10 Surprisingly Good Movie Sequels NOBODY Saw Coming
7. Saw X
Just ask yourself - how good can the tenth entry into any horror franchise possibly be? By most fans' estimates, the Saw franchise began to peter out from Saw IV onwards, and though it enjoyed a brief uptick in quality with Saw VI, it was all downhill from there.
After Jigsaw and Spiral - the eighth and ninth Saw movies respectively - unsuccessfully attempted to rejuvenate the ailing franchise, the producers decided to make Saw X a prequel set between the original two movies.
Bringing back franchise legend Tobin Bell to reprise his role as original Jigsaw Killer John Kramer struck many as a pure desperation move, because for as brilliant as he was in the role, Kramer died all the way back in Saw III - some 17 years before Saw X's release last year.
Yet to the filmmakers' credit, Saw X turned out to be one of the series' best-ever entries, bolstered by its unexpectedly character-driven approach and Tobin Bell's most nuanced performance to date as Kramer.
Even if it didn't persuade everyone of Saw's long-term future - Bell is 81 years old, after all - Saw X did nevertheless shock horror fans by proving there were still some pockets of the franchise's lore actually worth exploring.
That it ended up becoming the first Certified Fresh film in the series' history on Rotten Tomatoes was another huge surprise altogether.