phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2023

Saw X



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 58m
Country: USA, Mexico, Canada
Language: English
Genre Tags: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Plot Summary: A sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: It's a Saw movie. Like one of the old Saw movies, not like the last two. Technically, it's a sequel to the first one, and has the same vibe, traps, twists, murderous moralizing, and gore. If you liked the earlier Saw movies, you'll enjoy this one.


Outside Reviews:

Brian Tallerico
2.5 our of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

It's rare for tenth installments in a successful franchise to correct for the sins of previous films, but it feels like the failure of "Spiral: From the Book of Saw" sent the people behind this money-making machine back to the drawing board, resulting in the best "Saw" sequel in years. "Saw X" solves a lot of the problems of other films in this franchise by limiting its scope, eliminating some (but not all) of the incoherent plotting, coming up with a few ingenious traps, and really centering the keys to this franchise: Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith. They're both better here than in any other film in the series, bringing these characters back to life in a way that feels more emotionally resonant than most of the string-pulling they've done in past movies. And the punishments seem to fit the crimes here a little better than some of the previous chapters, in which it sometimes felt like the Jigsaw Killer was going to extremes to punish people who might have just had a bad day or didn't call their grandma enough.


Luke Y. Thompson
Grade: B - The Jigsaw Killer makes a gruesomely good return

Story-wise, Saw X has no real reason to exist—it's a self-contained narrative accessible to franchise newcomers, with Bell and a returning Shawnee Smith not even trying to look 20 years younger, as they would be chronologically. The same, however, could be said of many of the sequels—their true reason for being is that there's an audience for the self-mutilation machines, and for Bell's memorable presence as a narcissistic moralist with skewed priorities. If the latter is the primary draw, Saw X indulges, delivering an all-timer of a slasher lead performance in addition to more guts and gore than expected. Fans who tune in mainly for the insane timeline twists won't get them, but otherwise, this is the most satisfying Saw installment since the first three. Also, be sure to stick around for a mid-credits scene.