Saw X Can Only Succeed Under One Condition

The Saw series holds the Guinness World Record for the highest grossing horror franchise of all time. It has grossed over one billion dollars at the worldwide box office.

The news of the prequel's release is pleasing to fans, although it will be even more pleasing to see the franchise return to its former quality. The official trailer recently released, and it gives hope that the tenth installment will at least slightly convey the spirit of the first Saw movies.

Saw X was directed by Kevin Greutert, who directed Saw 6 and Saw 7, which is reassuring. However, the script was written by Josh Stolberg, the author of Saw 8 and Spiral: From the Book of Saw. This is not the most optimistic news as Stolberg was involved in the worst Saw installments.

The key question was – which way will the creators go? They had two options – to make a spin-off in the style of Spiral or to continue the main storyline. The first option seems extremely unfortunate and we can already say that the creators of Saw X have learned from past mistakes.

Released in 2020, Spiral was a complete failure. It turned out to be a low-quality project that tried to cling to the glory of the legendary franchise. The main role was played by the famous comedian Chris Rock, which in itself looked strange for a horror movie.

Nevertheless, Saw is not a slasher with comedy elements, but a psychological thriller. Rock could fit into Saw with a quality script, but this was not the case with Spiral. Even the invitation of Samuel L. Jackson could not save the ninth installment. The 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes speaks volumes.

It's already clear that spin-offs are a bad idea for a Saw sequel. The franchise is primarily about John Kramer. It is already known that in the tenth movie, John Kramer goes to Mexico for an experimental surgery, hoping to cure cancer, but as a result he finds out that this is just a scam and deception of desperate patients.

He then decides to punish the swindlers in his style – with ingenious, cruel traps. The action takes place between the first and second movies, making the new movie a prequel. Obviously, the creators wanted to bring back the main star – John Kramer, who, according to the plot, died long ago.

It seems that only Jigsaw could return the franchise to its former glory, and that is exactly what the filmmakers did – they finally listened to the fans and brought the main star on stage.

Going back to the roots as much as possible is the only chance for Saw 10 to succeed.