‘Spiral: From the Book of Saw’ Movie Review

Spiral, a new spinoff of the highly popular Saw franchise, is about a Jigsaw copycat targeting police officers in New York. Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock), an officer who is resented by his peers after he turned in a dirty cop, as well as living in the shadow of his father (Samuel L. Jackson), the former police chief, must track down the killer and solve the mystery, along with his new partner, Detective William Schenk (Max Minghella).

Chris Rock, who is a comedy legend, approached Lionsgate wanting to continue the Saw franchise, of which he is a huge fan, and Spiral is the result of that pitch. The involvement of two major A-listers (Rock and Jackson), and the return of Darren Lynn Bousman, director of the second, third, and fourth Saw films, was enough to get horror fans interested in the resurrection of a somewhat stale franchise. The last entry in the series before this one was the somewhat disappointing Jigsaw in 2017, which featured what would have been a great twist if it hadn’t resulted in some major plot holes, including some frustrating retcons and anachronisms. When reviews for Spiral first started coming out, they were very mixed, with slightly more negative than positive (although the same can be said for most of the other films in the Saw franchise). As one who was really excited about it, this made me a little worried.

Honestly, I don’t really get the hate for this movie. I liked it! I’m not going to act like it doesn’t have some problems, but dammit, I really enjoyed it. The biggest gripe that I see is that the reveal of who the copycat killer is is underwhelming and predictable. While this is true, it didn’t really ruin my enjoyment of the movie, especially considering the killer’s identity didn’t do much to hinder the haunting finale. (Side note: anyone who claims that the villain reveal being predictable ruined the movie has no right to praise Big Hero 6 ever again.) A major reason the first film became a classic was the insane twist at the end, leading to each subsequent film trying to out-twist the previous one. Because of this, Spiral’s villain reveal being kinda weak made a lot of people write the movie off. I think this was a mistake, because the film’s highs are pretty high.

Chris Rock had apparently been wanting to break into horror for a while, and I was impressed by his first foray into the genre. With Jordan Peele, Danny McBride, and now Chris Rock, I’ve really enjoyed seeing so many comedy veterans take a stab at horror (pun intended). Rock playing the lead in a Saw film was a little jarring in theory, but when he first appears on screen cracking jokes about Forrest Gump with his friends, he seems right at home. There are still a couple of times in the movie where it feels like he doesn't fit the role, but it's never because he isn't playing the part commendably. Hopefully he'll start doing more dramatic roles, and it'll retroactively feel more normal. Samuel L. Jackson (the L stand for "muthaf*cka") is as outstanding as ever. Just think about it: Samuel L. Jackson in a Saw movie! How could you hear that and not get excited? And it’s exactly what you would hope to get from that notion. I'm really surprised that it's taken this long for Sam Jackson and Chris Rock to play father and son in a movie, because it's such a no-brainer, from a casting perspective, and their chemistry is as natural as could be. Besides those two, the only other real lead is Max Minghella, who plays the rookie detective assigned to be Zeke’s partner. He’s a little boring sometimes, but he serves his purpose, and Minghella does a fine job.

With Darren Lynn Bousman returning as director, the film definitely feels like a return to form for the franchise, particularly in the gore sequences. We get that classic grungy, green-tinted look and fast-paced editing and camerawork that made those first few films so unique. It was nice to have that familiar vibe back, and it made this new entry in the franchise feel like an extension of the original series. The film is also more than willing to get political and step on some toes (not unlike the surprisingly decent Saw VI). It deals with police brutality and corruption, which also gives some extra layers to this film’s use of pig imagery, which was featured all throughout the rest of the franchise, as well. It doesn’t have a problem getting confrontational and, at times, a bit nihilistic with its commentary, and that fits perfectly with the tone and trajectory of the film.

The hallmark of every Saw movie is, of course, the array of traps, or “games”, created by the antagonist. These traps always require some form of self-inflicted bodily harm in order to escape, usually linked to the captive’s past, as a form of poetic justice. In Spiral, we get some pretty gnarly ones. The first two, in particular, are incredibly brutal, and despite the film being led and produced by a comedian, none of the violence is played for laughs. It takes a lot to get a wince out of me, but Spiral got a couple. My favorite involves an especially trigger happy officer, but that’s all I’ll divulge. All of this being said, the film doesn’t rely entirely on the brutal dismemberment to carry the story. It really does play out like a detective procedural, just with remarkably gruesome crime scenes. It does fall prey to practically every cop cliché in the book, but I honestly wasn’t too bothered by that. It’s not trying to subvert the typical crime drama, it’s embracing the rhythms while adding horror to the mix. Don’t take it too seriously.

While Spiral might be a little disappointing to people hoping for a complete reinvention of the Saw formula, it’s successful in simply being one of the better entries in the franchise. The inclusion of big Hollywood stars like Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, both of whom are fantastic, add an extra bit of heft to the film that, in my opinion, makes up for some of the narrative weak points. The gore is visceral and horrific, the political commentary is fearless, and the traps provide a twisted bit of karmic retribution. While it won’t be to everyone’s liking, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

SCORE: 4/5