The Saw films tend to experience mixed to negative reviews. However, Saw X changed all of that for the better.
The tenth installment of Saw earned a Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 80%- a first for the franchise. This is a triumphant landmark, with its first movie earning 50%. Sequels after that were as high as 37% and as low as 9%. During his interview with THR, Saw X director Kevin Greutert spoke about predicting the success of his movie.
“I can say that when I first started showing scenes to the producers and to Lionsgate, their reactions were really encouraging. And then, when the film was finally cut together and people started seeing it, I felt pretty good. I felt like it was really going to be great,” explained Greutert. “And even in the preparation stage, when I was hiring crew members and showing candidates the script, some of them knew nothing about Saw, but you could feel their enthusiasm for it. So you could see at the script stage that it was going to be pretty cool.”
It looks like the crew’s positive instincts of Saw X were correct. Critics praised Greutert’s direction in bringing in old and new story elements, as well as loving Tobin Bell’s performance. The Saw 3D director explained the key to this movie’s success.
“There’s a simplicity to this film that makes it a little bit easier to comprehend and digest, and that was done deliberately in the hope that new audiences, who don’t necessarily know all the twists and turns of the Saw history, would come to the film,” said Greutert.
Is Saw X the Last Movie of the Franchise?
Originally, Kevin Greutert was going to have Saw X be its final goodbye to Jigsaw. If Saw X failed to achieve success like its predecessors, it’s possible we’d see the last of the gory traps. Luckily, because of the tenth film’s victorious box office numbers and reviews, Saw X producers have plans for another sequel.