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Director Darren Lynn Bousman’s Uncanny Evolution From Saw II, III, and IV to Spiral
Director Darren Lynn Bousman has arguably given us the most impressive Saw film to date, when he gave us Saw II. Out of the four franchise films he has directed, Saw II, III, IV and Spiral, Bousman has occupied wild strides with each outing. Each used to explore not only another chapter of the franchise but a timely, fun and sometimes a methodology that exists in both being timely and fun.
Saw II’s Arguably the finest of the films. It’s a deep, total nihilistic take on recidivism, opioid addiction and the corruption of police. A corruption I might add that we will see again in the ugly real world and his work, but we will talk about that in a moment.
Saw II explores the very real truth that much like all real evil, “Jigsaw” is a symbol, a designation that can be operated as belief system. As this one has Amanda take on the mantle and cowl of John Kramer’s iconic central puzzle piece. Amanda assists Kramer in the setting up of his piece of art and final gift to the world. Jigsaw’s house of horrors. The film could have easily been titled exactly that and got away with it because it does exist to show us in great detail the blueprint and layout of the dilapidated, booby-trapped home as a juxtaposition of John Kramer’s own mind cancer ridden and failing mind. The house and John are essentially only acting out one final act, and they are doing it in the name of Jigsaw.
I also love part II because it feels like Twisted Pictures meets Hammer Films. The house, its guests, its host, the setup. It feels very Hammer. It even feels like William Castle is at work in the shadows at times. It’s a groundwork that immediately sets it apart and does some genius things.
Amanda in the meantime is becoming “Jigsaw,” she is wearing the robes and the pig mask. She is the one with the strength to enact Kramer’s final wishes, but it also speeds her along to her next place in the sequence. She knew should end up becoming him one day, or becoming his ideas. A force that she would embody.
Amanda is no slouch in the role. She is the mole within the game. While everyone in the house is trying to find their way out. It’s Amanda who is secretly moving Kramer’s pieces around to fit his game, and not assist in their trying to escape. She lays down the instigation, or points them in the way of the traps. She almost finds its hard at times to hide the ego. Amanda is the us at several points throughout the film. Bousman walks a beautiful line here. He keeps the audience as carefully placed and invested as Amanda is in the house. It’s another game but one that exists in the film’s subtext. It’s the reason that Saw II is so damn good and the reason it stands out in the films.
While Saw III isn’t nearly as engaging and sadly isn’t as realized through out due to problems with pacing and time. Part II, still has a lot going for it in terms of the line that Bousman was working. In part III, Kramer isn’t being good to Amanda. But, Amanda is becoming something else and doesn’t want to adhere to Jigsaw anymore. Rather it be the man or the institution. It’s a problem that plays out very early on between Amanda and Kramer. While the regular traps are being made and suspense is being built the real crux of the film lies between Amanda, Kramer and the doctor they kidnapped to keep Kramer ticking, as his body is shutting down from the final stages of cancer.
I feel this was Bousman’s very real struggle with the studio made cinematic. I feel like Bousman was essentially the doctor being treated like shit to save Jigsaw. Much like the doctor in the film is forced into the situation, I feel, so was Bousman. You can see the studio much like Amanda and Kramer, sitting and poking Bousman in the ribs and setting him up to fail by giving him the task of saving Jigsaw. A move that they could never reverse, considering he is dying of cancer at the end of Saw’s first film. There was no way back from this corner. But, Bousman and many hired in the same spot have been forced to attempt to stop at doing just that.
Over a decade has passed since Bousman worked on his last Saw film. That was the fourth entry in the franchise. With all the troubles that Part IV brought the director, I never thought that we would see Bousman return to the franchise, I really didn’t. So, I was totally shocked and ecstatic to see that once again Bousman is back with Spiral. And just from early on watching the trailers we could see that we would be getting the best of his Saw work here. We knew It would be timely, subjective and that it would have that unique feel that is unmistakably Bousman’s Saw.
We weren’t wrong in that assessment. He is back in place and instead of coming back and picking up where he left off, he is taking on the world of Saw with a totally new steps to this familiar rhythm. We also have Chris Rock acting in the film and adding his own voice to the film.
Spiral: The Book of Saw much like Saw II has a lot of things on its mind. We are dealing with corruption within the police force. We are looking at an age where the real horror comes from young black men getting shot for raising a sandwich wrapped in foil. The conversation is hard one to have… but it didn’t stop Bousman and Chris Rock from taking all that and having a true discussion with the audience about the shape of the world and the shape of corruption all within the confines of a horror film. As director and writer Mick Garris has said several times, horror is a perfect delivery system for bigger themes. It’s like putting the pill in peanut butter and bread to help in swallowing it down. The horror of Spiral really assists in delivering some big talks.
In Spiral a killer is taking out police officers all willy nilly. The killer has a new puppet, that dawns a cop uniform and is clearly a spiral eyed pig and a play on the cops being called pigs.
Chris Rock’s character is a cop who himself went against status quo and turned in a fellow officer who was corrupt. Bousman and Rock are treading carefully showing that there are “good” cops within the line of duty, but there aren’t many and even they have a hard time standing up and doing the right thing in the certain corruptible lights. So, yes they are saying there are good cops but the message is there that something still needs to be discussed.
The official synopsis of Spiral From the Book of Saw goes like this:
A sadistic mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in SPIRAL, the terrifying new chapter from the book of SAW. Working in the shadow of an esteemed police veteran (Samuel L. Jackson), brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner (Max Minghella) take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game.
Most notably, Bousman and Rock are taking the Saw formula and adding it to a gritty noir tale that resembles David Fincher’s Seven. Best of all, it does that while also playing by the rules of a 70s bad cop sploitation film. It exists in all those world’s but the portion of its roots that develop in the 70s gritty vibe is where the film is at its most fun. Again, like in Saw II and III Bousman is carefully walking this line with the audience and writing characters to be us in their functionality. It’s a line that Bousman walks well and I’m impressed by how he has managed to evolve that and adapt it to ever changing elements that are this strange and inventive, bonkers franchise. Spiral: From the Book of Saw is an explosively, cool and heart racing rollercoaster that offers up big whodunnit energy. These films haven’t all been great and we have our favorites. When it comes to this world, its approach and its characters new and old, Bousman adapts and evolves with turbo speeds. I’m beyond happy that he did more of that here.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw is out now in theaters. You can also find the other Saw films on HBO Max.
Metalocalypse is being made into a feature-length film to continue DethKlok’s adventure. Read more here.
News
This Week in Horror: The ‘Resident Evil’ Trailer, a ‘Weapons’ Prequel, and Nicolas Cage Has Unfinished Business
This was the week Zach Cregger stopped being a horror director and started being a horror studio. That is not the only thing that happened, but it feels like it isn’t being stated enough.
The Resident Evil Teaser Is Here
The first footage from Zach Cregger‘s Resident Evil dropped Wednesday, and it does not look like anything this franchise has produced before. Austin Abrams plays Bryan, a medical courier who arrives at an empty house in the middle of a snowy night and spends the rest of the teaser discovering what he is actually surrounded by.
The footage is dark and still and operates as if something has already gone wrong before anything technically has, which is the same register Barbarian and Weapons lived in and that the games, at their best, have always understood. The full breakdown is [LINK: full Resident Evil article]. The film opens September 18 in theaters and IMAX via Sony.
Cregger Is Also Making a Weapons Prequel
While everyone was watching the Resident Evil teaser, Variety reported that Gladys, the prequel to Weapons, is moving forward at Warner Bros. with Cregger co-writing alongside Zach Shields. Weapons grossed $270 million worldwide and earned Amy Madigan a best supporting actress Oscar.
Gladys is set for September 2028. Cregger is currently writing a Resident Evil reboot and a Weapons prequel at the same time, which is either the most productive stretch a horror director has had in recent memory or the setup for a very good documentary.
Nicolas Cage Has Unfinished Business
Variety confirmed that Nicolas Cage and Osgood Perkins are making a new Longlegs film at Paramount. Not a sequel, but something set in the Longlegs universe, which is a distinction that raises more questions than it answers and is therefore exactly the right way to announce it. The original made $128 million on a $10 million budget. No release date has been set.
Hokum Opens Today
Hokum, the new film from Damian McCarthy, is in theaters today via Neon. Adam Scott plays a novelist who retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes and finds that an ancient witch has opinions about that.
The film premiered at SXSW in March and sits at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. McCarthy made Caveat in 2020, which was underseen and excellent. Hokum is his argument that the haunted house film still has architecture left to explore.
Shudder Is Having a Moment
The full May lineup breakdown is here, but the essentials are: Tales from the Crypt, all seven seasons, begins streaming today after years off the market. The Terror: Devil in Silver, the third installment of AMC’s horror anthology series, premieres May 7 with Dan Stevens. Heresy, a folk horror set in a medieval Dutch village, also drops today as a Shudder exclusive. It is the strongest programming month they have announced in a while, and May is only one day old. What a week.
Someone Let Ti West Near a Christmas Carol
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, written by Nathaniel Halpern, directed by Ti West, and starring Johnny Depp as Scrooge, has a release date: November 13, 2026 from Paramount. Robert Eggers is also developing a Christmas Carol adaptation. Two of the most formally precise horror directors working today have independently decided this is the assignment. There is no version of that sentence that is not exciting.
That is the week. May is already delivering.
Editorial
HHN35, Jack vs Oddfellow: Place Your Bets!
Halloween Horror Nights is back for its 35th installment at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida as the Infernal Carnival of Nightmares!
Over the years HHN has proven original houses draw as much of a crowd, if not more, as the intellectual property (IP) houses based off of established horror movies.
Leading each year of fear and headlining some of these original houses includes some of the most beloved and iconic characters. These icons include; Jack the Clown, The Caretaker, The Director, Chance, Dr. Oddfellow, The Usher, Lady Luck, and The Storyteller.
This year Orlando’s convention MegaCon had a highly anticipated and attended panel focused on Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights 35. The masterminds speaking of the 35th year celebration included Michael Aiello, Lora Sauls, and Charles Gray. The creators teased the landmark year to salivating fans.
Gaged by the audience’s reaction as each icon was reminisced about and displayed on the panel’s screen were Jack and Oddfellow. Here it was announced to the fanatical audience that these two icons will be returning to lead Halloween Horror Nights into its upcoming year!
Bring in the Clown!
Jack the Clown, born Jack Schmidt, is an icon created by Universal Studios for Halloween Horror Nights. Jack made his debut during the Halloween event’s tenth year in 2000. He immediately won over attendees and became a fan favorite. His popularity grew so much that he has reappeared again and again in many of the Halloween Horror Nights events.
Jack has been featured in three of the five Universal parks that have hosted HHN; Orlando, Hollywood, and Singapore. He has even claimed a spot in Universal Horror Unleashed.
Unleashed is a haunted attraction residing in Las Vegas that offers a fully immersive experience for guests. Unlike Halloween Horror Nights, this attraction is open year round! Universal Horror Unleashed features haunted houses, live entertainment, and themed bars and dining.
Here Jack stalks guests year round with his mistress in mayhem, Chance.
Jack’s History
In the late 1800s Jack was born with his brother Eddie inside the walls of Shady Brook Rest Home and Sanitarium. Jack escaped and ran away with the circus, leaving his poor and abusive family behind.
However, it was soon apparent he was not the jolly, entertaining clown he convinced his carnival spectators of.
Jack was a child murderer. As the traveling sideshow made its way through the southern states, a trail of abductions and disappearances followed. This attracted unwanted attention from federal authorities.
As the feds closed in, the clown disclosed his murderous ways to his employer, carnival owner Dr. Oddfellow. As the star attraction of the circus he hoped Oddfellow would hide him. However, the doctor was a man with his own sordid past with the law. He decided the best plan of action would be to cut ties with Jack, for good.
The circus owner had Jack Schmidt murdered, but not before the clown gave Oddfellow his trademark facial scar. A scar none of Oddfellow’s dark magic could erase.
Always the showman, Oddfellow decided Jack’s time in his show had not yet come to an end. Not even in death. The carnival owner hid Jack’s body, in addition to the thirteen children the clown had killed, inside his House of Horrors.
The Doctor is In!
Just like Jack “The Clown” Schmidt, Dr. Rich Oddfellow has a very long and evil history. He was introduced to Halloween Horror Nights in 2000, the same year as Jack. However, unlike the menacing clown, the doctor did not rise to instant fame.
Finally the Doctor found his time in the fog and in 2023 he was established as an icon of HHN.
Oddfellow’s History
Dr. Oddfellow is the notorious, darkly charismatic sideshow owner of Dr. Oddfellow’s Carnival of Thrills. He employed Jack Schmidt, the murderous clown who claimed the lives of at least 13 children. However, the clown was not the only member of the circus who had evil intentions.
Oddfellow was an evil sorcerer, and preyed upon his unsuspecting spectators from town to town. Using the souls of his victims, Oddfellow hoped to gain immortality as well as harness the power of the Dark Zodiac for himself. With this power he would have undying power at his fingertips all harnessed in the skull sitting on top of his trademark cane.
Dr. Oddfellow always left his mark of chaos, destruction and death. From the Jungle of Doom, to the 1939 Dustbowl, and an infamous 1969 Music Festival in upstate New York, Oddfellow reigned down his evil upon the innocent.
A Glimpse of HHN35
Not much has been revealed about how these icons of horror will be intertwined in the upcoming Halloween Horror Nights. However, we do know that despite how much these two despise each other, they will be sharing the spotlight as co-hosts for the much anticipated HHN35.
One of the ten haunted houses will feature the returning duo together. The house is called; Jack and Oddfellow: Chaos and Control.
As you travel through the house the stories of each icon of horror will be unraveled. You’ll wind your way through their evil dimension and see the two battle each other in a deathmatch that has been brewing for decades. However, as you near the end of the house Jack and Oddfellow come to realize that their power is much stronger together than separate. Will the souls of the guests be the fuel to their ultimate evil plan?
Tell us at iHorror who your favorite icon of horror is in the comments! If the two were to face off, who would win?
News
The Severance Writer Found a New Building to Lock People In
Aiyana K. White spent two seasons on Severance working out what happens when a building decides it is done letting people go. Her next project is set in a high school during a zombie outbreak. The architecture is different, but the logic is basically the same. Welcome to ShootAround.
Lion Forge Entertainment and WEBTOON Productions are teaming up for a live-action YA film adaptation of Shoot Around, the zombie horror-comedy webcomic by Suspu (Susanna Nousiainen) with 28 million views on WEBTOON. White, who also served as executive story editor on The Night Agent for Netflix and got her start on Showtime’s Superpumped, is writing the screenplay.
The Premise
When the zombie apocalypse hits Penny Hall High, the state’s best girls’ basketball team is forced to join forces with the boys they cannot stand for 24 hours locked inside their school. You dont even need the zombies, that sounds miserable.
The official description is Zombieland meets Bring It On, which is either the most accurate logline of the year or an extremely specific promise to have to keep. Lets hope ther PR team knew what they were doing when they through that one out there.
The Source Material
The ShootAround webcomic ran 70 chapters across its first season. White has said she devoured all of them in one sitting, which is a better endorsement than anything the studio put in the press release.
Creator Suspu has a decade of comics experience, including WEBTOON Originals Heir’s Game, The Tattletale Fool, and Bad Plan Man. The fanbase already exists, now they just have to know how to use it.
White is rewriting the script from an earlier draft by Mike Dow and Devon Kelly.
The Production
Lion Forge Entertainment, the Oscar-winning studio behind Hair Love, is producing and financing alongside WEBTOON Productions. Founder David Steward II and president Stephanie Sperber are producing for Lion Forge. President David Madden and head of global film Jason Goldberg will executive produce for WEBTOON Productions.
The Evil Dead Burn Trailer Is Here and It Is Everything
“It’s My Era. I’m a Rockstar Now.” The Official ‘The Vampire Lestat’ Trailer Is Here
This Week in Horror: DC Goes Full Body Horror, A24 Has Its Chainsaw Man, and The Bone Temple Is Finally Yours
The Vampire Lestat Releases Cover of Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself”
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Trailer: What “Dancing With Myself” Reveals About Lestat
Shudder’s May Is the Best Month They’ve Had in a While.
Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner Star in Romantic Crime Thriller ‘Carolina Caroline’ [Trailer]
ShoStak Opens the Door for Filmmakers to Build and Own Their Stories
‘Behind the Mask 2’ Slays Kickstarter
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The Best Possible Person Is Directing A24’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This Week in Horror: The ‘Resident Evil’ Trailer, a ‘Weapons’ Prequel, and Nicolas Cage Has Unfinished Business
HHN35, Jack vs Oddfellow: Place Your Bets!
The Severance Writer Found a New Building to Lock People In
Resident Evil Drops First Teaser Trailer
The Vampire Lestat Is Playing a Real Concert in NYC — And Yes, It’s Exactly as Wild as It Sounds
The History of Deals with the Devil: From Faust to The Witch
‘ZombieCON Vol. 1’ Gets the Con Right. The Zombies Arrive When They Want To.
Shudder’s May Is the Best Month They’ve Had in a While.
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