Spiral: From the Book of Saw (R18, 93mins) Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman I wished this could have been this decade’s
Seven. I hoped it might emulate 2018’s resurrection of
Halloween. I prayed it would at least be more palatable than Ridley Scott’s
Hannibal.
Spiral is the disappointing
Saw-homage we should have seen coming a mile off. Strip away the high profile acting trio of Chris Rock (who also apparently gave the “turd-gid” script a polish), Samuel L. Jackson and Max Minghella, and it’s the same thin gruel of extreme vigilantism laced with grim torture-porn scenes where there’s only ever one outcome. At least here, we learn a little more about our troubled “hero” and the deadly devices are used sparingly, but, at its dark heart, this is still just another ploddingly predictable instalment (No. 9, if you’re still counting) of a series that’s devolved from a smart, inventive opener to a succession of geek shows.
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Following the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020, Chris Rock’s frank 2018 riff “A Few Bad Apples” provided a measure of viral catharsis. “Bad apple? That’s a lovely name for ‘murderer,’” he quips about deadly cops. “Some jobs can’t have bad apples.”
If you listen closely, above the blood-curdling screams resounding off concrete torture rooms in “Spiral: From the Book of Saw,” one can imagine the truths behind Rock’s well-aimed punchlines hanging like an orchard above the gruesome cacophony. An attempt to revive the graphic thrills of the moribund franchise that gave horrific meaning to the phrase “Do you wanna play a game?” by delivering a socially cons
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) - Movie Review
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) - Movie Review
May 13, 2021 by:
7
10
PLOT: A serial killer is taking out dirty cops in the style of the long-dead Jigsaw. Detective Zeke Banks must put the pieces together and figure out the killer s identity before it s too late.
LOWDOWN: The original
Saw came out in 2004, yet It feels like it was just yesterday I was sitting in the theater watching a then-unknown James Wan change the horror game. The passage of time eludes me, folks. But here we are in 2021, getting the second soft reboot and the ninth movie in the series. So, does
‘Spiral’ Film Review: Chris Rock’s ‘Saw’ Revival Already Feels Dated
Tackling topical issues is nothing new for this gory franchise, and this film’s perspective on “good” cops plays very 2019
William Bibbiani | May 12, 2021 @ 6:00 AM
Brooke Palmer/Lionsgate
Let’s give credit where credit is due: Darren Lynn Bousman’s “Spiral: From the Book of Saw” avoids the obvious deathtrap of wallowing in nostalgia for the blockbuster “Saw” franchise, which produced seven hit movies in its first seven years but only one other sequel in the last decade.
Instead, “Spiral” wallows in nostalgia for the crime thrillers of the 1990s, stuffing itself to the gills with distracting references to “Pulp Fiction” and constantly evoking not-altogether-unpleasant memories of films like “Se7en,” “Copycat” and “The Bone Collector.”