My friends and family know I am a huge “Saw” franchise fan, like TOTAL fan fanatic over the series. Last Halloween I got a mask of Billy the puppet and decided to dress up as this character to channel my love for the series. I even own every “Saw” movie on DVD.
So you could say I was a tad bit excited about the new film, “Spiral.” I had such high hopes for this film and maybe, had TOO high of hopes. I guess I expected to get that sense of nostalgia and excitement, but I felt that they changed this film too much to really be a part of this franchise.
Sure, you have someone saying, “I want to play a game” and there are gory traps, but the movie doesn’t have the same formula as the others do in the series.
I’m just going to start with the basics, the storyline doesn’t necessarily fit the horror genre. I consider this movie to be more of a crime flick just because the movie didn’t really make me scared. It was thrilling and entertaining but it didn’t have that extra umph that it needed to really get me hooked in.
But I think the main thing that made me disappointed was that there was no John Kramer. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Doesn’t that make this movie great?”
I can see why people enjoy him not being in the film considering he’s been in every other movie. But, without him, it was missing that connection. Connection to the other films and even to me as a viewer.
What makes the “Saw” films special is they all string together to expose something new about the storyline you didn’t know before and this movie lacked that.
I also missed the beauty of what “Saw” is. It’s a series of games and traps designed for the person to have a chance to escape. And once they are free, they have a chance to live life to the fullest. I know this is kind of a fucked up thing for someone to do, but it’s what made these movies interesting to me. It makes me think more into why they are there, and gives those characters a bit more zest to where I actually cared about them.
The characters in the “Spiral” traps, I could care less about. I wasn’t really sad when any of them died. Or even surprised, really.
This film just has too many problems for my liking.
Between them trying to modernize the franchise with Chris Rock, the predictable twist at the end and last but not least…the TERRIBLE voice used for the weird pig puppet. This film was a disappointment for this die-hard fan.
This was the first movie I saw in a movie theatre post-pandemic and I left pissed off about how the film was put together.
I think this film would please people who wanted something different out of the franchise. But for people who were looking for more nostalgia and consistently with the franchise, like me, this film falls a bit short.
What are your thoughts on “Spiral?” Did you enjoy how the film left out John Kramer? Do you think Chris Rock was a good cast addition? Let me know in the comments below!
Spooky Reviews 