David Heckl was the production designer and second unit director for the second, third and fourth movies in the Saw series before coming on to direct this version from a script by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. This time, Detective Mark Hoffman makes a journey to become the apprentice of the Jigsaw Killer.

I watched every Saw film in just a day, so the fact that they flash back and tell the different sides of the story can be a bit confusing, particularly when people who die in one film suddenly show up alive. I am certain that there are fans of this series who can explain every nuance, but to me, they are all excuses to feature elaborate death traps that are, like the Final Destination films, the real stars of the movies.

For example, Danny Glover’s Detective Tapp character shows up, despite dying in the first film (this was never really explained, other than the first Saw video game).

This was the first Saw movie not to open in first place at the box office, but would be far from the last movie in the series. Did I keep going and make it through six, seven and the film Jigsaw? Of course I did. My resolve is made of the same metals as these traps.