As the tagline says: "If it's Halloween, it's Saw." Here we are, the fourth Halloween in a row with a new entry in the Saw franchise, a series that is fast becoming the new Friday the 13th or A Nightmare o Elm Street. Where the 1980's had their slashers, the new millennium has its torture films, from the current king of the mountain (Saw, duh), to the next tier that includes Hostel, all the way down to films like Turistas and Captivity.

The penchant for cruelty towards the human body is even making its way out of the horror genre into mysteries (I Know Who Killed Me) and real world based "message movies" (Rendition). Each of them succeed to different degrees, but so far only the Saw films have been able to turn the torture theme into box office success. Although the films are getting on towards the point of diminishing returns (in quality), there is still something to be said for the creative traps and resultant gore.

The end of Saw III left many wondering how the series would continue, considering the demise of the primary bad guy, Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), and his apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith). I apologize for the spoiler, but I figure anyone interested in Saw IV will have likely already seen the previous three.

Seeing how they decided to proceed with this film is pretty interesting as they play with chronology and have multiple flashbacks going on after the opening autopsy of one Mr. Jigsaw. Following that, this film has an extreme lack of focus and direction. It is not through no effort from the creative team: it is clear that they are trying very hard to make this work. The problem lies in the team working too hard to make everything fit. Well, that and this all too serious tone which sucks a lot of potential fun right out of the experience.

I liked the first Saw; it was a twisted reworking of what David Fincher did with Se7en. The second film had a quick turnaround and seemed more intent on upping the gore factor, which was successful but at the expense of the film as a whole. The third outing saw a return to the focus the first film had, with some gruesome traps and a better story. It is too bad that this one went the way it did. Yes it had gore, but by the time the closing credits rolled I found that I did not care one iota about the characters, nor how everything fit.

Director Darren Lynn Bousman returns for his third time around in the chair, joined by a pair of newcomers to the series in screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (whose only other writing credit is for the Project Greenlight horror flick Feast from 2006). Together this creative team has crafted a film that is far and away the most convoluted entry of the series, and one of the most nonsensical horror films of recent years.