:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/saw-movies-in-order-032525-17475f425ebe4bb089a3409cada7e06e.jpg)
Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett (2); Brooke Palmer/Lionsgate
When Saw arrived in 2004, few may have predicted it will generate 9 sequels. The pet baby of James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the movie was a pared-down chamber piece that includes a mere glimpse of the acute gore gags for which the sequence would finally change into recognized.
Quick-forward 21 years, and also you’ll discover horror followers the world over anxiously anticipating Noticed XI, initially anticipated later this 12 months however now faraway from the discharge calendar. Whereas it’s simple to wrap our heads across the sequence’ enduring recognition, the franchise’s difficult timeline is much less apparent.
Every of the ten (and counting) installments delights in twisting our expectations, simply because the Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell) delights in twisting the limbs of those that fail to understand life. Generally you’ll get to the top of a Noticed film earlier than realizing its place within the franchise's timeline, or the way it pertains to the broader sequence. Thus, itemizing the movies chronologically is an inherent spoiler. You've been warned.
As an entire information to the franchise, this text additionally touches on main deaths and different pivotal moments, so please take heed earlier than studying. For a spoiler-free information to streaming the Noticed films so as, scroll to the underside of this web page for bulleted lists.
01 of 10
Jigsaw (2017)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/jigsaw-leg_d024_05180_ja02_rgb-2000-e3333c9c6fbb4b6b9b9548328e19d357.jpg)
Technically, the Spierig brothers’ reboot-cum-sequel — the primary Noticed movie launched after a seven-year hole — must be the primary and final title on this checklist. A intelligent inversion of the sequence’ time-hopping antics, Jigsaw (spoiler alert) takes place each earlier than the unique Noticed and a number of other years following the occasions of that movie. However we don’t discover that out till the top.
The plot considerations pathologist Logan Nelson (Matt Passmore), who’s investigating the mysterious deaths of 5 folks trapped in a grain silo and compelled to hack themselves to bits for one among Jigsaw’s video games. On the finish, we be taught the sport we’ve been seeing all through the movie truly occurred 10 years earlier than the occasions depicted right here and a number of other years earlier than the occasions of Noticed.
Nelson reveals himself to be Jigsaw’s first apprentice — he was within the barn, presumed to have died within the opening scene — and explains that he re-created the decade-old sport to border the detective (Callum Keith Rennie) who let his spouse’s assassin stroll free. It’s remarkably difficult, however what about this franchise isn’t?
Where to watch Jigsaw: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
Let's play a game! Here's every 'Saw' movie, ranked
'Saw X' post-credits scene explained: 'The most fan-servicey thing we did'
02 of 10
Noticed (2004)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/horror-villains-Jigsaw-Killer-5dd27ee3db1044568da50f724c61e451.jpg)
Greg Gayne/Lionsgate/courtesy Everett Assortment
Wan’s function debut is a queasy story of two males — Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Whanell) — trapped inside a unclean restroom, pressured to unravel Jigsaw’s sickening plans for them and their family members. Danny Glover places in time because the dogged crimson herring… er, detective monitoring the assassin earlier than he can declare his subsequent victims.
Comparatively muted in violence and gore in comparison with its sequels, Noticed lays the groundwork for every subsequent movie nearly accidentally. Little of what we see plot-wise would have an enormous impression on the franchise’s future, apart from a couple of winking character and placement cameos. Nevertheless, the following movies have been very a lot made within the spirit of this movie’s ambiance and tone. To not point out the template itself: the wild traps and rapid-cut montages; the cops getting shot and blown to items as they attempt to unravel the case; and naturally, the last-minute twist that challenges all the things we’ve simply seen.
Where to watch Saw: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
03 of 10
Noticed X (2023)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/saw-x-092823-6203393612db474295906aa9841e471a.jpg)
Alexandro Bolaños Escamilla/Lionsgate
John Kramer ventures to Mexico for an experimental most cancers therapy administered by money-hungry charlatans on this slick however not significantly creative revival sequel, which takes place between the occasions of Noticed and Noticed II.
Directed by Noticed veteran Kevin Greutert, Noticed X disregards a lot of the backstory the opposite movies strive so onerous to take care of. The plot is blessedly self-contained and uncomplicated: Jigsaw will get scammed, kidnaps his tormentors, and, with the assistance of his victim-turned-accomplice, Amanda (Shawnee Smith, regrettably bewigged), makes them battle for his or her lives — all whereas taking the mandatory steps to arrange a (presumably extra labyrinthine) sequel.
A post-credit sting involving the return of Costas Mandylor’s villainous Agent Hoffman (first seen, release-wise, in Noticed III) hints at some delectable instructions Noticed XI would possibly discover.
Where to watch Saw X: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
04 of 10
Noticed II (2005)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/SAW-II-092722-3040ab9bc8d74ed9ad2fe04b361b1999.jpg)
Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett
The primary sequel to Wan’s horror hit takes place one 12 months after the unique's conclusion, and after Jigsaw’s journey to Mexico. Amanda, launched solely briefly within the first film, takes middle stage as she and a gaggle of troubled (and significantly shouty) folks attempt to battle their manner out of a home jerry-rigged with all method of nasty gadgets. Donnie Wahlberg makes his sequence debut as a cop attempting to trace down Jigsaw — and his personal son, who's inside the home with Amanda.
Saw II, the primary of 4 within the sequence directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, approaches Jigsaw as a extra rounded character than the pig-masked ghoul from the primary movie. His poisonous relationship with Amanda can also be expanded upon right here, setting the characters up for a number of sequels down the highway.
After spending the movie with Amanda and believing she’s as soon as once more been victimized by Jigsaw, it seems she’s now working in cahoots with him. That reveal leads straight into…
Where to watch Saw II: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
05 of 10
Noticed III (2006)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/SAW-III-092722-56e21a986d284a0993ebeed6e1f7b8c7.jpg)
Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett
Saw III is the place the sequence got here to its pure conclusion… although followers weren’t mad to get seven extra installments (and counting). Following the earlier movie’s occasions, Amanda kidnaps a surgeon (Bahar Soomekh) to observe a critically unwell Jigsaw — and finally carry out mind surgical procedure on him.
Bousman returned to helm this trilogy-capper, which does an admirable job closing the preliminary storyline, introducing new characters, and grossing us the hell out (ground-up pig carcass, anybody?).
Those that have stayed with the sequence by means of its ups and downs will little doubt really feel a pang of nostalgia for when it carried a sure narrative weight. The finale — during which Jigsaw, Amanda, and nearly everybody else meet their maker — offers the preliminary storyline a satisfying conclusion, sending future screenwriters reaching for more and more inane methods to revive the central characters.
Where to watch Saw III: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
06 of 10
Noticed IV (2007)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/SAW-IV-092722-075bd036a6bb439a9e94a3aabb38e505.jpg)
Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett
After Jigsaw’s demise on the working desk in Noticed III, he’s dissected by a pair of zealous morgue technicians who discover, inside his physique, a wax-sealed tape on which the devious torturer has included one “ultimate” sport.
Saw IV is when the sequence pivoted its focus from the victims to cops (performed by Lyriq Bent and, brilliantly, Gilmore Girls’ Scott Patterson). It additionally marks when the writing went into overdrive to maintain the franchise alive. The plot is a bunch of nonsense about Jigsaw’s legacy and his spectacular penchant for planning forward, nevertheless it’s actually about watching eyeballs pop and limbs get messily ripped from their supposed sockets.
The homicide maestro’s widow, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), figures prominently on this installment, with FBI Agent Strahm (Patterson) pursuing a pet principle inserting her on the middle of the crimes. This installment additionally establishes Jigsaw’s tragic backstory, exhibiting how he was compelled to kill offenders after a violent drug addict brought about Jill to miscarry their baby.
Where to watch Saw IV: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
07 of 10
Noticed V (2008)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/SAW-V-092722-42ded52f184d41b3a4751ec7b5a39aff.jpg)
Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett
Noticed V picks up within the moments following the fourth movie’s conclusion. Agent Strahm is as soon as once more on the case, and he suspects the dodgy Agent Hoffman (Mandylor) might need one thing to do with Jigsaw’s continued presence at crime scenes.
This fifth entry spends quite a lot of time organising future installments and little or no time doing something fascinating. That mentioned, there's a very compelling Edgar Allen Poe-style gadget in direction of the movie's finish with passive implications for the central gamers.
Where to watch Saw V: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
08 of 10
Noticed VI (2009)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Tobin-Bell-Saw-102422-57958630b79d4b8294e19d90c083d013.jpg)
Steve Wilkie/Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett
The sixth movie sees Hoffman advance Jigsaw’s work by confining a weaselly medical insurance exec (Peter Outerbridge) to a disused carnival the place he encounters all method of horrific traps.
There’s a whole lot of enterprise about why Jill is working with Hoffman to maintain her late husband's legacy alive, however the filmmakers are clearly extra within the gore portion of the story.
Where to watch Saw VI: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
09 of 10
Noticed: The Ultimate Chapter (2010)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/SAW-3D-092722-be2f42987b7f4b22823384213b384235.jpg)
Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett
Eh, not likely. The seventh film finds Hoffman and Jill nonetheless battling for supremacy over Jigsaw’s property, with each just about in the identical place they have been beforehand. However this time, just one will make it out alive…
Where to watch Saw: The Final Chapter: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
10 of 10
Spiral: From the E-book of Noticed (2021)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/spiral_2-2000-bfbd8dc37af5446c9fe6164fe5867494.jpg)
Keep in mind when Chris Rock made a Noticed film?
Bousman returned to the franchise with this weird toss-off, a film that makes an attempt to utterly reboot the model whereas doing precisely the identical factor the opposite movies did.
Rock performs Zeke Banks, an sincere, tired-looking cop who’s pressured to reconcile his thorny skilled historical past and his relationship along with his retired cop father (Samuel L. Jackson). Earlier than lengthy, his colleagues (all of whom are corrupt) begin turning up dismembered. Apart from some voiceover and that well-known theme music, nothing right here relates again to the remainder of the franchise, arguably making Spiral a standalone film.
Where to watch Spiral: From the Book of Saw: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
The way to watch the Noticed films in chronological order:
- Jigsaw (2017)
- Noticed (2004)
- Noticed X (2023)
- Noticed II (2005)
- Noticed III (2006)
- Noticed IV (2007)
- Noticed V (2008)
- Noticed VI (2009)
- Noticed: The Ultimate Chapter (2010)
- Spiral: From the E-book of Noticed (2021)
The way to watch the Noticed films in launch order:
- Noticed (2004)
- Noticed II (2005)
- Noticed III (2006)
- Noticed IV (2007)
- Noticed V (2008)
- Noticed VI (2009)
- Noticed: The Ultimate Chapter (2010)
- Jigsaw (2017)
- Spiral: From the E-book of Noticed (2021)
- Noticed X (2023)
Shut

Leave a Reply