Review #382: Saw X (2023)

October 2026 Horror Reviews #10 - Saw X (2023)

Saw X takes place between the first and second films in the series, and follows John Kramer after he's been given a prognosis of only a few months to live. John hears about an experimental procedure being offered outside the country, and travels to Mexico to spend a fortune in the hopes of extending his life. The procedure seemingly goes well, but John falls down a rabbit hole that reveals the procedure was not what he expected- and the consequences will be dire. Someone will have to pay, and the Jigsaw Killer is going to make them pay.

(It was actually quite difficult writing an evocative summary that doesn't spoil the main thrust of the film, because I think it's actually quite an interesting reveal when it happens.)

I saw this movie back when it came out, and thought it was pretty good. I've heard people throw around things like "best Saw movie and it's not even close" and I wouldn't go that far, but this is probably as good of a movie as could have been made while going back to the well of John Kramer. The characters are all pretty well-written, the traps are gruesome and clever, and there are several really well-constructed plot twists in here. If we're looking at it under purely technical terms, this IS probably one of the best movies in the series. I don't have any issues with the plot, none of the characters got on my nerves (which is more than I could say about most of the entries in this franchise), and there's some really cool moments to see. Like I said, it's really well-constructed and there's a lot to like.

The issues I do have, come mainly from the meta aspects. A long time ago I reviewed the movies Don't Breathe and Don't Breathe 2- a series where the filmmakers took the rapist villain from the first movie and made him the hero of the second movie. I've never heard anyone seriously defend that, but when I look at the Saw franchise where Jigsaw is arguably worse (not to compare rape and murder on the same measuring stick, but the sheer number of murders John has carried out surely is worse than the crimes committed in Don't Breathe) and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when I'm the only person who doesn't really care for how much this whole franchise acts like John Kramer is some sort of misunderstood hero. This movie takes place AFTER he started killing people in his sadistic deathtraps (he's even encouraged to stop killing people in this movie- maybe not knowingly, but that's what his doctor tells him- and he says no) so you can't even really make the case that this is what led him to do what he does in the other Saw movies. Dude was already a murderer of at least ten people by this point, but when he gets scammed out of a bunch of money we're actually supposed to clap and get excited when he tortures and kills the scammers? Really? John literally gets to walk off into the sunrise with a smile on his face when all is said and done. The guy who just made someone cut out a piece of his own brain walks away arm-in-arm with his closest friends in this movie.

So, again, I just find it supremely weird to root for this guy. 

The only other issue I have with this film comes from just how absurdly complicated the traps are. (Again, remember, this takes place between movies 1 and 2, when the vast majority of traps were "this door will close when the timer runs out".) One trap featured here will be deactivated once a chemical compound detects whether the right body part has been dissolved in acid, another trap needs to suck marrow from someone's leg bones, another requires someone to break their hand and foot while hanging fifteen up in the air for no reason. Not to mention that, somehow, John managed to design and manufacture all of these incredibly purpose-built, custom machines (including one that's the size of a theater stage) in Mexico, by himself (possibly plus Amanda, so two waifish people), in the span of what had to be less than a week (and that's being generous- the doctor had only just taken John's picture off of her corkboard of targets when she got kidnapped, so let's assume she rested for a few days after his surgery before moving on to find other marks). If there was ever a time for the traps to be simple and makeshift, this would be it. This was not the time for gigantic, steel-forged construction and complex electronic processes.

But whatever, if you can get over the fact that you're meant to cheer on a sadist murderer with trap-conjuring magic powers, this is one of the better entries in the series.

So, that wraps up the Saw franchise! I'm glad I gave it a full re-watch, but I definitely found myself more frustrated than I expected to be. Watching everything in quick succession didn't exactly do the series any favors in my opinion, but at the same time, I can't imagine anyone understanding what was going on if they watched them with year-long gaps in between either.

Overall Rating: 7/10 Brain Surgery DVDs

Away Message: Early on in this movie, John sends an email to get information about the medical procedure, and his Gmail address- kramerjohn994@gmail.com- is visible on the screen. (That actually may be an anachronism- the movie takes place in 2004 and technically Gmail did launch in that year but it certainly wasn't popular or common then, but that's not what this is about.) You can send an email to that address, and rather than spoil it for you, I encourage you all to go try it out and see what happens!

Next Up: Paranormal Activity (2007)!