Have you ever noticed in movies that when it comes time to write/make a sequel [or six], the films – as a whole – tend to become progressively worse than the one before it? I have. many times. As it turns out, there’s actually a word for that: sequelitis. As described by TVTROPES, sequelitis is when the number of films in a series grows, the higher the probability that the latest entry will be terrible. This makes sense if you think back to older films that had their share of many sequels: such as the Puppet Master films, Friday The 13th, and even A Nightmare On Elm Street – even if that last one and it’s sequels have a special place in my heart. In other words, sequels to movies, generally created on the hopes of box office revenue, are rarely as good as the movie they’re an actual sequel to. If there’s an attempt at a third installment as well, this will also [usually] mark a sharp downhill spike, even if the second movie turned out “all right”. I won’t even get into Direct-To-Video sequels, cause that screams ‘bound to be garbage’ [ahem! Hostel: Part III, cough] Today though, we’re going to be talking about yet another series that although I love[d] them as a whole, they really did get worse as the series went on. If you know me in real life, you’d know that I’m, of course, talking about Saw [and it’s many sequels]
the SAW films: and their ‘freshness’ as per Rotten Tomatoes
Look at the picture above. Notice how the first Saw film was 48% fresh, but it’s sequel: Saw II, had a ‘freshness’ of 36%? That’s almost 10% of a difference already, already showing us that the second film wasn’t as good as the first! [granted, these films aren’t exactly everyone‘s cup of tea] By the time a third SAW film appeared on screen, we’ve dropped yet another 10% in popularity amongst the films. I mean, you’d think that’s where they’d stop..right? Except, this is where it gets kind of tricky though because the series was supposed to end at the third film, which could make sense if you’ve seen the films. But when Lionsgate began to notice just how much money Saw was bringing them in, they demanded that the script to Saw III be changed immensely to allow even more SAW movies to be made.. Obviously, this falls on the fault of “Executive Meddling” – which essentially means that these films started to get worse, because of executive decisions beyond our control.
It’s kind of unfortunate that the Saw films fell into such a death-trap though, [see what I did there?] because I actually enjoyed them – at the very least, for the story of John Kramer and the traps. The Final Chapter, which didn’t feel very “final” at all, ended up with 09% freshness, which is beyond saving.. Even if I have a terrible habit of trying to find something good with every film I watch; that score is fitting. The Final Chapter hurt to watch. [it very well could have been a trap of it’s own]i It didn’t even clear everything up, which it’s promotional teasers claimed it would. [it’s final moments/ending only really made sense if you watched the film with the commentary on]
“well, let’s see: do I want more SAW movies or no? can I think it over first?”
With news and confirmations of an eighth Saw film coming as soon as Halloween 2015, [groan*] I’m both guilty of being excited and overly nervous for what’s to come. With the last film in the series being such garbage, received badly by critics and fans alike, I don’t see why they feel the need to keep pushing with more. If this new sequel is as bad as I’m predicting it will be, I’m hoping Lionsgate comes to realize that more does not always mean better. But now I turn to you readers: how do you feel about the Saw films? Were they masterpieces of horror [I mean, they are the highest grossing horror franchise made] or something that should have ended after part three? Let me know in a comment or two down below.
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