To put it simply, the Saw franchise isn't for everyone. Each entry is filled to the brim with gory violence and gruesomely twisted storylines that really only appeal to hardcore horror enthusiasts. The original Saw exploded onto the scene back on October 29th, 2004, racking up an impressive $104 million at the box office despite its divisive reception from film critics (it ended up with a 49% on Rotten Tomatoes). Its success kicked off a new Halloween tradition, with a new Saw sequel hitting theaters every year from 2005 to 2010. The franchise proved to be among the surest bets in Hollywood, consistently pulling in $100+ million on microbudgets of $1.2-11 million (save for Saw 3D , which cost $17 million). Financially, the series certainly accomplished a lot during its initial seven year run -- especially considering the fact that it's one of the worst reviewed movie franchises of all time.
With the exception of 2009's Saw VI, which received surprisingly middling reviews, each subsequent follow-up was a significant step down from the one before it, and the franchise finally bottomed out the following year with Saw 3D. The series' most expensive entry was ultimately its worst, landing with a beyond-bad 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. Few tears were shed when Halloween 2011 came and went without a new Saw flick, and the series looked to be gone for good until the eighth installment, Jigsaw, was confirmed to be in development early last year.
Related: The Complete Guide & Timeline For The Saw Movie Series
Interestingly enough, the latest franchise entry looks to be a moderate improvement over the aforementioned sequels. As of this writing, it sports a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes, good for second highest in the series. We've decided to celebrate (?) Jigsaw's return in the most fitting way possible: by collecting some of the most brutally negative reviews the franchise has ever received. But don't worry, we're only doing this so it'll learn to appreciate the positive ones.
Saw and Saw II
Saw:
This serial-killer tale is inanely plotted, badly written, poorly acted, coarsely directed, hideously photographed and clumsily edited, all these ingredients leading to a yawner of a surprise ending ... There are no insights into the motivations of serial killers, no perspective on the depths to which the human soul will sink to preserve itself at the expense of others. This movie just wallows in its own unrelenting repulsiveness. -- The Associated Press
It's never a good thing to find yourself laughing during a horror thriller, particularly one with a menacing title like Saw. But laugh, laugh, laugh you will ... Elwes's line delivery is better suited to a junior high school production of The Crucible. And he's not alone: Danny Glover, Monica Potter and Leigh Whannell (who penned the screenplay) join him for the ride. And what a pathetic, disappointing ride it is. -- Metro Weekly
Saw II:
In the long run, "Saw II" is a better film than the original, but that's like saying being kicked in the groin is better than being punched in the face. -- FilmJerk.com
Will they be saved? Will they? God, you hope not. The thing about Saw II is that it's not only bloody, it's bloody boring. Jigsaw, for all his long-windedness, has nothing to say. There's nothing interesting about his philosophy, nothing particularly fascinating about the victims except their shortcomings and nothing to raise the film above new-and-improved slasher shtick. -- Sun Sentinel
Saw III and Saw IV
Saw III:
Even splatter-film buffs should be offended by this piece of nonsense: Not because it's so gross, but because it's so dumb. -- Arizona Republic
An affair of simultaneously astonishing boldness, unbelievable ineptitude, and blistering inhumanity - smug, stupid, and evil, respectively ... Says Jigsaw during his final game: Face your fears. A lesson worthy of praise, if the film preaching them weren't so completely full of shit. -- Projection Booth
Saw IV
If the terrible craft of Bousman's film doesn't turn your stomach, the borderline pornographic violence will. It's disconcerting to imagine anyone enjoying the vile filth splashing the screen. If you like your films disgusting, deplorable and demoralizing rather than smart, scary and suspenseful, go ahead and feed the coffers of "Saw IV's" makers. If you don't, please don't give the studio a reason to make "Saw V." Please. -- Chicago Tribune
Every other scene in "Saw IV" starts and ends with a potential victim pressing "play" on a tape recorder, to the point where it's almost funny. Why do these cops spend so much time running into trap-infested abandoned buildings looking for the Jigsaw Killer? Check the credit card receipts for the only guy who purchased 142 microcassette tape players from Best Buy. -- San Francisco Chronicle
Saw V and Saw VI
Saw V:
It's not a good sign when watching someone stick their hand into a table saw is easier than listening to them recite dialogue. -- Los Angeles Times
Basically, you negated everything that was once interesting about the Saw series with one movie. Kudos. But know that you did do one thing incredibly well. You advertised it accurately with your tagline that I wouldn't œbelieve how it ends. Since I expected to be entertained by another great Saw film, I could hardly believe that it ended with me walking out of the theater pissed off and ready to demand the money I wasted on the ticket returned to me. I've got to admit that was a twist I didn't see coming, even if everything else about your movie was obvious from the opening credits. -- Film School Rejects
Is there no end to the depths this franchise is capable of reaching? An insult to anything and everything of similar ilk, from the Hitcher remake down to fourth-rate ripoffs of Se7en, and even that may not be harsh enough. For the love of all that's holy I can't tell if we're supposed to empathize with the ineptitude, greed, and nonsensicality of these unbelievably stupid beings, or if their lack of cognizance is merely there to justify the film's bland and unimaginative carnage (the amount of death and mutilation that could have been easily avoided here is enough to negate the very existence of the film in the first place). -- The Projection Booth
Saw VI:
Saw VI plays like the last gasp for relevance of a heavy-metal series that has not only gone regurgitation-rusty but seems lacking much of a will to live. -- Slant Magazine
Saw 3D and Jigsaw
Saw 3D
This series never cared for filmmaking. It never cared for human life. Now it doesn't even care for its audience or itself, scraping together the gist of the other movies, simply in order to have something to sell for Halloween. This is both the most gruesome and least coherent of the seven movies. That's saying something. -- Boston Globe
This entry is being billed as the series closer, and as a tiny change of pace, but don't believe the hype. Saw 3D offers the same old overwrought, laughably melodramatic shit, only this time in one more dimension. -- AV Club
I'm grateful that I (presumably) never have to see any more of these ever again. -- Salon.com
Jigsaw
Watching Jigsaw go about his torture business is about as interesting as watching a child burn ants ” a dumb and ugly waste of energy, resources and time. -- Vulture