaction then takes place, resulting in two huge chunks of ice swinging down and slamming into a man's head from either side, crushing it with bloody and gory results. We see a flashback to a person shooting another person. We see various quick flashback views of violence with bloody results. Reviewed October 26, 2007 / Posted October 26, 2007

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