SAW Movies Ranked from Worst to Best

On the topic of SAW Movies Ranked from Worst to Best, the well-known horror/thriller franchise still, even to this day, since its inception in 2005, manages to stay relevant by churning out new films now and then. With the colossal success of the overall franchise, the quality, however, began to dip right after the first film, and they eventually became obvious cash grabs during the Halloween season. So, if you did care about this franchise at all, here are all the 10 SAW Movies Ranked from Worst to Best.

Last updated after SAW X release

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9. SAW 5

The worst film in the entire franchise, the plot of SAW 5, was utilized to connect the previous movies in the view of the new villain, which I felt were unnecessary and did not have any impact. Also, there were no twists and turns, just a straightforward boring plot with disposable characters. Even worse, the traps here were all terrible, except for the first one. It was also not as gory as SAW 4.

One more thing from this franchise that I didn’t talk about was the editing, which uses fast cutting to create a sense of dizziness and anxiety to the traps. In the first couple of movies, they were a bit effective. But in this one, the editing is just annoying and distracting. Not a fan of that editing style. Overall, very disappointing in many aspects.

8. SAW 7: The Final Chapter

 

The last SAW film before the seven years hiatus comes from the same director as the sixth one. The main character going through a series of traps has a story that made a ton of sense to be included. Although the tricks still tie to the main character and are pretty entertaining, they are not as good as the sixth film.

However, the most offensive thing from this film is that the blood is pink. Also, there is one character who is a detective and is supposed to catch Jigsaw. However, his acting is terrible, and his background is needlessly forced. Overall, although the traps are still good, this one is too similar to the sixth one, but with more problems.

7. SAW 9: Spiral (From the Book of Saw)

The storyline of Spiral begins when another Jigsaw copycat shows up and terrorizes a local police department with a corrupted past. So Chris Rock, the comedy guy, now carried a horror film. To my surprise, he did a good job and displayed the decent emotion that his character required.

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The traps were pretty okay. The quality camerawork and the production design also helped in making the scenes more intense. However, the fast and annoying editing style made a comeback. And it wasn’t too surprising because Darren Lynn Bousmann, the man behind SAW 1, 3, and 4, directed this movie as the ending trap is a straight-up rip-off from Saw 4 and was pretty lame. Overall, another mediocre addition to the franchise despite a good performance from Chris Rock.

6. SAW 8: Jigsaw

The eighth installment with new directors and writers is much better than the rest in terms of style and quality because it was released in 2017. And to my surprise, the fast-moving, jarring editing that is common in all of the Saw movies was gone in this one, which is good. The plot is nothing new, just like the 5th, 6th, and 3D. However, I found the logic to be lacking in many aspects. As for the gore, although they look better, there were very few of them. The traps were not as good and intense. Overall, yet another SAW that exists for the money.

5. SAW 4

The fourth film in the franchise and the plot of this movie are similar to the third one. Although it was pretty short, the complicated plot made the movie felt very long. There are also connections to the last one, which was pretty unnecessary because it didn’t have any effect. The gore however was much better and more focused on. The trap became much more gruesome, and some were pretty entertaining and intense. Overall, the movie was not as good as the predecessors in terms of plot, but a big jump in terms of gore.

5. SAW X

Preview Only: Hoping for a miraculous cure, John Kramer travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure, only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer uses deranged and ingenious traps to turn the tables on the con artists.

4. SAW 3

Now with the third one. This movie saw a clear improvement in gore, as well as more focus on more traps. The plot was still pretty good, however, it became more convoluted. Some traps and subplots did not have much meaning and were unnecessary. The pacing was also a problem because some parts felt pretty slow. Overall, a decent thriller, but not as good as the first two.

3. SAW 6

The sixth one with another new director in Kevin Greutert and is a major step up. The plot is pretty typical, but the traps are well choreographed, and I would say that they are the best traps so far. Although they are not as gory, these traps have a much more symbolic meaning to the main guy who was being tested. He had to decide who lives and who dies through these traps. And this made the film much more psychological and anxiety-inducing. Overall, a solid and entertaining sequel to the SAW franchise. In my opinion, SAW 6 barely tops SAW 3.

2. SAW 2

Compared to the first one, this one has a much better and smarter plot with great twists. However, there are more disposable characters, and the atmosphere was not as for psychological. However, there were still anxious feelings and uncertainty about how the plot would end up like the first one. Also, the tortures and schemes were not gruesome and not focused on as much. Overall, a pretty good thriller and is on par with the first one.

1. SAW 1

And last, but not least, the first film directed by James Wan was more of a psychological thriller mystery, and I enjoyed it very much. It started a bit slow, but then the second half was quite awesome. Overall, an effective thriller that started the trend to produce a low-budget installment every Halloween and make a ton of money regardless of the quality.

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