SAW Movies: Saw 7 3D, Saw VII

Ok, it’s not really a new title, but there apparently have been some additions to the title. We all know that originally it was just going to be SAW VII, but then the 3D craze hit and the title changed to SAW 3D (which I still find very lame). But now, according to a press release that Cinematical got a hold of, the new title of the movie is “SAW 3D: The Traps Come Alive”. Wow, are you serious? I pray that they drop that last part and stick with just “SAW 3D” if they insist on changing it from SAW VII. I’m obviously a fan of the series and realize that it’s had it’s ups and downs over the years, but seriously, the traps come alive? That’s almost as bad as “Boondock Saints 2: All Saints day”… ugh, I just hope the movie doesn’t suck too much, I’m still not on board with all this 3D nonsense.

Update: Apparently the producers have come out and said that “The Traps Come Alive” is only the tag-line for the movie and not part of the title… Thank God. You can read more from that interview over at Shocktillyoudrop.com

If you don’t like spoilers then I would suggest not reading the cast list below as there are a couple names on there that may come as a surprise, but to me they are welcome additions that I have a been waiting for (and I know a lot of you fans have been too). So I’ll post the synopsis first and then if you want to read the cast list you can continue on after the jump. Enjoy.

Synopsis: “This October, one of the biggest, most successful horror franchises in movie history arrives in theaters in vivid, chilling 3-D with the release of Lionsgate?s SAW VII 3-D.

As a deadly battle rages over Jigsaw?s brutal legacy, a group of Jigsaw survivors gathers to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen, a man whose own dark secrets unleash a new wave of terror…

The first theatrical feature to be shot exclusively on the cutting-edge SI-3D digital camera system, SAW VII 3-D brings the horrifying games of Jigsaw to life like never before. The film stars Tobin Bell, Cary Elwes, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell and Sean Patrick Flannery. SAW VII is directed by Kevin Greutert, produced by Oren Koules, Mark Burg and Gregg Hoffman. SAW VII 3D is a Lionsgate Release. Twisted Pictures Presents a Burg/Koules/Hoffman Production.“

Source: Bloody-disgusting.com

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Sorry I’ve been lacking on the news over here lately, but honestly I haven’t seen much floating around. There were a few set pictures I found a few weeks ago, but they were really boring, just some production guys wearing SAW jackets… nothing special. But I did just get an email saying that SAW 3D has wrapped principal photography this morning up in Toronto. So on that note, hopefully we’ll be seeing more information and pictures soon.

The email I got also refers to the flick as SAW 3D not SAW VII, so I wonder if they are really dropping the “VII” and going with “3D”… I hope not. I really think this 3D stuff is a fad that’s going to fade into some new technology. The film industry has tried 3D in the past and it didn’t work so why now all of a sudden? I know James Cameron and his “new technology” made Avatar a pretty good show in 3D, but I still wasn’t all that impressed. The edges of scenes still blurred, I still had issues seeing everything 100% clear like I would if I were just watching a normal movie… I don’t know, I just don’t really care for the 3D stuff these days, I think it still needs some work.

According to Digital Spy, Patrick Melton (screenwriter) has come out and said that SAW VII may be the last in the series due to the poor box office results from SAW VI last year. He goes on to say that the studio had originally planned to end it after 8, but due to the box office results it may end a year early. I’m not sure how I feel about this yet. Sure, SAW V wasn’t the greatest installment in the series and it kind of turned a lot of people off to seeing SAW VI, but I feel that 6 actually washed away the bad taste that 5 left in my mouth. So while I would love to see a new installment every year, obviously it has to come to an end, but I don’t think that money should be the reason since the profits on the original SAW alone could have funded all 6 in the series so far. I know, I know, the money Lionsgate has made from the SAW franchise is one of the main reasons they’ve been able to fund a ton of other movies, which I’m grateful for, so I guess as long as they tie everything together in part 7 and end it on a good note I’d have no problem seeing it go.

What do you guys think about SAW VII being the last in the series?

I’m going to try to keep this short and sweet, I feel like at this point in the series if you’re still a SAW fan you will see this no matter what I have to say here, and if you’re no longer a fan (or never was) then nothing I say here is going to change your mind anyways. There may be some spoilers, but I’ll give warning for those of you that haven’t seen it yet.

It’s hard to believe that we’re already on the 6th movie in this series and while there have been some stumbles, the guys behind the movie still manage to deliver a familiar story in an interesting way. This time around Jigsaw is still the one planning the games from the grave via his wife and Hoffman. This final wish of John Kramer is to punish William, the man that denied him health insurance when he was stricken with cancer. He puts William through a series of tests as his family is trapped in a cage waiting to see if he makes it through the tests. Each test involves him saving, or not saving, different people in his office. And without giving too much away, that’s the basic plot.

I thought the movie was pretty good overall. While it did do the whole flashback to previous movies thing it didn’t do it at an obnoxious level and it didn’t really fill in a whole lot of holes that were left open. Of course it filled in some, but I think SAW V tried too hard when it comes to this. SAW VI has the right amount of gore and tension and the twist ending was pretty cool too. If you’re a fan of the SAW movies, but were turned off by SAW V, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by VI. And from what the box office numbers show it looks like a lot of people were turned off by part V. Of course we get some sub-par acting, but it’s not as distracting as Cary Elwes was in the first one, that was pretty bad.

So that’s all I really wanted to say about the movie. It’s going to be really hard for me to convince anyone that isn’t still a fan of the films to go see it so I’m not even going to try. It is a SAW movie and if you like the series you won’t be disappointed. And again, if you were disappointed by part 5, at least give this one a chance when it hits DVD.

And now a few things that will contain Spoilers after the jump so you’ve been warned.

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