3. The Saw Series (2004 - 2010)
Official Films - Saw, Saw II, Saw III
Ignore - Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw: The Final Chapter (AKA Saw 3D) Now before you spit your herbal tea at the screen and declare me a hack, hear me out. I know the feelings that a lot of people have on these films. Torture Porn is the phrase people cry. "Gore for the sake of gore" Though if you give me a second to explain and argue my case... You'll probably still call me the hackiest hack that ever hacked. The first thing that everyone thinks of when you mention the Saw films is the gore. Brutal torture inflicted on people for our amusement. Blood, guts, amputated feet et al, flying at the screen. Though think back to the first film in the Saw franchise. I mean, before the reputation of the sequels tarnished it. It features very little actual onscreen blood or gore. It's all hinted it, hidden with clever camera techniques, or showing machinery that looks devastating but never using it on a human person. The scene with the reverse bear trap,a device which is attached to person's upper and lower jaw before being ripped open, is only used on a polystyrene head in a demonstration, we never see it's effects to an actual person. We see the threat of it, but the victim manages to free themselves from it before it actually opens The story holds true throughout the first three films and all characters and their stories are brought to a fairly sensible conclusion. The death of the main antagonist and his apprentice, means that his legacy will not continue on past his death, though he has done enough to allow his message to remain out there; people must appreciate their lives. The film doesn't include the ridiculous second apprentice plot, nor does it continue well into tedium with the same traps and nonsensical storylines that constantly undid themselves with each following installment. We have the reign of the Jigsaw killer, in what is not necessarily the best horror trilogy of all time, but in what is a decent and somewhat fulfilling set of films. No struggling to bring the doctor back from the first installment, no inclusion of another character that pissed off Jigsaw enough to warrant one of his trials. No schlocky 3D, no characters announcing their thoughts to empty rooms, No decline in the quality of performers which goes from middle of the barrel to scraping the floor underneath the barrel. The original writers jumped ship after this installment, I think it's best if we did to.