Saw has returned! Tobin Bell is back as the famed serial killer and Saw X explored events that took place before his infamous death in Saw III. The franchise burst onto the scene in 2004; Which means Saw has been in the mainstream for nearly 20 years. Admittedly, the series is overly convoluted, though that’s the charm of the ongoing saga. However, the bread and butter for Saw is their traps.
This time, John uses his traps on a pair of con artists once he realizes that a risky and experimental medical procedure is a scam. Saw X has received the best reviews of the series, and surprisingly, that doesn’t have anything to do with the traps. However, you simply can’t have a Saw without traps. This list will narrow down the traps from best to worst in Saw X. Note: This won’t include the blood waterboarding trap since it was more of a plot point to get to the big twist in the end. Let’s get started with the first trap.
The Eye Vacuum Trap
Honestly, it feels that this trap only exists to serve the appetite of fans who may get impatient because Saw X is more story-based than the other films. The main story doesn’t particularly get going until the 50-minute mark. That’s not a bad thing as developing the characters did wonders for the film.
Still, this was a great trap. The only flaw of the trap was that it didn’t make sense for the victim to not turn the dial straight to five. This series has had past victims sever their limbs to live, so breaking your fingers is arguably the tamest cost here. Nevertheless, the eye vacuum is still pretty cool and the execution was disgusting and clever. It’s not the gorest trap in the movie, but it’s the most innovative.
Bone Marrow Trap
The goriest trap in the entire film. Arguably, this is the most compelling. While Valentina (Paulette Hernandez) is no angel, she’s not as bad as Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund) or Mateo (Octavio Hinojosa), so there is a possibility that she would stay alive. The practical effects are top-notch here, as it’s not noticeable when the fake leg enters the frame. It’s grotesque, but not in an over-the-top and unrealistic manner. Actress Paulette does an excellent job of heightening the tension and selling the moment of fear, panic, and dread. The end result was quite satisfying: though this trap would’ve been better if Cecilia was the recipient of it, the brutal and straightforward decapitation was shocking, yet memorable.
Brain Surgery Trap
It was annoying that Mateo spent about the first minute refusing to do the trap when he saw the results of Valentina. I understand the purpose was to build suspense for the final minutes, but it creates a head-scratching logic that took away from the drama. However, this was a cool callback to Saw III‘s brain surgery; displaying the grotesque nature when Mateo performed the surgery and the nail-biting moments before his confirmed failure. The end result wasn’t as impactful as Valentina’s because we didn’t see the aftermath, but it was still a solid trap that provided some entertainment.
Radiation Therapy Trap
The most cartoonish trap in the film, but there’s a uniqueness to this one that should be commended. Gabriella was more of a grey-area character. While she was involved with the scheme, she wasn’t on the level of bad as the others. Plus, her being a parallel to Amanda made for a nice side arc that developed the legacy character. The special effects for the burns looked great, and that brief reprieve before the medicine fired up and followed Gabriella was darkly humorous. Another innovative trap; though it ties into the themes of these collective traps, it feels too outlandish in this particular Saw film.
Pipe Bomb Trap
Not a bad trap by any means, but a tame one overall. Though it was eye-curling to see Diego cut open his arms to remove the bombs, there was nothing particularly special about this one. It would’ve been cool to see Diego fail to see the end result, but as it stands, it’s one of the weaker ones because it lacked true creativity. The Pipe Bomb Trap did have some nice tension and Joshua Okamoto played up the panic and fear realistically, but this isn’t something that stands out in Saw‘s long list of traps.
Burning Gas Chamber Trap
Saw X does a tremendous job of building up Cecilia as a villain. The film goes the extra mile to make her deplorable by bringing a kid into the mix. Yet, it failed to deliver the proper justice to the most unlikeable character in the film. The trap itself was clever, but it didn’t have the impact that it should. We didn’t see the aftermath of Parker (Steven Brand) once she killed him, and more importantly, Cecilia was still alive! I guess the warehouse is forever her tomb, but this wasn’t a satisfying payoff to a character that the film spent time building as the ultimate villain.
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