Joey Magidson
The Sunday Scaries are upon us once again! Yes, as the weekend concludes, most of us feel an oncoming sense of anticipatory dread about the week ahead. Anxiety about work manifests itself into a feeling that’s known as the Sunday Scaries. However, we at Awards Radar are here to combat that, by taking back the name. Now, we want you think about a horror-centric piece on the site when you hear the term. So, let us continue on with another installment of the Awards Radar Sunday Scaries! Today, a recent trailer for a beloved franchise here on the site has me very excited…
It’s no secret that I love the Saw franchise. Spiral got a rave from yours truly upon release here, as well as a previous Sunday Scaries here on the future of the franchise. Well, we now know where the series is headed, which is backwards (chronology-wise), as the trailer for Saw X recently hit the web. Not only does it take place in the mainline chronology, as opposed to Spiral, but it also brings back Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw. As an added bonus, he’s fully the main character!
Saw X looks like a Saw film. Now, if you don’t care for the franchise, that might not seem particularly appealing. For someone like myself, it shows that returning director Kevin Greutert, as well as returning writers Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg, know what the franchise is. Spiral was a big swing, one that I very much appreciated, but getting back to Bell’s Jigsaw Killer as the main selling point is quite appealing.
The trailer showcases how this is a revenge tale, as opposed to just randomly coming up with a group of potential victims. Here, John Kramer is striking back at the individuals who ran a health care scam on him. The vintage song over the trailer is a lovely touch, as is the decision not to really reveal the traps. It’s more about horror vibes than anything else.
This is the trailer for Saw X, in case you missed it on the site previously:
I'm delighted by this trailer because it's relishing a return to form. Focusing on Bell in this prequel fashion is a clever way to get as much of him as they want. The cameo from Amanda in the trailer gives you a further idea of where this takes place in the series. The little touches are all there. You'll have to be good with gore, but it may well end up being among the best Saw sequels out there.
Time will tell what we get with Saw X in September, but I'm very excited. Myles is too, obviously. We'll do at least one more Awards Radar Podcast episode on the franchise in September. So, we're planning for it to be worth some level of discussion. We only have a premise and a trailer to go off of right now, but the seeds have been planted for something memorable...
Stay tuned for another Sunday Scaries next weekend!
I know I talked about this already in my preview article but the trailer for this movie really was a stunning reminder to me of just how much better we’ve gotten at slowing down the aging process over the last twenty years.
When Saw III was released in theaters, Tobin Bell was 64 years-old and Shawnee Smith was 37. Today, in the Year of Our Lord 2023, Bell looks like he’s 69 and Smith looks maybe in her mid-40’s, tops.
It’s almost like science isn’t out to get us with deadly vaccines or something, right? We may actually get to see our favorite actors and actresses remain vital throughout their careers now.