Directed By: Kevin Greutert.

Starring: Sean Patrick Flanery, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russel and two minutes of new footage featuring Tobin Bell.

Rating: 7 Out Of 10

Are you a Jigsaw survivor? Do you need someone to show you the way and find the right path after the test you just endured? Well, look no further as another year has past and (at this current time) the final Saw film is upon us. Yes, this crazy cult phenomenon has finally learned it’s lesson and decided to go out with a trail of battered, bruised and ripped apart corpses lying in it’s final waking hour. What secrets are revealed? Is the bloodflow and body count plentiful? What’s the final shock ending? Well, i’ll leave the ending for the viewer to find out, but i’ll take your hand and lead you through this harrowing maze of betrayal, love and guilt. . .With every gruesome death scene intact. Without futher ado, here is my final review of a “Saw” film.*There are certain Death and Plot spoilers within this review, please read at your own risk.*The film opens with a certain individual crawling through damp and dark corridors, until it’s revealed that it’s Dr. Gordon who has still survived the dreaded aspects at the end of “Saw.” Dr. Gordon soon finds a high pressured pipeline and forces his stump leg onto the burning pipe, passing out afterwards. After this breif opening we are finally given our opening death scene, this time instead of the game being played in a Tomb or an abandoned room, it’s in the middle of the public eye in a big glass structure located in the middle of a busy midway. As bystanders try to figure out what is exactly happening we are introduced with two random guys, who happen to be strapped and placed in front of some rather large buzzsaws no further than 2 inches away from their face. We soon learn their story from the Billy puppet and realize that these guys date the exact same girl, who just happens to be hanging above them tied to a table, hovering over another buzzsaw. They soon have to come to terms and figure out if their love for her is infinite, both men fight pulling the spinning blades back and forth on this contraption, while the girl they love is telling them how much she loves one or the other and saying sweet nothings, up until one of the tainted lovers realizes that it’s the girls fault that their in this mess and thus both men agree with the fact, let the final seconds empty the clock and watch as their once beloved girlfriend is sawed completly in half, as blood covers them both and intestines fly around the room only to land with a bloody thud on the floor.

After this opening we are shown the events that happened at the end “Saw VI” where Jill places the Reverse Bear Trap on Hoffman. After Hoffman escapes the contraption, he doesn’t get away unscarred, Hoffman now has most of his right cheek ripped apart. This scene is rather short and we are basicly watching Jill run and hide from Hoffman, while Hoffman is carrying the bear trap and getting medical supplies for his cheek. Jill soon goes to the cops to seek immunity for the information she knows about Hoffman and Hoffman sews his jaw back together. Now the main story of the film is about Bobby Dagen, a survivor of a Jigsaw trap who just happens to be the most reconised and prolific survivor to date. During a daytime news interview we learn the events that took place within Dagen’s test and how he is a changed man from the experience. After the interview we are introduced to Dagen’s personal assistants and wife. After all this story filler we are welcomed to what may be the greatest Jigsaw test within a Saw film. I honestly don’t wanna give everything away, but to understand the complexity of this intense scene, I kind of have it in me to share this to the non-Saw fans and also cater it to the Gore hounds. The scene opens with Evan, our main character for this test, Evan is located inside a car and then the 8 track pops into the stereo and we listen to a Jigsaw message addressing the situation at hand. Evan has three personal friends located around the car. One is directly in front of the car strapped to the sliding electrical door, one is behind the car tied to a post with metal rings attached in his jaw and both arms and the female of the group is located underneath the car, face to face with the car’s wheel. The tast Evan has to do is simple, just pull the lever located near the front windshield. That sound’s simple right? Wrong! Evan is literally attached to the seat, his arms and most of his back is sewed into the upholstery and the clock is ticking. Without thinking Evan starts to stretch and rips his flesh apart reaching for the lever, while reaching, all his friends are yelling at him, telling him to save them. Moans and crys echo throughout the car garage as Evan struggles to reach the lever in time, but it doesn’t happen. Evan groans in horror and the car engine revs up and we are welcomed to some bloody mayhem. The car knocks the jack loose from under the car and the tire drops onto the girls face and speeds off crushing her in half, as the car speeds away the friend behind the car is pulled apart by the chains attached to his body, yanking off both arms and jaw, the car continues to race the wind and the next thing you know the car has smashed into the friend on the garage door, as chunks of his body expells everywhere and poor Evan crashes into another car outside the garage and is ejected from his skin seat, through the window and into the parked car. As a gorehound personally, I found this act to be the best layered death scene i’ve seen in awhile, it was a rentlentless bloodbath and it felt like you needed a wet napkin to wipe the blood from your face.

Back to the story. Detective Gibson is soon called to the crimescene listed above and tries to piece together many of the clues that Hoffman has given him. Jill is having nightmares of being killed by Hoffman and is now at a Safe House, but is soon taken to the precincts jail after Gibson finds the Reverse Bear Trap with Jill’s fingerprints. We soon meet up with Dagen at a live TV recording of giving advice and helping other Jigsaw survivors, we get two stories from other survivors. One a complete unknown to the Saw story and another who was the lady who chopped her arm off during “Saw VI” opening death scenario. After a brief dispute Dagen starts to give a speech about what to be greatful for after the test many endured. This speech is then interuped by a clapping Dr. Gordon. After the speech Dagen walks to his car and is soon attacked by none other than Pigface and thus we begin Dagen’s second, Jigsaw test?

Dagen soon awakens inside a metal container and watches as Billy The Puppet graces the grainy TV screen and enlightens Dagen that the test he is soon to face will be a reawakening for the soul and thus be reborn from the experience. Along the way Dagen is to find his best collegues and tries to save them from their monsterous death traps and all the while trying to reach the main goal, his wife. All within an hours time. Dagen is put throught various amounts of torture and pain, but after each test Dagen begins to rethink the actions he has done to society, at the cost of others and himself. As the test of Dagen happens, Hoffman is sending messages to Gibson, Gibson is hell bent on stopping Hoffman from finding Jill and putting an end to his vicious acts of unnecessary violence all the while the clock slowly ticks down to the films final cinematic conclusion. What happens to everyone? Well, that would be a spoiler.

Overall, this wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t that good. I personally would have liked to see the story line take a different route, instead of watching Billy Dagen for most of the film. His story to the whole Saw universe felt out of place, even the brief flashback scene between Dagen and Jigsaw at a book signing was rather bland. I thought they should have had more scenes dealing with the characters we come to know from previous films, such as Jill and Hoffman. I know Hoffman wants Jill dead, but some more input behind the reason would have been great, instead of the “I wanna be the sole heir of the Jigsaw Legacy” aspect. It should be noted that Jigsaw was hardly in the film at all, I honestly think there were two new scenes that involved Tobin Bell and that’s it.

Even though I wasn’t a fan of the story, I believe the pacing was somewhat decent and they edited the scenes quite well, but the real aspect of this film would be the traps and they don’t dissapoint. From the Car Garage scene to the results of a Reverse Bear Trap amoung the various instruments of doom that Dagen and his friends go through were pretty Gruesome, Bloody and Not For The Squeamish. There may be one or two scenes that are rather tame, especially the “Blindfolded Plank Boarding” it was a decent concept, but it really felt out of place in the “Saw” universe. Another thing I was questioning about this film is that after Dagen’s last challenge to save his wife, we never see what happens to him afterwards. I don’t know if it’s a plot hole or bad writing on a rushed script, but there are a few plotholes in any Saw film. If your a fan or hater of the series i’m sure you have your own feelings when you watch the film, but nonetheless it was a decent watch and the final conclusion of “Saw VII” fits the film to end the series quite well.

Thanks for reading.