Saw 4 (2007)

Things are about to get complicated now....

What can “Saw 4” possibly be about? The Jigsaw Killer, John Kramer, and his assistant Amanda are both dead. We also know that there are now only two characters from the previous films that have any connection to the Jigsaw cases; SWAT team leader Rigg, who lead his team in “Saw 2”, and the brief introduction of Detective Mark Hoffman in “Saw 3”. We know that John swallowed one of his famous tapes cassettes before dying, so what does it say? Something else to keep in mind while watching this film – It’s been a little over six months since the events in “Saw 2”.

The movie follows Lt. Daniel Rigg, who is being forced into his own series of tests because Jigsaw has deemed him incapable following the advice “cherish your life” because he is too consumed with trying to save everyone else. The film also introduces two FBI agents, Agent Peter Strahm and Agent Lindsey Perez, both whom were contacted by Detective Kerry before her death. John’s wife Jill Tuck.

The opening of “Saw 4” is beautifully filmed, using stark colors of blue and red in a modified black and white setting. John Kramer is in the morgue and the color of his corpse compared to his blood and organs is so stark and eerie. Plot wise, Detective Hoffman is summoned to the morgue when the tape cassette is discovered. On it, Jigsaw tells the Detective that he’s the last man standing but his test has only just begun.

The first “game” seen involves two men, one who has had his eyes sewn shut and the other who has had his mouth sewn shut. There are both chained to a winching device that once activated, will pull them together and into the machine. The key to their locks are located on the back of the other man. They are forced to fight/kill each other since they can’t communicate. But there isn’t a tape, so we have no idea who or what these men have done to be Jigsaw style victims.

The next scene is when the police team discovers Detective Kerry’s body. Lt Rigg breaks protocol by rushing in before the room has been secured and is sent home by Detective Hoffman. The FBI agents arrive on the scene and quickly rule that a third person had to help set up Detective Kerry’s trap because of her weight and how Amanda and John were unable to lift her up. At home, Rigg finds out that his wife is leaving him for a few days and asks him to come with her. She knows that he’s pushing himself too hard as well and she can’t stay there and watch him suffer. He’s attacked later that night and when he awakes, he begins his “rebirth”. A Jigsaw video shows that Detective Matthews is still alive but only for another 90 minutes, and Detective Hoffman is tied up as well. Jigsaw tells Rigg that their Eric’s life is linked to Mark’s survival.

The first “game” for Rigg takes place in his living room. A prostitute is chained to a chair. The Jigsaw video tells him to walk away but Rigg ignores the advice and frees the woman before her hair is pulling into a wench and kills her. After he frees her, she attacks him which forces him to kill her in defense.

The second test takes Rigg to a rundown motel. The Jigsaw tape tells Rigg that he has to wear the famous Pig costume and set up a “game” for the Ivan, hotel desk manager. Rigg finds out that Ivan is a serial rapist. Rigg forces Ivan into the trap, a pulley system that will pull apart his limbs. His only escape is to trigger knives that will stab his eyes.

Between Rigg’s second and third test, we see that the survivor of the first “game” in the film is a lawyer named Art, who was representing a pedophile who is abusing his daughter. His “game” is keep Eric and Mark under watch until Rigg arrives.

The third test for Rigg is watch the pedophile and his wife remove metal stakes that are impaled through both of them. If the wife removes them, the husband will bleed to death. The wife becomes the fourth onscreen survivor of the series (Amanda, Dr Gordon, and Art). With each passing test, Rigg looks more and more like an assistant of Jigsaw rather than the police officer that he is.

The fourth and final test, Rigg finds the room where Detectives Matthews and Hoffman are, but by going through the door and not walking away like everyone told him to, he causes Eric Matthews death when two large blocks of ice are released from above and smashes in his head.

In the backstory of “Saw 4”, the FBI Agents state that either Hoffman or Rigg is helping Jigsaw as they find clues at Rigg’s home. Agent Strahm realizes that of all of the pictures posted in the crime scene, those of Jill Tuck do not belong. During the interrogation, we learn that Jill worked at a clinic helping recovering drug addicts. One night, an addict forces his way into the clinic as Jill is leaving and when he runs back out, he smashes the door into Jill’s pregnant body, killing her child. Afterwards, while looking over the crime scene of Rigg’s third test, the Agents find a Billy surrounded by candles. Its message is for Agent Perez and it tells her that Agent Strahm will kill an innocent man. She then gets too close to the doll and is shot in the face with shrapnel.

 We then see a flashback where John creates his first test, and the killer of his child, Cecil. The “game” makes Cecil press his face against a series of knives and if he presses hard enough, he’ll be released. If he does nothing, he’ll bleed to death from the wounds on his wrists. He gets out but falls into a cart full of razor wire.

Now working alone, Agent Strahm figures out where Jigsaw’s lair might be and when he goes there, he finds the room and aftermath of the events in “Saw 3”, including Lynn’s blown up head and Amanda’s corpse.

The final Jigsaw tape tells Rigg that he is responsible for Detective Matthews death, and that everyone had to save themselves and that time was on his side. It is then revealed that Detective Hoffman is Jigsaw’s other assistant and now the sole heir to Jigsaw’s legacy. And thus Jigsaw’s work will continue…