Scary, but not in any manner that horror-enthusiasts seek, JIGSAW‘s scriptwriters have made the alarming mistake of believing that their unoriginal, unintelligent and assumptive screenplay has the ability to surprise, and then some. With the exception of one particular twist that you may not see coming, purely due to blinding you with its stupidity, every single character and plot development is extremely predictable and often equally lame. The once creatively and disturbingly conceived games being played on the victims, then played on the mind of us as its viewers as per the original SAW movie, remains a win of the past. Whether intentional to conceal explanations that the writers know don’t make much sense or whether just due to poor sound mixing, the music and sound effects regularly overpower the films dialogue. All of those desirable features that draw horror fans to a movie such as this are rarely sighted. Furthermore, there are no genuine scares or seat-adjusting jumps, no thrills or chills and very little fun, if any at all. Had some thought and care been attributed to just some of the irksome characters that reside in JIGSAW, then you might be reading a slightly less negative review. Nevertheless, woeful characters and performances from an ensemble cast that mostly appear to have been randomly assembled from several seasons of America’s Next Top Model display a grade of acting that’s as bad as you’ll see on the big screen this year.

Well, hopefully not see. Avoid.

1 star