phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2021

Spiral



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 33min
Country: Canada, USA
Language: English
Genre Tags: Crime, Horror, Mystery
Plot Summary: A criminal mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in Spiral, the terrifying new chapter from the book of Saw.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Inessential viewing. For Saw completists only. Nothing but a pile of cliches shouted in your face, and lacking the devilish fun of the previous Saw movies. Chris Rock is just playing himself. He's tiresome at the beginning when he's in sexist standup mode, and can only make a frowny face when he has to be in serious mode. I think he just wanted to star in a crappy reboot of Seven. Also, I called the twist halfway through.


Outside Reviews:

Matt Zoller Seitz
1.5 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

Spiral: From the Book of Saw is more frustrating than the average mediocre horror sequel because you can easily decipher the wasted opportunity up there on the screen. The story goes that Chris Rock had an original idea with which to reboot the Saw series, originally launched in 2004 by James Wan's twisting thriller that influenced an industry, and Rock basically talked his way into the production's existence. The premise of blending Rock's comic sensibility, which is often brilliant, with the universe of inspired traps and conflicting morality sounded incredible on paper. And then Samuel L. Jackson came on-board, along with one of the directors from the original franchise, Darren Lynn Bousman, who helmed parts two through four. While it's not hard to see what Spiral could have been, it's even easier to pick out where it failed to live up to that potential. Interesting ideas are raised but unexplored, and even the traps are uninspired this time around. The Jigsaw Killer himself would probably like a word or two with these filmmakers, people who may have cribbed some of the pages of the franchise but never really understood the book.


Katie Rife
Grade: C+ - Chris Rock brings some fresh blood to the late-stage sequel Spiral: From The Book Of Saw

The acting abilities of Spiral's lead cast is not under dispute, which leaves Bousman's direction as the likely culprit for those moments of panic, anger, and fear that just don't achieve the intended power. Rock, for his part, puts on a screwed-up scowl that deepens with every new corpse, while Jackson's performance remains glib even when his character's circumstances grow quite serious indeed. They're both burdened by some truly unfortunate facial hair in the film's flashback scenes, one inelegant exposition detail among many. These little inconsistencies and indignities pile up, each one chipping away at the shock value until the reveal of the killer's master plan lands like a peanut butter sandwich that's been sat on for a few hours.