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Over 10 films to date and an 11th scheduled for late September of 2025, Saw is a franchise that rivals most in terms of both output and fandom. It had a run of 7 straight films over 7 years which began with the out of nowhere Saw in 2004 and culminating with Saw 3D in 2010. Its consistency may have trailed off temporarily with scattered entries following in 2017, 2021, and 2023, but the series as a whole is well known and has branched off into nearly every conceivable type of media. From comics and novels to video games and toys, Saw may just be primed to start another legendary run in the 2020s. Saw III was a runaway train that is still the highest grossing film in the series, but it was almost not even made after the original creators were done. With traps that were some of the most creative and even including Tobin Bell’s favorite...

Part of the joy of watching John Kramer's (Tobin Bell) intricate traps in Saw isn't the blood and gore but how everything comes together in the end. While the long-running horror series has a reputation for its torture, the opposite is actually the case. The violence in the films is undeniable, but there is a meaningful message at the heart of Saw. "Cherish your life" becomes a mantra of Jigsaw's, and he puts people through these traps because they need to learn some lesson. Those who survive often become better for it.

Saw has been a source of inspiration over the years, but no franchise can hold a candle to the original. This is because, in addition to delivering high-concept material, it is also known for some monumental twists viewers would never see coming.

Spiral's Final Twist Is Reminiscent of the Original Franchise

The final reveal in...

Amanda Young, Jigsaw's apprentice in the Saw franchise, creates traps that are impossible to beat, showing her interest in punishing rather than testing people. Amanda's love for Jigsaw is evident in Saw III, where her jealousy leads to her killing another victim and causing her own demise. Amanda's motivation for creating unbeatable traps may stem from jealousy, as she wants to prevent Jigsaw from choosing other apprentices and preserving their exclusive relationship. Other apprentices, like Mark Hoffman, have also built impossible traps.

Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) is brought on by Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) as an apprentice in the Saw films and is known for creating traps that are impossible to beat, leading some to question her motives and if Amanda was in love with Jigsaw, or if she was betraying him. Amanda is not the first of Jigsaw’s protégés, however, she is the one met earliest in the franchise.

Saw X explores a new side of John Kramer aka Jigsaw in ways that offer a deeper understanding of his motivations. Saw X presents Jigsaw as a vigilante who only targets objectively bad people for his deathtraps. Saw X humanizes Jigsaw by showcasing his moments of compassion and his complex moral code.

The following contains spoilers for Saw X, now playing in theaters.

Saw X showed a completely different side of John Kramer (Tobin Bell) that viewers had never seen before. In all the movies prior, fans of the Saw franchise didn’t really get insight into the notorious Jigsaw. This was partially because Kramer died during the third film, and the subsequent movies were either flashbacks or just his voice as the rosy-cheeked puppet Billy. But because of this, Saw X seized the opportunity to do something that hadn’t been done before.

In the film, John Kramer is given hope about his cancer.

Welcome to the ultimate Saw Cheat Sheet! The Saw Franchise has been a cornerstone of the horror genre for nearly two decades, leaving audiences both horrified and captivated. With its intricately twisty plots, moral dilemmas, and iconic traps, it’s no wonder the series has garnered such a dedicated following. But with so many twists and turns, it’s easy to get lost in Jigsaw’s maze. Let’s break it down, shall we?

As we approach the release of the eagerly awaited Saw X, this Saw movie guide serves both newcomers wanting an introduction and long-time fans desiring a refresher. This cheat sheet will walk you through every major detail of the Saw films, ensuring you’re well-prepared for whatever Jigsaw has in store next.

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for all nine Saw films. If you haven’t seen them and don’t want to know the twists,...

Festival’s Mix Programme $65,000 production grant was awarded to Rony and Riyad.

The 32nd Haifa International Film Festival came to a close with Maha Haj’s Personal Affairs winning the Haifa Cultural Fund Award for the Best Feature Film in the Israeli feature competition. It comes with a $26,000 prize.

Haj’s feature debut – which screened in Cannes Un Certain Regard – is about a Palestinian family coming to grips with their different circumstances.

Best debut feature with $13,000 is awarded to the film Bar Bahar-In Between by Maysaloun Hamoud.

Best script went to writer/director Eitan Anner’s A Quiet Heart.

Best Actor was awarded to Norman Issa and Moshe Ivgy for The 90 Minute War; Best Actress was Noa Koler for Through The Wall.

The Cinematography prize went to Ziv Berkovich for Home Port.

In the Israeli documentary competition, the Rozalia Katz Award for Best Documentary Film with $7,800 went to Lillian. Poetess, directed...

'Crash' movie: Ryan Phillippe. 'Crash' movie review: California tossin' and turnin' Screenwriter Paul Haggis' multiple award-winning directorial debut, Crash, is set in a Los Angeles that is part Quentin Tarantino, part Paul Thomas Anderson, part Spike Lee, part Bret Easton Ellis. Haggis' L.A. also happens to be a place with precious little in common with the Southern California metropolis located on Planet Earth. In the film, Haggis and co-screenwriter Robert Moresco tell us – or rather, scream at us – that the Angeleno boiling (definitely not melting) pot is about to explode at any moment, as Los Angeles denizens spend all their spare time hating, fearing, misunderstanding, and cheating on one another. And perhaps much of that is true, except that most of that hate, fear, misunderstanding, and cheating have absolutely nothing to do with ethnic or national differences. But not in this particular L.A., situated in some warped La...

This Halloween, Lionsgate is bringing Jigsaw and all his deadly contraptions back to the big screen for a one-week limited re-release of James Wan’s indie horror triumph, Saw. To honor the occasion, I thought it would be fun to take a look back and celebrate some of my favorite traps and set-ups featured throughout the series.

Saw: The Reverse Bear Trap

We’ll just go ahead and start with the most iconic trap of the entire Saw franchise- the reverse bear trap that Shawnee Smith found herself locked inside of during Wan’s original film. Visually, the contraption is a horrific marvel of complicated steel and death, demonstrating just how visceral Jigsaw’s object lessons could be. And when you couple that with image of Smith waking up inside the reverse bear trap- and how she masterfully sells that moment with just the use of her eyes- it...

The craft stores know something you don’t know. That’s right. It’s time for the 2014 Halloween Season TV Preview! This is where we let you know about the time and channel for everything we can find on TV having to do with Halloween or Horror for the month of October and sometimes late September. This will include holiday specials, horror movies, TV show premier dates and Halloween episodes of your favorite series as well as documentaries that might be considered scary. Anything and everything that might get your ghost good.

I always start with TCM because you can tell they take such care in developing their lineup. Be sure to check out their Thursday nights. This is truly a unique year for that station.

A quick note: We are not going to be able to get it all. So many different markets and channels and providers… it’s...

Just Like a Woman, starring Sienna Miller is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Cohen Media Group. The film tells the poignant tale of two beautiful, emotionally abused women with a passionate skill in common who share a journey of renewal. Check out our exclusive clip: 'Will you come with me?'

Just Like a Woman was released July 5th, 2013 and stars Sienna Miller, Golshifteh Farahani, Bahar Soomekh, Tim Guinee, Roschdy Zem, Chafia Boudraa, Jesse Harper, Sayed Badreya. The film is directed by Rachid Bouchareb.

Title: Just Like a Woman Director: Rachid Bouchareb Starring: Sienna Miller, Golshifteh Farahani, Roschdy Zem, Tim Guinee, Bahar Soomekh, Chafia Boudraa Themes of cultural identity and disunity figure prominently into the work of director Rachid Bouchareb, including 2006′s “Days of Glory” and 2011′s “Outside the Law,” both of which were nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Awards. Bouchareb’s English language debut, “Just Like a Woman,” however, is a phony female fantasy — a minor chord variation on “Thelma & Louise” with none of that film’s panache, verve or insight. Instead tone-deaf and at times downright insufferable, this road trip flick in which bellydancing holds the key to feminine enlightenment [ Read More ]

The post Just Like a Woman Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Stepping out to promote her new movie, Sienna Miller headed to the premiere of "Just Like a Woman" in New York City on Wednesday (June 5).

The "Layer Cake" star kept things simple in a classic sleeveless little black dress with matching heels as she posed for photos outside.

In the drama, a Chicago housewife runs off to Santa Fe with a friend to compete in a belly dancing competition.

Directed by Rachid Bouchareb, the film also stars Golshifteh Farahani, Bahar Soomekh, Tim Guinee, and Roschdy Zem. "Just Like a Woman" hits theaters on July 5th.

Cohen Media Group has new photos in for their Just Like a Woman Drama, starring Sienna Miller, Golshifteh Farahani, Bahar Soomekh, Tim Guinee, Roschdy Zem, Chafia Boudraa, Jesse Harper and Sayed Badreya. Rachid Bouchareb directs the film which opens on July 5th in New York, and tells the poignant tale of two women, barely more than casual acquaintances, who, upon escaping the prisons of their unhappy marriages, embark on a revealing journey of self discovery which leads them to the importance - and true meaning - of friendship.

Ahead of Halloween, we’ve got some really great competitions give-aways so keep your eyes peeled on HeyUGuys for the next collection of movies. Let’s start off with Saw: The Complete Collection starring Tobin Bell as the infamous Jigsaw courtesy of Lions Gate Home Entertainment. All seven movies in one high definition box-set! It’s out to buy now but scroll down to enter our competition to win one of three copies….

Saw:

With a dead body ‘resting’ between them, two men (Leigh Whannell and Carey Elwes) wake up in the secure lair of a serial killer who’s been nicknamed “Jigsaw” by the police because of his unusual calling card. Given six hours, a hacksaw, and a bullet, the two men try to figure out a way to freedom. Hot on the ‘Jigsaw’s trail is Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover), an equally insane cop who...

There can be no Halloween without Saw – the most successful horror franchise of all time. And now you can experience all seven films in the horrifying Saw series on Blu-Ray for the first time! With limited edition premium packaging, this one complete Blu-ray boxset allows you to watch the entire series of terrifying films in high definition – the way they were meant to be seen. The Complete Collection also includes hours of stunning special features, commentaries from directors, writers, producers and cast, video diaries, music videos, deleted scenes and more, making it an absolute Halloween essential.

Saw centres on sick, twisted Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), a damaged man at odds with humanity. A man who has made it his life’s mission to lay traps for unsuspecting sinners and in doing so, sets the ball in motion for a series of terrifying games in which the ultimate prize is your life…...

Our look back at the Saw franchise continues, with the ultra-violent franchise instalments Saw III and Saw IV…

This article contains spoilers.

Is it serendipity or just convenient division that brings together Saw III and Saw IV in the second part of this retrospective series? Quite aside from being many things to fans of the series, the midpoint, the fulcrum or the point where it all went wrong, they're two films that take place simultaneously with each other in the series' timeline.

The story so far, as we discovered yesterday, brings us to the beginning of Saw III with Amanda abducting Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh). Jigsaw's condition is deteriorating, and he must stay the course and keep hold of his mortal coil until the conclusion of his latest game. Bereaved father Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) is the subject, going through a series of rooms and passing judgement on different victims.

Fox and 20th Century Fox TV are going with a cast of relatively unknown actors for the high-profile new series The Oaks.

British actresses Gina McKee and Sienna Guillory have landed lead roles on the project, joining previously cast Bahar Soomekh, Matt Lanter and Shannon Lucio.

Written by David Schulner and to be run by Shawn Ryan, Oaks tells the intertwined stories of three families -- a young couple who have just lost a child in 1968, a family of four in 1988 and a pregnant couple in 2008 -- who live in the same house and are haunted by a restless spirit.

McKee will play the wife in the 1988 family, a harried mother of two struggling to keep passion alive in her marriage. Guillory will play the 2008 couple's neighbor with Asperger's syndrome who went to school with the father-to-be and shares a secret with him.

The casting of McKee and Guillory continues the trend from last development season of casting U.K.

Bahar Soomekh, Matt Lanter and Shannon Lucio have been cast in Fox's new paranormal drama The Oaks.

The project, from 20th Century Fox TV and Little Engine, was picked up by the network last month with a rich series commitment after a heated bidding war.

Written by David Schulner and to be run by Shawn Ryan, Oaks tells the intertwined stories of three families -- a young couple who have just lost a child in 1968, a family of four in 1988 and a pregnant couple in 2008 -- who live in the same house and are haunted by a restless spirit.

Lucio and Lanter will play the 1968 couple; Soomekh will play the pregnant woman, who is a highly educated, capable executive, in 2008.

Michael Cuesta is directing the pilot for Oaks, which is slated to begin production in November. He also is executive producing with Schulner, Ryan and Little Engine's Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo.

The inevitable deadening effects of repetition are beginning to infect the "Saw" franchise, now having produced its third installment in as many years.

While "Saw III" provides a decent number of new twists, psychological as well as torture-wise, it necessarily lacks the originality of its predecessors and -- if the blase response at an opening-day screening at New York's AMC Theatre on 42nd Street is any indication -- audiences may be beginning to develop a "been there, done that" attitude. The film opened Friday and, unlike the prior editions, was not screened in advance for press.

Seamlessly similar in style to the earlier films, this sequel finds its archvillain Jigsaw (Tobin Bell, again delivering a quietly intense and scary performance) not doing so well. Desperately ill, he and his loyal follower, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), have enlisted -- well, forced -- the help of a female doctor (Bahar Soomekh) to perform some emergency surgery. Helping to motivate her is the fact that she's been outfitted with an explosive collar tied into Jigsaw's heart monitor, so if he dies, she dies with him.

Meanwhile, her husband, Jeff Angus Macfadyen), is playing one of Jigsaw's diabolical games. He's confronted with a series of individuals being tortured in various ways who are connected to the hit-and-run death of the couple's young son, testing his level of forgiveness as he must decide whether to risk his own life to save theirs.

The chief gimmick in these films is the ingenious methods of torture devised by the filmmakers, who no doubt feel intense pressure to keep topping themselves. But while this edition features a series of reasonably clever and undeniably gruesome examples -- a key located at the bottom of a jar of acid, etc. -- they don't quite have the same impact as some of the indelible set pieces in the first two installments.

Director Darren Lynn Bousman (who helmed "Saw II") and screenwriter Leigh Whannell (originator of the franchise) have here replicated the style of the earlier films, including the rapid-fire editing, dark color palette, industrial-style music and sound effects and nonlinear storytelling. There also are numerous references to past installments, including the brief appearances of Donnie Wahlberg and Dina Meyer reprising their roles as the cops on Jigsaw's trail.

Ironically, the most graphic and scary sequence involves not one of Jigsaw's intricate torture variations but rather an impromptu brain surgery involving a power drill that the hapless doctor is forced to perform on her evil patient. While he ultimately doesn't fare very well, it's hard not to suspect that he'll nonetheless be back to wreak more havoc sometime around, oh, next Halloween.

Unlike the disturbingly mysterious original, “Saw III” is a neatly wrapped-up package that explains everything — including Jigsaw’s evil contraptions and the background of his crazed female assistant. This strategy hardly seems the best course to sustain a horror franchise, but, with nearly everybody dead at the end — despite the hint of another sequel — pic’s 3,150-screen Halloween weekend may prove to be a whopping farewell to a stunning moneymaker for Lionsgate.

With moralistic mastermind of torture Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) set free in dubious health in “Saw II,” the new edition returns to Donnie Wahlberg’s ill-fated cop Eric having to chop off his foot to free himself from chains and irons. This marks just one of several flashbacks that eventually hinder the movie, ratcheting down its tension and pace.

Another, even more dogged cop, Kerry (Dina Meyer), is back but not for too long, as she’s captured and...