10 Movies Where The Villain Was Dead All Along

Many heads were turned when Tobin Bell was announced to be appearing in the eighth Saw film, Jigsaw, given that his John Kramer was categorically killed off way back in Saw III, and everything pointed to Jigsaw being a direct follow-up to the previous movie, Saw 3D: The "Final" Chapter.

Lo and behold, mid-way through Jigsaw, Kramer inexplicably resurfaces to continue torturing those who don't appreciate life, leaving the audience to consider how the hell the man - who we saw get literally autopsied in forensic detail in Saw IV - can be standing before them.

A miraculous cancer treatment was clearly out the window, then, but what about a twin brother? It would've been dumb as all hell, but eight movies deep into any franchise? An amusingly absurd concoction to keep the gravy train running.

But no, Jigsaw's big twist is at least a good deal more sensible than that, revealing that the film's central game actually took place a decade in the past, making much of Jigsaw a prequel to the original Saw movie.

Yet the other main plot following pathologist Logan (Matt Passmore) is indeed taking place in the present, with Logan revealed to be a secret Jigsaw apprentice who survived the original game, and has been running around recreating those games from ten years prior.

As flawed as Jigsaw is, it at least managed to almost convince us that John Kramer was still alive somehow, only to pull another time-fudging plot twist out of its back pocket.