Saw IV

Saw IV is a 2007 horror film and midquel to 2006's Saw III. It was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by newcomers Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton. The film was released in North America on October 26, 2007. The film's North American release date followed the series' tradition that the films be released the Friday before or on Halloween of each year.

The film continues the story of the Jigsaw Killer and his obsession with teaching people the "value of their own lives". Despite Jigsaw being killed in the last installment, the film still focuses on his ability to manipulate people into continuing his work of trapping people into his "games".

Plot
During John Kramer's (Tobin Bell) autopsy, a wax-coated microcassette is found in his stomach; it is given to Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), whom it informs that he too will be tested, and that the games will continue. Elsewhere, Trevor(Kevin Rushton) and Art (Justin Louis) awaken chained at the neck to a winch; Trevor's eyelids are sewn shut, as is Art's mouth, rendering communication impossible. When the winch activates, Trevor panics and attacks Art, who kills him in self-defense and takes a key from his collar to free himself.

Detective Kerry's (Dina Meyer) body is found by police four days after her disappearance; after Hoffman cautions Lt. Rigg (Lyriq Bent) for going through an unsecured door in order to reach her, he meets Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Lindsey Perez (Athena Karkanis), two FBI agents who had previously been in contact with Kerry. They inform Hoffman that a second accomplice is involved in Kerry's murder, as Jigsaw and Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) were both physically incapable of placing her in the trap. Strahm soon becomes suspicious of Rigg, who is convinced that Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is still alive. Rigg is later attacked in his home, awakening to discover that Matthews is indeed alive, that he and Hoffman have ninety minutes to save themselves, and that Rigg must go through a series of tests to "discover what it truly means to save a life."

As Rigg progresses through his tests, he finds Brenda (Sarain Boylan), a female pimp whose hair is attached to a winch that tears her scalp; Ivan Landsness (Marty Adams), a serial rapist whom Rigg forces into a trap where must choose between blinding himself or being dismembered; and Rex and Morgan (Ron Lea and Janet Land), an abusive husband and his wife who are in a harness, impaled together with spikes. He is only able to save Morgan before heading for his final test. Meanwhile, Strahm and Perez investigate each test scene while also interrogating Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), Jigsaw's ex-wife, and soon discover that they are also targets. They also discover that a lawyer named Art Blank, who had vanished two weeks previously, had successfully defended all three victims, as well as Jill. When Perez is hospitalized after an incident involving Jigsaw's puppet, Strahm forces Jill to recount the rest of Jigsaw's background. She had been pregnant with a baby to be named Gideon, but miscarried after a drug addict named Cecil (Billy Otis) robbed her clinic, because he accidentally slammed a door into her stomach; this and John's subsequent depression ended their marriage. Upon surviving his suicide attempt, John began his work. He targeted Cecil first, placing him in a trap in which he had to push his face through a rack of knives to hit a switch and release himself. The trap collapsed and Cecil lunged at John, only to fall into a tangle of razor wire and die. Strahm connects Jill's story with the Gideon Meatpacking Plant, the location of Rigg's final test.

Strahm arrives shortly after Rigg but ends up trailing Jeff Denlon (Angus Macfadyen), who is making his way to the sickroom of the plant. He finds Jeff in the sickroom moments after John dies and kills him in self-defense when Jeff mistakes him for his daughter's kidnapper. In another area of the plant, Rigg locates Matthews and Hoffman, who are monitored by Art; all three can be released by Art when the ninety minutes expire. Rigg, not knowing this, breaks into the room with one second left just as Matthews shoots him, and sets off the traps: two ice blocks swing down and crush Matthews' head, killing him, and the excess water flows toward Hoffman, who's strapped to a chair with electrodes at his feet. Rigg then kills Art, believing him responsible for the traps, and learns from Art's tape recorder that he has failed the test by interfering; Matthews would have lived if Rigg had not tried to save him. An unharmed Hoffman releases himself, revealed to be the second accomplice, severs the monitors' connection and leaves Rigg to die. He seals Strahm in the sickroom with the four corpses and leaves the area just as the scene cuts to Jigsaw's autopsy, which took place after the events of the film.

Production
There were rumors about who was writing the script for Saw IV, including Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. On a news article on the same rumor site, an actual writer was revealed, Thomas Fenton. There was also a hunt for the director of Saw IV before it was officially stated that Darren Lynn Bousman would direct the fourth installment, with creators and executive producers, James Wan and Leigh Whannell also returning. Two of the rumored directors were David Moreau and Xavier Palud. It has been stated that 90% of the crew from the last movie will be back.

On the official Saw fan page, director Bousman says: "Scott Patterson, the first day he shows up, he says, ‘I’m going to do something a little different here.’ And I’m like, ‘Alright.’ We yell ‘action’ and all of a sudden he started improvising and it was gold. It was like the best stuff I’d ever seen and he’s insane."

Production offices opened on February 12, 2007 to begin the pre-production period. On a budget of $10 million, principal photography took from April 16, 2007 to May 3, 2007.[ The filming location was Toronto, Ontario, the same place both Saw II and Saw III were filmed. Post-production period began on May 19.

In an interview with Darren Lynn Bousman, he stated that the last work on Saw IV would happen in August to be able to have prints made. At Comic Con 2007 it was revealed by director Darren Lynn Bousman and producer Mark Burg that the MPAA had given the film an NC-17 rating. They would have to figure out whether or not to cut the film to achieve an R rating or release it as an NC-17 film.

Lions Gate has teamed with the American Red Cross for the annual Saw IV Blood Drive. Since the first Saw blood drive in 2004, Saw film-goers have donated nearly 38,000 pints of blood to help save as many as 112,500 lives. Collection totals have doubled year after year resulting in tens of thousands of lifesaving blood transfusions.

Box Office
The film grossed $63,300,095 in the United States and an additional $71,228,814 internationally, bringing the theatrical total to $134,528,909.

Reviews
Critical reception to Saw IV was negative. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 18 percent of critics gave the film a positive review, based upon a sample of 67, with an average score of 3.7 out of 10. On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 36 out of 100, based on 16 reviews. Scott Schueller from the Los Angeles Times called it "a film as edgy as a rubber knife" and said that "if the terrible craft of Bousman's film doesn't turn your stomach, the borderline pornographic violence will. It's disconcerting to imagine anyone enjoying the vile filth splashing the screen." Frank Scheck from The Hollywood Reporter said "the famously inventive torture sequences here seem depleted of imagination", but added that "it hasn't yet jumped the shark like such predecessors as the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th movies eventually did." Peter Hartlaub from The San Francisco Chronicle called it "the Syriana of slasher films, so complicated and circuitous that your only hope of understanding everything is to eat lots of fish the night before and then watch each of the previous films, in order, right before you enter the theater." James Berardinelli wrote that "Saw IV functions as a drawn-out, tedious epilogue to a series that began with an energetic bang three years ago with Saw, then progressively lost momentum, coherence, and intelligence with each successive annual installment. Saw IV is nothing short of a money-grab. Despite a couple of loose ends (that are tied up unsatisfactorily here), Saw III finished the story."

A less negative review came from Scott Weinberg from Fearnet, who said that while it "is almost certainly the weakest of the series where stuff like plot, logic, and chills are concerned... there's still more than enough here to keep the fans intrigued, entertained, and squirming in their seats" and added that the "Saw-makers are to be commended for actually putting forth this sort of effort. I grew up in an era that offered little more than quick-cash, stand-alone horror sequels like Halloween 5 and Friday the 13th Part 7 — so the fact that these producers actually give a damn about narrative continuity (right down to the smallest detail) is fairly impressive." Horror.com said that "with Saw IV, the pieces have all come together and [it's] the best of the lot." Jamie Russell from the BBC called it "deeply unsettling; just like a horror movie should be." Chris Hewitt from St. Paul Pioneer Press claimed that "Saw IV is a fluid film, as neatly constructed as the deadly puzzles Jigsaw creates to snare his victims." Film School Rejects said that "One of the things that is most intriguing to me about the Saw movies is how much I actually have enjoyed them" and claimed that "As far as fourth installments in a series, Saw IV is quite impressive." Linda Cook from Quad-City Times gave it a positive review also and said "The twists and turns are deadly, the 'lessons' are taught once again, and we have the perfect setup for Saw V."

Home Media
The Unrated Director's Cut was released on January 22, 2008 in America and March 3, 2008 in the UK, on DVD and Blu-ray. The "Extreme Edition", which was released in the UK only, before the release of Saw V in October 2008 features a 95-minute running time of the film.

Extreme Limited Edition
This edition was only released in the United Kingdom.
 * Exclusive automated spinning Saw with a sound clip packaging
 * A copy of the Saw: Rebirth comic
 * Two audio commentaries (One with director Darren Lynn Bousman and actor Lyriq Bent; the other featuring the producers.)
 * Video Diary of Darren Lynn Bousman
 * Traps of Saw IV
 * Props of Saw IV
 * "I.V." by X Japan music video

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on October 23, 2007 by WEA/Warner Bros. Records.