Film Review: “Spiral: From The Book Of Saw” (2021)

Does Chris Rock bring new blood to the Saw franchise?

In the mid to late 2000s, the Saw franchise has dominated Halloween. The TV Spots would always say “If it’s Halloween, it must be Saw”. The films would always have an average production budget of $10 million and literally make ten times that in a few weeks. This franchise was Lionsgate’s biggest cash cow from 2004 — 2010: tiny budget, massive profit.

I personally am not the biggest fan of the franchise: I like the concept but, as films went on, the premise became more of an afterthought. Even though (due to only having a $1.2 million budget) the first Saw looked like an 88 minute Nine Inch Nails music video, I have ample respect for what both director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell did. Both filmmakers would go on to become well known and well loved names in horror. The series itself would continue on until 2010 with the thuddingly awful Saw 3D. In 2017, Saw returned to theaters with a more polished but, equally vapid Jigsaw. I have always found myself wishing that they could do more with their respective premises: The closest films achieving that goal being Saw I-III and Saw VI.

As for Spiral: The Book of Saw, the trailers showed great potential in doing something new with the franchise: relevant social…