All The Saw Movies, Ranked From Worst To Best

Seven years after Saw: The Final Chapter, the series was resurrected by writers Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger and their Jigsaw copycat killer who wreaks havoc on ethically questionable citizens. Jigsaw immediately establishes itself as unique through its setting: no longer featuring dilapidated urban buildings like the other films, it’s set largely in a rustic barn on Tuck’s Pig Farm, owned by John Kramer’s ex-wife and her family.

Saw traps are always more interesting when there’s lots of people with different personalities stuck in a twisted maze, and in this case, a group of petty criminals trapped inside a farmhouse must work together or turn against one another to survive. The traps are very imaginative, if a bit hokey, like one involving a funnel with a spiral-shaped blade that turns someone into a human pencil shaving, and another with a laser that incinerates someone’s head open like an orchid flower. The film cleverly uses its pastoral setting, for one of the coolest—and even quaintest—traps in the series, as the characters are stuck in a silo that fills with grain. The revelations about Jigsaw’s past—including his obsession with pigs—add some unexpected emotional gravitas to his character.

But Jigsaw just can’t overcome the uncharismatic lead performance from Matt Passmore as Logan, a veteran and medical examiner at the Metropolitan Police Department, and his connections to Jigsaw are redundant and unbelievable. How many different apprentices can Jigsaw possibly have? Jigsaw commits the biggest sin for a horror movie—especially one in the Saw franchise: it’s boring.

After Jigsaw did poorly at the box office, Spiral: From the Book of Saw was a different attempt to re-launch the series. Spiral returns the Saw series to its mystery thriller roots, shifting from a straight-up gorefest to a more procedural drama. The return of director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV) was also promising, but unfortunately Spiral left the audience spinning in a whirlwind of ambivalence and predictability. The lead performances from Chris Rock (who brings a refreshing levity to the series) and the brooding Max Minghella as detectives trying to solve who keeps killing crooked cops, are the film’s few highlights. The formidable Samuel L. Jackson as Chris Rock’s father is another fantastic addition, and their tense relationship gives Spiral a dramatic emotional core. The traps are quite creative, particularly the subway trap, which cleverly makes use of a public urban space. Then there’s the hot wax trap, a terrifying concept that forces a brutal choice between suffocating or severing your spinal cord.

But whatever strengths Spiral has going for it are immediately undone by a rushed, predictable, and far too silly ending. Even worse, the movie dances around the potentially meaningful commentary on racism and police brutality that may have made this entry in the series stand out. Spiral has no idea what tone it wants to strike: serious drama, gritty thriller, corny slasher, or comedy.

Saw V brings on a new director, David Hackl, for a very tense showdown between Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor)—the lead investigator of the new Jigsaw murders and secretly the killer’s apprentice—and FBI Agent Peter Strahm. It’s refreshing to see Scott Patterson, known for his role as Luke in the cozy series Gilmore Girls, take on a darker character, especially as he becomes the latest victim of Jigsaw’s deadly tests.

But the cat-and-mouse game between Hoffman and Strahm could have been much more exciting; instead, the entire film feels like a bland, hurried stepping stone to better ideas involving Hoffman as Jigsaw’s successor. The only thing Saw V has going for it are memorable traps that involve spilling enough of your blood to fill a beaker, a head trapped in a box that fills with water, and a group of victims with chains around their neck having to work together to acquire the key without backing into a wall of razor blades.

As the title indicates, Saw: The Final Chapter was meant to be the last until filmmakers realized that the series had some more lifeblood to squeeze out. Before taking a new direction with tonal shifts and side stories that expanded the Jigsaw universe, Saw: The Final Chapter signaled the end of the franchise as we knew it: ultra-violent and over-the-top.

Since you gotta have a gimmick, the seventh installment is also known as Saw: 3D, and it makes the traps even more disgusting by shoving them in your face, though these effects come off as very cheesy when watching at home without 3D glasses, especially with the bright red blood. Since Saw: The Final Chapter promised to be the last film, the traps are bigger and meaner, such as a public one in the middle of a town square, or another where a man has to excruciatingly peel the skin from his back that’s glued to a car seat, or else his girlfriend will be ripped apart by a speeding car tire.

The main storyline about a self-help guru who lied about being a Jigsaw survivor is serviceable enough (and even features that hilarious meme with John Kramer wearing a backwards cap), but the real delights are the callbacks to the original Saw and the way it brings the series full circle. We finally get to see the horrifying aftereffects of the famous Reverse Bear Trap and the prodigal return of Dr. Gordon. Actor Cary Elwes had been in a lawsuit that accused his management firm and the Saw producers of denying his share of the profits, making him absent from the series for some time. He was able to make this triumphant return to the franchise in 2010 once it was settled out of court. Saw: The Final Chapter is a helluva lot of fun, even as it cranks everything up to eleven.

Saw IV is the first film in which Jigsaw orchestrates his games from beyond the grave and it struggles to find its footing. This time, Lieutenant Rigg (Lyriq Bent) is the player and he must save Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg). Along the way, he faces various criminals in traps and must decide if they are worth sparing in spite of their misdeeds.

The investigation storyline is exciting, though, as FBI agents Peter Strahm and Lindsey Perez discover a second apprentice. Detective Hoffman quickly steps into the spotlight as a key player in the series. With his devilish grin and shifty eyes, he becomes a deliciously nefarious character, and one of the most entertaining parts of the series’ latter half. The film digs deeper into Jigsaw lore and the intricate web of connections between the ensemble.

We learn more about John Kramer’s tragic backstory, revealing how his ex-wife Jill suffered a miscarriage after Cecil, a drug addict, robbed the clinic where she worked and accidentally slammed a door into her stomach. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Saw movie without wild revelations, and the surprise ending features a barbaric trap involving a pair of ice blocks.

In Saw VI, Jigsaw tackles the injustices of the healthcare system which, in many ways, deserves the punishment. This film’s game involves health insurance executive William Easton (Peter Outerbridge) and his colleagues who cheat their clients, including John Kramer, out of medical coverage.

Saw VI features one of the best traps in the entire series, as William’s co-workers are strapped to a spinning merry-go-round that will unleash shotgun blasts unless he stabs his own hand to save them. The tension reaches a fever pitch as the playground equipment keeps spinning and shooting while his co-workers scream, plead, bribe, and beg for their lives. It’s a bold and lacerating visual that forces us to confront the reality of the human lives behind soulless corporations. There’s also another horrifying trap that involves acid injected into someone’s entire body.

The movie continues to paint Hoffman as a cruel and sadistic apprentice who enjoys seeing his victims suffer and sometimes not even giving them the opportunity to escape. He’s the stark opposite of Amanda (Shawnee Smith), Jigsaw’s first apprentice and one of his few survivors, who has a big heart. Hoffman turns this latter half of the Saw franchise into a really dark rollercoaster ride.

Saw X makes another bold pivot in style, and this time, it truly works. Tobin Bell steps out of the supporting shadows and into the leading spotlight as John Kramer. This prequel humanizes the notorious villain and gives the audience room to empathize with him. He travels to Mexico for an experimental procedure to cure his terminal cancer, only to discover he’s been scammed. John Kramer is no longer just a menacing figure with an intense gaze and calculated way of speaking in a deep, gravelly voice—he’s a sick old man in deep pain dealing with his body slowly breaking down.

The quiet scenes at the clinic capture his ordinary routines and offer an intimate glimpse into the loneliness, fear, and sadness that emanates from him. With the help of his fiercely devoted apprentice Amanda, Jigsaw seeks revenge on the swindling doctors and their associates. Amanda’s unspoken connection with John has always been so fascinating, and it’s a thrill to see them back together after so many years. John also forms a sweet relationship with the young caretaker, Carlos (Jorge Briseño).

But all this emotional focus doesn’t soften the brutal violence. The traps in Saw X are simple yet terrifying, from one victim severing their leg with a Gigli saw to another drilling into his skull to remove a piece of cerebral tissue. Not only do the unvarnished, close-up views of this violence give you the heebie-jeebies, but it’s all infused with a wrath that feels personal, since Saw X has taken the time to immerse you in John’s state of mind. Director Kevin Greutert pulls back on the frenetic editing techniques and focuses on what matters most: Jigsaw’s heart and his quest for vengeance.

Director Darren Lynn Bousman, who took over for James Wan, is instrumental to the Saw series.. His more frenetic and stylized vision shifted the Saw movies from psychological thrillers to more bloodthirsty spectacles. Saw II establishes what would become the franchise’s signature elements: elaborate, grisly traps and a series of twists that unfold and collapse like a house of cards. In this sequel, Donnie Wahlberg delivers a heated performance as Detective Matthews, who is desperate to save his son after ambushing Jigsaw’s hideout.

And Saw II heightens the tension by having a large group of strangers (including Amanda, a survivor of a previous trap) being tested by Jigsaw at the same time. While this would become the norm as the series rolled on, it was a big step up from two guys stuck in a bathroom in the first movie. In a twisted, Saw version of a haunted house, they must navigate an abandoned factory filled with deadly contraptions. One of the franchise’s most legendary traps makes an appearance here: the giant needle pit. The genuinely surprising, right-under-our-noses conclusion gives new meaning to the trope “the call is coming from inside the house.”

The one that started them all. Saw was the little indie movie that could at Sundance in 2004. It launched the careers of James Wan and Leigh Whannell, who would go on to create terrifying horror films like Insidious and the Conjuring series. What makes the first Saw installment so gripping is, ironically, its simplicity. Before the series spiraled into a mega-franchise packed with twists upon twists and traps upon traps, Saw was a sparse, taut mystery thriller.

Budget limitations mostly confined the main story to one decrepit bathroom: a self-absorbed young photographer (Leigh Whannell) and a haughty oncologist (Cary Elwes) wake up to discover a suicide victim clutching a gun and a tape recorder, with corroded hacksaws beside them that are too dull to cut through their chains. We can see where this might be going, but nothing prepares you for the shocking twist ending, one that, with the sound of a slammed door and a horrified scream, rattles you to the core. The original Saw is reminiscent of what makes David Fincher’s Seven so great: it’s got a gritty, macabre aesthetic, razor-sharp violence, and the twisted psychology of a serial killer with a devious agenda.

Saw III is nastier than the first two installments, fueled by raw desperation and extreme risks. Jigsaw’s apprentice, Amanda, kidnaps brain surgeon Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), fashions an explosive necklace around her neck, and forces her to perform surgery on her dying mentor. At the same time, Lynn’s husband Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) must complete a game in which he must face his profound grief and rage over the loss of their son.

Saw III is about so much more than the life-and-death tests faced by Jigsaw’s victims, extending to the fate of Jigsaw itself. It explores the power of forgiveness and whether wrongdoers deserve vengeance or redemption. We also witness Amanda’s emotional dependency on John and her desperate desire for his survival, making for some of the most riveting scenes in the series. The torture devices are gnarly as hell, drowning you in a vat of pig guts, twisting every single limb in your body, or freezing you into a human icicle. Even the brain surgery scene, shot up close and personal, is stomach-churning and filled with suspense. Saw III found that perfect sweet spot between intense thrills, psychological drama, and torture porn before the series would turn into something far more carnivalesque.