Could not find another one in here so here we are, in the spirit of the new movie being released here are my official rankings of all 10 movies. While there will be no spoilers for SAW X, there may be some minor ones for prior movies.
10. SAW The Last Chapter (SAW VII): The GOT writers probably got their idea to ruin the final season of an epic series by watching SAW do it first. What was supposed to be two movies to finish things off instead crammed 3+ hours of content into an hour and a half movie which decimated the meticulous story that had been building for 6 prior movies. All the while also leaving the door completely open for further movies and giving us the most predictable final twist of them all.
9. Spiral: Not in itself a bad movie at all, it just had no actual ties to the SAW universe beyond very briefly mentioning Jigsaw one time. Gives Haloween 3 vibes while also fun if you watch it on its own, is also the worst of the series as it doesn't include the actual person the movies are supposed to be about.
8. Jigsaw: Also not a bad movie overall and had some great traps and a decent end twist. Unfortunately again, by barely tying into the SAW universe it loses most of its relevance and sadly adds yet another Jigsaw apprentice to the mix that somehow despite taking place before the first SAW movie, is never involved with any of the action of 1-7. Biggest plot hole in the series until they resolve it down the line hopefully.
7. SAW 5: The central game seemed unnecessary for this movie but I did enjoy the cat and mouse game between Hoffman and Strahm and the ending was pretty great.
6. SAW X: Really SAW 1.5 as it takes place between the first two movies. Definitely the most grounded of the series and its a completely self contained movie that doesn't reference events from the first movie at all really. What made the SAW movies so great for me was that there was a centralized "game" being played the whole time while there was also a second or third story going on around it, not this time though. I did think it was great to see Tobin Bell get to be the star for once and the movie provides some insight on what probably propels both John and Amanda to hone their crafts into who they were in 2/3. What was missing to me was more of a connection with the first movie, I would have liked to see a little fallout from that one then lead into the action of this movie. John is still learning how to be Jigsaw here but when the end credit scene rolls, you'll see that he's become him completely and gives us a nice setup for the next movie hopefully.
5. SAW: Yep the original is far from the best to me. Loved the movie for its rawness and the twist that John was laying in the room the entire time. It just wasn't as deep as the ones I ranked above it.
4. SAW 6: What separates SAW from the other horror greats is that it feels like a TV series where you only get one episode a year. Filling in some pieces every halloween season into this universe just makes you want to come back for more and this movie did a great job all around. The best traps for sure in the series, more backstory, and bringing Hoffman to the front as the new main Jigsaw and battling with Jill as the side story was a lot of fun. Everyone hates insurance people so it was also fun seeing some of them killed brutally in a fictional world.
3. SAW 3: Of course the twist no one thought was coming, Jigsaw getting killed off early in the franchise. The central storyline of Jeff learning how to forgive is the best of the series for me. Being introduced to Hoffman for 30 seconds not realizing he will soon become one of the biggest characters in the series was well done.
2. SAW 4: The twist that 3/4 are playing at the same time was insane. Eric Matthews still being alive as well. Rigg finally getting to be the star and failing for actually playing the game was a sad twist.
1. SAW 2: Watching this movie is what inspired me to create one of the very first live escape room games in the world, a business that has changed my life immensely so I of course am extremely biased in ranking this one the top dawg. Despite that, its just the best movie. Running through an empty house, finding clues, all while learning more about Jigsaw/Amanda and beginning the build to a huge SAW universe was incredible.
