Released: May 2021
Director: Darryn Lynn Bousman
Rated R
Run Time: 93 Minutes
Distributor: Lionsgate Studios
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Cast:
Chris Rock: Detective Zeke Banks
Samuel L. Jackson: Marcus Banks
Max Minghella: Detective William Shenk
Marisol Nichols: Captain Angie Garza
Richard Zeppieri: Detective Fitch
Patrick McManus: Peter Dunleavy
When it comes to horror movie franchises, the 80s was loaded to the hilt with them. You had franchises like Friday The 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. These were crazy movies. The original films in each franchise was a fairly serious and gritty affair. The original villain in Friday The 13th wasn’t Jason Voorhees. It was his mother. Jason wouldn’t show up until part II. At the same time, Nightmare on Elm Street would give us the infamous dream killer, Freddy Krueger, played to perfection by then-unknown Robert Englund. Yet, as deadly serious as the original films were, the franchises would get more and more ridiculous as time went on, focusing more on the kills, rather than the atmosphere. These movies would get the term “dead teenager movies” by the late Roger Ebert. In the early 2000s, a new kind of horror thriller was unleashed on audiences: Saw. This film saw two characters trapped in a dilapidated bathroom with a dead body while chained to the opposite ends of the room. While most of the film took place in this one location, it was also a detective story that followed a police officer on the hunt for the notorious “Jigsaw” killer, who put his victims into traps, and gave them a choice to live or die by escaping those traps. Those traps were inspired by a particular transgression that the victim had committed earlier in their life. Saw was the franchise which saw the term “torture porn” unfortunately coined. The original indie film was a rousing success, and inspired a new horror franchise that would see a new entry every October for 7 years. The last film in the entry, Jigsaw was released back in 2017. Now, we have a new film in the franchise: Spiral.
Spiral follows Detective Zeke Banks as he gets a new partner as a result of going rogue on an undercover operation. He and his new partner, William Shenk, are sent to a crime scene in a subway where there is a victim of an apparent copy-cat Jigsaw killer. The victim in this case happens to be a cop that worked in Zeke’s precinct. While Zeke isn’t particularly liked in his precinct for turning in a dirty cop, he takes the lead in the investigation to find the killer before more people are killed. It’s no lie to say that the Saw films got ridiculous after the third. In fact, I would point to that particular entry when the franchise went off the rails. The traps got far more elaborate and the deaths even more gruesome, but it was the connections to each previous film that really killed people’s suspension of disbelief. Spiral tries to take the series back to its roots as more of a police procedural and murder mystery rather than a straight-up horror flick, and it mostly succeeds. The traps are far more simplistic this time around, but that’s a good thing. It lends a little more credibility to the goings-on. I like the fact that the film focuses more on the investigation. While the kills are gruesome, they are mostly after-the-fact. The previous film, Jigsaw, ended up turning Jigsaw into a kind of a vigilante killer, instead of someone that punished people because he felt that they were unworthy of the lives they were given. The motivations of the killer this time around are centered around punishing cops that bend or break the rules to clean the streets. The closest movie that I could compare Spiral to is Se7en, even though it’s nowhere near as good, but the story is still interesting, even if it does follow similar beats from the previous films.
When I first heard that they were going to do a new film set in the Saw universe, I was skeptical. I enjoyed Jigsaw, but I wasn’t particularly keen on the direction they were taking. So, imagine my surprise when I heard that Chris Rock was going to produce and star in Spiral: From The Book Of Saw. Yes, THAT Chris Rock. I shouldn’t have been so surprised to see a stand-up comedian tackle a pretty serious movie. Robin Williams and Jim Carrey did to varying degrees of success, but Chris Rock? No way. I’ve always enjoyed Chris Rock as a stand-up comedian. The stuff that did in the 90s was hilarious. Even his role in Lethal Weapon 4 was funny. Yet, when it comes to serious roles, I think Chris has a future as a dramatic actor, not just a comic one. He’s outstanding here. He does have a couple of funny jokes, but this movie is not a comedy. It’s a horror thriller in every sense of the term, and it makes sure you realize that. Evidently, it was also Chris’ idea to bring Samuel L. Jackson on board. Samuel L. “Motherfuckin'” Jackson. Seeing these two act off each other is a sight to see, despite the short time that Mr. Jackson is in the film. I will always watch anything with this guy. He commands the screen. While the other actors do a fine job, they don’t have the same presence as Rock or Jackson.
Spiral being a Saw movie, there is a level of violence to be expected in a movie like this, and it really doesn’t disappoint. The traps are simplistic and not the elaborate artistic traps of the previous films. Again, this is back-to-basics. The opening trap has a guy hanging from a ceiling of a subway tunnel with a device while standing on a stool while. He only has a certain amount of time before the train comes and runs him over. Another trap has a person strapped to a table with hot wax ready to pour all over them. These are very simple gags, but they tend to be a bit more horrific because they’re not as outlandish as some of the previous movies. This might disappoint some viewers, but make no mistake, it’s brutal. I love the simplicity of the brutality here. It’s visceral, as it should be, and that alone makes the film a decent entry in the franchise. The music by franchise regular Charlie Clouser is still outstanding. The main theme isn’t used as much, but it’s still there. The film looks fantastic. The cinematography is some of the best in the franchise.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the land of Saw, however. First of all, Samuel L. Jackson is only in the film for maybe 10 minutes at most. It’s little more than a glorified cameo. It’s awesome, but his presence is missed throughout the majority of the movie. Early on, you can also figure out who the killer actually is. I won’t spoil it, but for those who’ve seen the previous movies, it’s almost a dead give-away. The franchise kind of relied on keeping people on their toes when it comes to the villains, but the past few films have had the bad habit of telegraphing the villain and the twist a mile away. Also, as kind of a franchise standard, the majority of characters in the film aren’t particularly likable. Chris Rock plays the only character that has any sort of decency. The other cops are crooked and backstabbing, and Zeke’s own father is corrupt to a certain degree. It’s not new territory for Saw, so you kind of have to expect it. That said, I found Spiral: From The Book Of Saw to be a refreshing back-to-basics entry in a franchise that had really gone off the rails. I hope this movie puts the series back on track and takes it in a new direction. Bring Chris Rock on board was a stroke of genius. I had no idea the guy was a fun of the series and horror movies. It shouldn’t surprise me, as the line between horror and comedy is incredibly thin. So, seeing a comedian tackling a serious role isn’t that farfetched. I just wasn’t expecting it from Chris Rock. If he chooses to do another film in the series, I won’t say no. I think he did a fantastic job and I can’t wait to see more dramatic stuff from this guy. Overall, I had a fantastic time with Spiral. Is it the best in the franchise? No, but it’s definitely far from the worst. If you’re a fan of Saw, you need to see this. If you’re a fan of Chris Rock, you MAY want to see this. If you’re not a fan of Saw, this isn’t going to change your mid.
Summary: Spiral: From The Book Of Saw is a surprisingly good entry that takes the series back-to-basics in terms of the traps and police procedurals. Chris Rock’s performance is outstanding and is absolutely worth the price of admission. It’s definitely worth checking out.