By the time horror franchises reach their eighth instalment, they’ve usually gone to some pretty weird places. An outing set in space is par for the course, as is an unlikely trip to New York. If you’re lucky, you might even get a bizarre metatextual fourth wall buster (Hi, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare).
The now-venerable Saw franchise, perhaps sensing that there are diminishing returns in the usual torture escapades, has opted for a soft reboot. And so, Saw VIII has been concisely rechristened Jigsaw after its notoriously sadistic villain. Word is that the world of Saw is now facing up to the existence of a full-blown Jigsaw cult and a new set of posters give us a peek at what’s to come.
It seems that spooky clowns are very much in this year, as each high contrast one-sheet shows a member of the cast with cold, dead eyes caked in cracked makeup, with the character’s red swirls adorning their cheeks and foreheads. The images are reminiscent of both IT‘s Pennywise and Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, and they look appropriately spooky and ominous. And well they should, given that the film has been rated R for grisly, bloody violence and torture – we wouldn’t have it any other way.
In the director’s chair are Michael and Peter Spierig (Daybreakers and Predestination) and the cast includes Mandela Van Peebles, Laura Vandervoort, Brittany Allen, Callum Keith Rennie, Matt Passmore, Hannah Emily Anderson, Josiah Black, Shaquan Lewis, Michael Bolsvert and James Gomez. Apparently, the original Jigsaw – Tobin Bell – is also set to make an appearance.
Here’s hoping that this new direction for the Saw franchise bears fruit. Who knows? If things go to plan, maybe we’ll be settling down with our popcorn in 2027 to watch Jigsaw VII.