This week, the horror sequel Saw X is finally being released in German cinemas. The return of the Jigsaw killer is being hailed as the best installment in the torture saga in 19 years
In 2004, no one could have imagined that James Wan’s low-budget shocker Saw would establish a franchise that, almost 20 years later, already comprises 10 films. Today, the horror series shows hardly any signs of tiring: Saw X has already grossed over 100 million dollars at the box office, taking the saga over the billion-dollar mark.
Only German fans of John Kramer’s torture games had to prove their patience, which has now come to an end. From November 30, two months after its US release, Saw X will finally be showing in cinemas in Germany.
Saw X: This is what the best sequel in the horror series is about
With Saw X, the horror franchise is breaking new ground. Instead of following on from the continuity of the last films, part 10 jumps back many years. The plot is set after the very first film and before its sequel Saw II. Without the story ballast of numerous sequels and the convoluted mythology, Saw X concentrates entirely on the strength of the series: John Kramer (Tobin Bell).
For the first time, the Jigsaw killer John Kramer is the main character (and anti-hero) at the center of a Saw film. At the beginning, he is sent to Mexico, where an experimental and costly therapy promises hope for his incurable cancer. Unfortunately, he is the victim of a perfidious fraud.
Watch the German trailer for Saw X here:
The con artists surrounding the “doctor” Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund, known from the Netflix series Ragnarök) have unfortunately messed with the wrong man. Supported by his assistant Amanda (Shawnee Smith), Jigsaw kidnaps the charlatans in a remote warehouse and shows them their misconduct with perfidious trap games.
Whether it’s self-amputation, self-mutilation or brain surgery, the traps in Saw X are as explicit, bloody and extremely painful to watch as usual. The big surprise of the film, however, are the unexpectedly emotional character moments that shape Tobin Bell’s Jigsaw killer into a complex anti-hero and cement his status as an icon of the horror genre.
The Saw series was in crisis and part 10 saved it
The success story of the Saw series has been characterized by a number of setbacks in recent years. After the original conclusion with Saw VII – Completion, a soft reboot followed after a seven-year break, establishing a new Jigsaw successor.
Jigsaw was supposed to start a new series, but this project can be considered a failure. Although the film grossed over 100 million dollars, it was less enthusiastically received by fans. The next reboot attempt followed in 2021 in the form of the spin-off Saw: Spiral, which dispensed with familiar characters and became the biggest flop in the series with a box office takings of just 40 million dollars.
(Saw X: Amanda and John Kramer are back)
Saw X is now the third attempt to revive the series. But this time it worked. The nostalgia approach and the strong focus on John Kramer, who was killed in Saw III, seem to be exactly what fans really want to see in a Saw film.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Saw X was named the best film in the entire series by critics and audiences alike. At Metacritic, part 10 also scores better than all previous torture chapters with a score of 60. At IMDB, the film also outperformed all sequels with a score of 6.7, with only the original rated higher.
The surprisingly positive reactions and box office takings prove that the series is far from dead and can continue to attract horror fans to cinemas even after almost 20 years. Although an 11th Saw film has not yet been officially announced, it is only a matter of time after the success of Saw X.
