Movie · 2007 · Horror, Thriller, Crime · 1h 33m · R · English
Curator score: 1.1/10 (492.4K ratings)
You thought it was over...but the games have just begun.
Overview
Despite Jigsaw's death, and in order to save the lives of two of his colleagues, Lieutenant Rigg is forced to take part in a new game, which promises to test him to the limit.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.1/10
IMDb: 5.9/10
Letterboxd: 2.78/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 19%
Metacritic: 36
TMDB: 6.2/10
Director
Darren Lynn Bousman
Production
Twisted Pictures
Cast
Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Lyriq Bent, Athena Karkanis, Louis Ferreira, Simon Reynolds, Donnie Wahlberg, Angus Macfadyen, Shawnee Smith, Bahar Soomekh, Dina Meyer, Mike Realba, Marty Adams, Sarain Boylan, Billy Otis, James Van Patten, David Boyce, Kevin Rushton
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A messy but very watchable middle-chapter sequel: more convoluted plotting, more traps, and a stronger procedural-crime angle than many horror fans expect. It’s best approached as franchise escalation rather than a standalone thriller.
Best for
fans of the Saw franchise
viewers who enjoy elaborate trap mechanics and twist-heavy plotting
horror audiences who like grim police procedurals
people in the mood for grisly early-2000s sequel energy
Skip if
you want a self-contained story
you dislike graphic gore and torture horror
you need clean logic or easy-to-follow continuity
you prefer character-driven horror over franchise mythology
Overview
Saw IV leans hard into the series’ signature mix of death-trap spectacle and soap-operatic continuity. It treats Jigsaw’s legacy like a crime saga, with investigations, flashbacks, and overlapping timelines doing as much work as the traps themselves. That makes it feel busier and more self-serious than its premise suggests, but also more tangled and occasionally incoherent.
Worth noting
The appeal is in the escalation: the film keeps widening the mythology while still delivering the franchise’s blunt, mechanical cruelty. If you’re here for moral punishment narratives, grimy production design, and the pleasure of trying to untangle the puzzle box, it delivers. If you’re not already invested, the narrative can feel like being dropped into the middle of a very committed argument.
Bottom line
As a horror sequel, it’s uneven but not inert. The movie has enough momentum, nastiness, and franchise-specific invention to satisfy devotees, even when the plotting becomes overengineered. It’s less a great horror film than a durable one for people who like their sequels mean, elaborate, and a little ridiculous.
Top Letterboxd reviews
mia lee vicino (3★) · 11585 likes
this one’s fun because the jigsaw killer finally switches it up and starts going after rapists and abusers instead of, like, people with depression
Josh Lewis (2★) · 5191 likes
Movie literally spends its entire runtime trying to explain itself to you and I still have no fuckin idea what's going on.
Lucy (3★) · 2916 likes
me rewatching some of the saw movies: why do i love these so much again?
me rewatching the saw movie endings: OH RIGHT
ashley 🥀 (2.5★) · 2891 likes
Top ten worst mistakes in screenwriting history:
10. Killing off Amanda
9. Killing off Ms. Young
8. Killing off Jigsaw’s best apprentice
7. Killing off Jigsaw’s hottest apprentice
6. Killing off the best character in the saw franchise with AT LEAST 6 MORE FILMS LEFT
5. Killing off my emo lesbian queen Amanda Young
4. Killing off Amanda
3. Killing off Amanda
2. Killing off Amanda
1. Killing off Amanda when there was SO MUCH MORE THAT THEY COULD HAVE DONE WITH HER CHARACTER!!!!
ava adore (4.5★) · 2762 likes
horror fans b like saw sequels... go off the deep end and are bad but these fuckers are talking about how they become "just gore" when there is literally a storyline unravelling that requires an engineering degree to keep track of
1974 · Horror · 1h 23m · R · Curator 7.2/10 (937.5K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Philo, Shudder, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
A foundational choice for viewers who respond to raw, punishing horror and the sense of being hunted by a nightmare system.