Saw IV (Blu-ray + DVD-Video)

 

Picture: B/C+     Sound: B+/B-     Extras: D     Film: D

 

 

Jigsaw is dead, his weird assistant has also bit the dust, but they had so much time on their hands that they have set up plenty of dumb death traps in Saw IV, the latest of the tired torture porn franchise from Lionsgate.  Opening with an autopsy of Jigsaw, he just cannot shut up, including a micro-cassette in his belly he swallowed upon death.  It is just the start of a new series of mutilations set up like games, but only a fool would think there was much of an escape.  The hype ad for this new film said “It’s A Trap!” to which I said sure, it’s the same script a fourth time.

 

So here are two dead killers “getting jiggy with it” on another murder spree, but wow, talk about stretching a premise thin.  This was never about suspense and to say there is variation between releases is stretching it even thinner.  Unfortunately, this did some business (unlike the even more remarkably idiotic Hostel, Part 2, where you’d think teens could settle for a Holiday Inn) but is the last mutilator film series standing.  The most popular takes the longest to die and the studio will keep this on life support until the last green dollars are counted.  You’d do better to move on.

 

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is degraded and in the tired “green vision” coming from the florescent lights supposedly that the previous films were made in.  This looks better than the first and third films and about the same as the second, which does not say much.  The anamorphically enhanced DVD-Video also suffers from the degrading, but more so.  Only fans will like the consistency.  On the other hand, the DTS 7.1 HD MA (Master Audio) lossless mix on the Blu-ray is better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 EX on both discs and is the best of the four sound offerings on the Blu-ray version of these films by default.  The expected problem of course is that the film spices up the sound to make up for its shortcomings.  Still, this is more like the kind of advanced sound you’d expect from a next-generation format like Blu-ray.  It is still far form what DTS 7.1 could deliver.

 

Extras include deleted scenes, two audio commentary tracks, three featurettes, lame Music Video and a Blu-ray exclusive MoLog movie blog access link.  For more on the previous films, check out this link on their Blu-ray releases:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4990/Saw+I/II/III+(Blu-ray)

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo