Posted in: Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: lionsgate, saw x

When The Horror Wimp Is Sent To Cover The Saw X Junket

What happens when the writer, who is a giant wimp about horror movies and knows nothing about Saw, is sent to cover the Saw X junket? Guess we'll find out.

You need to know your own blind spots and weak points when working with criticism, the same way you need to know what little things make you happy or will make you like a film more. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging either, and there is also nothing wrong with knowing that, sometimes, you might not be the person to add your voice to this discussion. That is usually the position I take when it comes to horror here at Bleeding Cool. I have the fantastic Jeremy Konrad and Aedan Juvet, who almost always know more than I do and have more to add to the discussion than I do. However, due to real-life circumstances, the person who is a giant wimp about horror was off to cover Saw X, the tenth entry in a movie franchise where I hadn't ever seen a single frame of the previous movies.

This is fine.

"This Is Fine," Says The Horror Wimp At The Horror Junket

In truth, I have known a lot about the Saw franchise since I somehow ended up on "spoil this horror for me so I don't have to watch it" TikTok and plenty of reading on Wikipedia. There was always the lingering notion that I wasn't sure if these movies were for me. The main things I dislike about horror are jump scares [this becomes comical later] and any sexualized violence. Gore doesn't bother me too much, so I didn't think Saw X would be too much. Instead, my angle for the entire junket was, "I am a person who has never seen a Saw movie; ten films in you still need to bring in new fans, so let's see how this one plays out to someone with only surface-level knowledge of the franchise."

Horror fans are a lot like heavy metal fans in that the thing they like might be very dark, but they themselves are very kind. All of the media and people attending the event for Saw X in Las Vegas, everyone who was a massive horror and Saw fan, embraced me with open arms. They were eager to hear what I would think of the movie and to explain all of the aspects of the films that they enjoyed. Much like the Hannibal fandom found so much joy and beauty in a show about cannibalism, I always enjoy being around people who love something. When we settled in for the screening, I made a new friend and sat between two Saw superfans as they watched the film.

There is something to be said about watching a film with people who adore it, and seeing Saw X with people who were excited to see it and loved every second made it all the more enjoyable an experience for me as a new viewer of the franchise. For a more in-depth look at the film, please check out my full review, which may or may not be up at the time of posting but will be up very soon. Following the film, we were taken on a bus to the SAW Escape Room near our hotel in Las Vegas.

From there, we were treated to food by the lovely people at the horror-themed pizza place Sliced Pizza and told that the Escape Room element was slightly tweaked for us. In the lead-up to this event, I repeatably told people I dislike haunted houses with loud noises and people jumping out to grab me and screaming in my face, but a SAW-themed escape room didn't sound so bad. Well, a walk-through of several rooms was essentially a haunted house-type experience with lots of loud noises, people getting in my face, and all the fun stuff. Many thanks to Vannah Taylor from Fangoria for letting me cower behind her because, of course, they recorded everything.

After destroying my nerves and my eardrums, we were taken back to the hotel room for interviews the next day that were conducted within the SAW Escape Room to serve as backdrops. Many thanks to the various other journalists who attended the Saw X junket, who let me ask them a billion clarifying questions about things, and Lionsgate for the invite. Did Saw X convert me to a fan of the franchise? Unclear, though I have joined the cult of Tobin Bell. So maybe that's enough.

Saw X: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most chilling installment of the SAW franchise yet explores the untold chapter of Jigsaw's personal game. Set between the events of SAW I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer – only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, John returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through a series of ingenious and terrifying traps.

Saw X, directed by Kevin Greutert, stars Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, Michael Beach, Octavio Hinojosa, Paulette Hernández, and Joshua Okamoto. It will be released on September 29th.

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