We’re not Nine Inch Nails and this isn’t a Downward Spiral, it’s the sequel to the hit Saw series!
Today we’re covering…
Spiral: From the Book of Saw!
Movie Details:
- Release Date: 2021
- “Run”time: 1 hour and 33 minutes
- Where to watch it: Streaming
- Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman
- Written by: Josh Stolberg, Pete Goldfinger, and Chris Rock
- Starring:
- Chris Rock
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Max Minghella
- Marisol Nichols
Synopsis: Jigsaw is back… or is he (or her or them) back and why are they killing cops?
Open Stab Wounds (out of 10): 8
Review: The first Saw came out in 2004, introducing audiences to the “villain” Jigsaw that would drive sequel after contrived sequel. The first few of these films were fun, though admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of its introduction of “torture porn” to the cultural lexicon for years. Eventually continuing in films like Hostel; films with reasons to watch people killed in increasingly more grotesque and cruel ways. It’s easy to forget that the Saw films are as much about the mystery of who is currently acting as a disciple of Jigsaw as it is about the murders.
That aspect, the mystery piece, is why I eventually distanced myself from the films. The mysteries, and therefore the plot, became exercises in logic stretching. Specific victims had to be in specific places at specific times, otherwise the logic of the traps would NEVER have worked. Or, if the wrong person showed up at a trap that was meant for another, Jigsaw’s iconic “Would you like to play a game?” might punish someone that didn’t deserve it. Everything was based on coincidence and circumstance. The writers also had far fewer logical justifications for using flashbacks of the original Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). After 10 years, it was insane to explain how he could foresee all of it (well after his death).
With having pointed out why I was happy Saw went away, I was still interested when it was announced that Chris Rock would be starring in and partially writing a new Saw film. This brings us to Spiral: From the Book of Saw. With Rock’s inclusion, I felt it could turn out to be something different. However, I might have read some spoilers or reviews that suggested it wasn’t worth my time, so I completely missed it in theaters. When the movie made it to streaming, I always skipped past it….
Kevin and I had a conversation about whether we were going to watch THIS Spiral or a Spiral that is specifically on Shudder. I went back and forth on my decision but ultimately decided to check this movie out.
Overall? Minus some overacting by Rock and Marisol Nichols (Angie), I felt Spiral was a decent way of bringing back the concept of Saw and taking it a step further.
Rock plays Detective Zeke Banks, a good, honest cop who did the right thing and is constantly punished by his co-police. When a fellow detective is murdered by a Jigsaw copycat, he, and his rookie partner William (Max Minghella) attempt to find the culprit. This leads them down the path of why Jigsaw is targeting more police, and what Zeke’s role in all of it is.
Part of these films is trying to find out who the killer is as early as possible. I paused the film at the start and asked my wife who she thought it was. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; it became less of a contrived twist late in the movie and more of an active mystery of why we thought it was this person. The evidence to justify the case against that person and whether we were right (good news: we were both right).
There was only one “wtf” moment I had while watching. One of the victims found themselves alone with Jigsaw and instead of shooting, they shot at a steel door…
Other than that, from a logic standpoint, the film mostly held together. There were inevitable inclusions of Tobin Bell flashbacks, but what I appreciated was that the Jigsaw copycat took some of the original philosophical points of punishing an individual and applied it systemically. I think that’s a great way to take the original conceit and push it in a new direction. We may not get another Saw sequel or reboot for a few years, but I put this one on par with the first two.
KEVIN’S THOUGHTS: He watched the other movie we talked about but decided not to watch but then he forgot that we were watching the Saw movie and not Spiral on Shudder… anyway, here are his thoughts on Spiral from the book of Shudder.
Wow! I really enjoyed this movie. The shots, the music, and the acting all together keeps you with a sense of unease throughout. You can tell right away who the antagonists are, but by the end the film has you questioning what is and isn’t real. Lochlyn Munro has always been a great choice as the creepy neighbor and he doesn’t disappoint here. While the ending is a bit sad, the hope that is left leaves with a chance to build a way out of the spiral.
Thanks for reading and watching along with us! Be sure to keep up with all 31 days of our Halloween Horror Film coverage!
Oh, and make sure to follow Brandon on Twitter @BarnyardCruz and Kevin @Solucid!