Not every trap is created equal. Did these films play a rigged game or are some "Saw"
movies just better than the rest? Here's our list of every "Saw" film ranked from worst to best.
The eighth installment-slash-revival of the "Saw" franchise had to start fresh after "The
Final Chapter" said "Game over" to most of the series' most prolific plot points. Instead of
bringing back Dr. Gordon or another known name to carry out his bidding, the movie introduced a new
survivor-turned-killer to the fold. By jumping back 10 years to play out one of Jigsaw's old
and largely unknown group traps, we're introduced to Logan Nelson, a medical examiner who's sneakily
investigating the cadavers of his own victims while copycatting John Kramer's work to deliver
justice to several dangerous criminals and the police officer who helped set them free.
Of course, none of this is apparent throughout the whole movie, as tricky editing and clever
cutaways guard the secret of Logan's true identity until the very end, after he finally ensnares his
mark. Everything that's happening to Jigsaw's victims seems to be in real time, making the
third act a whirlwind of explanations and montage moments. It's a suitable sequel and certainly
carries forward the atmosphere and carnage "Saw" fans have come to know. However, apart
from introducing a Jigsaw superfan who's obviously got some secrets up her sleeve worth exploring in
later pictures, it barely offers anything new and leaves some very loose threads dangling.
"Together, we built a legacy."
By the time the seventh piece of the Jigsaw puzzle came into play, this series looked almost nothing
like the original. Detective Hoffman was so busy running around cleaning up his own messes that
the day's games seemed like an afterthought meant only to follow formula. In fact, there were two
major group traps that were completely devoid of value to the overarching plot. Whoever thought it
was necessary to have a man rip all the skin off his back in 3D might just be sicker than Jigsaw.
While there are a few elements of redemption,
the movie was frustratingly disjointed. Hoffman's "Terminator"-style assault on the entire police
department was absurd and laid waste to the entire framework of Jigsaw's "legacy."
"Saw 3D: The Final Chapter" might have been more interesting if it'd focused
more on Jill and Dr. Gordon. But instead we got yet another full-length Hoffman feature,
and since his intrigue had long expired by then,
he was left with nothing to do except destroy everything that made the series unique.
Whereas "Saw II's" house-full of victims were mostly criminals who'd seemingly hurt
others, the central figures in "Saw III's" round of nefariousness were completely sympathetic. The
father of a drunk driving victim was made to face all the figures involved in the accident
that took his son and decide if they should "live or die." Meanwhile, a trauma surgeon,
later revealed to be the cheating wife of the first victim, was tasked with keeping Jigsaw
alive long enough to see things through and, ultimately, became a pawn in Amanda's test.
Considering how sad this couple's situation was to begin with and the fact that there was
a second poor kid caught in the crosshairs, Jigsaw's elaborate death knell for each
seemed particularly cruel and contrary to any philosophical justification he might've offered.
Some of the traps in this movie were exceptionally gratuitous. Plus, the connective tissue needed
to flesh out all the plot with Jigsaw and Amanda here was annoyingly thick. But most importantly,
the choice of victims here seemed to exhaust the whole generous Grim Reaper
identity Jigsaw crafted for himself, so it lands very low on the list for that reason.
"I was your final test of forgiveness. And if you are listening to this, then you failed."
The running involvement of Detective Hoffman—under the gun as he watches
the two remaining FBI agents chase his tail—successfully sprinkled in a few
key details about the inner workings of John Kramer's competing cohorts.
But by the time the sixth film came along, the spate of drug addicts and police officers
who'd somehow run afoul of John Kramer and Co. had already been killed off. So,
Jigsaw's posthumous games, carried out by Hoffman, got a bit more political. A pair of predatory
loan sharks and one particularly nasty insurance adjuster were instead among the tested targets,
and while the intention here might've been ambitious, the plot became flimsy rather quickly.
The villainization of all these corporate types was tired before it even began, so the effort
to pin all the ills of John's insurance woes on one guy fell completely flat. It was a nice try,
to find yet another thread to tug on when it came to John's original ills with the world,
but it became stock schlock long before the timer ran out.
"He wanted us to learn." "And did you?"
It's strangely satisfying that "Saw IV" stays on the same puzzling plot path as its predecessors
and adds a new layer to John Kramer's wretched rationale. The addition of Jill and showing John's
despair outside of the cancer patient aspect was just what the series needed to stay alive. And,
yes, we really did need a few more secondary psychos to fill in all the timeline gaps,
especially once John Kramer had gone bye-bye.
As with "Saw III," though, the central player of this film's games,
Lieutenant Rigg, seemed wholly undeserving of his trial. So what if he was passionate
about his job and missed out on a family vacation or two? The punishment never
really matched the crime in this series, but especially so for Rigg.
The clever culmination of events at the end delivered a fresh surprise that saved this
story. The ghastliness of the deaths on display was handily overshadowed by the
deep dive into how Jigsaw came to be such a twisted individual in the first place.
And the fact that he still retained control of his crew, even while cold on the autopsy table,
was delightfully bonkers and managed to renew any waning interest in what came next. But the plot's
focus on Rigg was lame and made this movie a very middle-of-the-road entry in this series' run.
As Detective Hoffman embraced his role as the lone soldier left from John Kramer's kill crew,
he had one major problem on his hands: Special Agent Strahm,
who stayed hot on Hoffman's trail. Unlike some of its predecessors, "Saw V'"s strength lay in
its precision of purpose with each killing. The film focused on characters that, while terrible,
were still smart enough to consider pausing to use their brains before getting right to the trap.
Not only that, but the game of cat and mouse that ensued between Special Agent Strahm and
Detective Hoffman was, by and large, pretty epic and harkened back to the first film's
element of obsessive investigation. This wasn't just another senseless police
slaughter session by the men and women in pig masks, in other words. The gore of the games,
too, seemed to temporarily taper off at this point, leaving a little more
for the sound effects team to color in rather than exploiting the visual angles.
This film's return to a teamwork element in the games, along with less pitiful victims,
was a smart and satisfying continuation of what made "Saw II" stick. And Strahm's
passionate pursuit culminated in a crushing twist ending that was
as jaw-dropping as anything that came before it or after.
"Make your choice."
"Spiral: From the Book of Saw" strips the "Saw" franchise down to its basics. No more Jigsaw.
No more twisted, convoluted continuity. It's just traps, a serial killer, a menacing puppet,
some pig masks, and a mystery — one that, in this case, may be a little too easy to solve.
As a way of breathing new life into the franchise, "Spiral" is a huge success. While its style isn't
as aggressively edgy as the first movie's, its cast is bursting with star power. Focusing on
Chris Rock's scrappy detective Zeke Banks instead of the killer and their victims offers a new
perspective on the ever-brutal "Saw" universe. The traps are much simpler than the devices
from the later "Saw" films, but they're still suitably uncomfortable, if somewhat less graphic.
The problem? "Spiral" isn't all that scary. By emphasizing the police investigation over
everything else, "Spiral" plays more like a police procedural or a crime thriller. Sure,
it's tense, and the trap scenes are full of bloody "Saw" charm,
but outside of a few jump scares you'd be hard-pressed to call "Spiral" a real horror
flick. As a plain old movie, "Spiral" is one of the best, and most accessible, installments
since the first one. Is it really a superior "Saw" experience, though? To diehard fans, probably not.
James Wan stepped away from the first sequel and Leigh Whannell's duties were reduced to
co-writing the script, but director Darren Lynn Bousman still managed to avoid some "second verse,
same as the first" sequel stagnation with "Saw II." Instead, the film expanded the world that'd
been established in the first installment and offered a new vein of intrigue to explore.
The core idea of a selected group of victims, stuck in some souped-up doom
room where they're racing against the clock and fleshing out their own shared histories,
completely elevated the original idea. On top of that, the flick's subplot of police brutality
would inform the rest of the franchise, and the movie gamely answered the lingering question
of "what actually happens to the survivors" with the surprising return of series mainstay Amanda.
The film's ability to merge the central test of the day with another,
much more personal challenge for Detective Matthews was very compelling. Were it not
for the novelty of the original film, "Saw II" might rank second.
2023's "Saw X" carried the franchise back to its roots — metaphorically and chronologically. The
movie brought back Tobin Bell as John Kramer and set its events in between "Saw" and "Saw
II." While the film didn't short fans any amount of grotesque traps, it also spent
some time building an actual story. Desperately seeking a cure for his terminal cancer, John
lets himself get hoodwinked by a group of scam artists posing as experimental doctors in Mexico
City. Once John realizes what's happened, Jigsaw comes out and the violence ratchets up to 11.
The movie contains more than a few nods to the franchise's history but also manages to
essentially function as a standalone film. Bell gives his best performance in the entire series,
helped along by an unusually strong "Saw" script. The traps remain as inventive as ever,
and though the film mimics the style of the original "Saw," it isn't afraid to show off
that the franchise's cinematography has come a long way in nearly two decades.
Unfortunately, a few things hold "Saw X" back from the top slot. The movie very much advertises its
twist, and the fact that it positions Jigsaw as a hero feels more than a little uncomfortable.
Like other films on this list, the biggest flaw in "Saw X" is that it just can't quite
live up to the nostalgia-soaked original. By a hair, "Saw X" lands at second-best.
There was something very artful about "Saw's" approach to the macabre that made the movie such
an indelible experience. It spawned an interest in seeing more of what the messed-up minds of
then-industry newbs Leigh Whannell and James Wan could come up with in the way of those traps.
From the surprisingly effective small-scale setting of two people locked in a bathroom
playing a game of Clue for their lives, to the whirly-cam montage of showing off
other terror traps, to the chilling sounds of Charlie Clouser's series-defining score,
"Saw" opened the door to a new horror universe. Especially after
it ended on such a twist that it was decidedly not "game over."
Far from perfect, "Saw" featured some moments of imperfect acting
and low-budget camera angling that are pretty cringeworthy upon review. However,
even if it didn't offer the slickest cinematography known to Hollywood,
"Saw" nevertheless presented an original and very disturbing film. It's still number one.