“Saw X: A Gory Triumph with an Impressive 84% Rotten Tomatoes Rating” The highly anticipated 10th installment of the enduringly gruesome horror franchise, “Saw X,” is set to hit theaters this week, and it has already made waves with an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%, categorizing it as “fresh.”
While it’s worth noting that more reviews are likely to trickle in (currently, the film boasts 37 reviews, including assessments from eight “top critics,” such as The Hollywood Reporter’s review), the current Rotten Tomatoes rating surpasses that of any other movie in the Saw franchise.
The previous highest rating belonged to the inaugural film, 2004’s “Saw,” which garnered a relatively modest 50% freshness score (a rating that is now considered by many as somewhat unfair, given that the original is acknowledged as a clever and groundbreaking thriller that launched the careers of director James Wan, co-writer and co-star Leigh Whannell, and laid the foundation for a sprawling 10-film franchise).
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Saw franchise’s critical low point was the 2010 film, inaccurately titled “Saw: The Final Chapter,” which managed to secure only a meager 9% freshness rating. Even an attempt to steer the Saw series in a more refined direction, 2021’s “Spiral: From the Book of Saw,” featuring Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, could only muster a 37% approval rating.
As of now, “Saw X” stands as the sole entry in the franchise to achieve the coveted “fresh” designation, a distinction that seems likely to endure, as it only requires a 60% positive score.
A prevailing theme in early reviews is that “Saw X” is the most formidable entry since the original film, with particular commendation for Tobin Bell, who portrays the franchise’s villainous Jigsaw, also known as John Kramer. This prequel is set between the first two Saw films, affording Bell substantially more screen time than in previous installments. Directed by Kevin Greutert, who previously helmed “Saw VI” (2009) and “Saw 3D” (2010), “Saw X” has managed to reignite enthusiasm for the series.
Here are a few spoiler-free excerpts from reviews of “Saw X”:
The Hollywood Reporter: “None of this would work nearly as well without Bell, whose raspy voice and menacing gravitas are so riveting that he makes Jigsaw’s oft-repeated declaration, ‘I’d like to play a game,’ scary as hell. He’s made the character truly iconic, much like Robert Englund did with Freddy Krueger. Accept no substitutions.”
The Independent: “Ten films in and it’s a routine we’re so intimately familiar with that it’d be hard to call any element of Saw X original, but returning director Kevin Greutert knows what’ll satisfy his audience: a few buckets of blood and the gag-inducing sound of crunching bone. Here, they’ll get exactly what they want.”
Bloody Disgusting: “Saw X delivers a franchise high, and that’s no small feat ten installments deep. There’s a comfortable sense of awareness and humor found in a sequel that utilizes its pared-back simplicity to showcase the characters and gore.”
DigitalSpy: “Saw X has delivered the most effective Saw sequel yet… It might still deliver the gore you’d expect from a Saw outing, yet in attempting to do something new and not just the same-old, it’s potentially injected the series with fresh blood.”
IndieWire: “People have got to stop messing with John Kramer… After a decade as Halloween’s most hyped-up annual release in the aughts, Saw is finally back this October to tell Taylor Swift she’s not the only one doing vigilante stuff. Congrats, Tobin. You deserve this one… The most agonizing, suspenseful Saw sequel yet.”
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