Jigsaw returns to the big screen again this Halloween season in “Saw X,” a new sequel that takes place between the events of “Saw” and “Saw II.” And to celebrate the antihero being back in multiplexes, Lionsgate decided to parody AMC‘s iconic ad featuring Nicole Kidman to drum up hype for the franchise’s tenth installment. No surprise here: the later films in horror franchises tend to get meta to maintain relevance.
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AMC patrons already know the Kidman ad by heart. The actress enters an AMC location, and reminds the audience over voice-over of all the reasons “we go to this place.” But with Jigsaw, all those reasons are violent, demented, and involve self-mutilation. The doll drives its tricycle through a puddle of blood to the Lionsgate headquarters and says, “We come to the theater to scream, to bed, to play.” And Jigsaw wheels himself into a screening room to take in some of the killer’s greatest hits and scenes from the upcoming film.
And as Jigsaw finds the perfect seat, he offers his take on what makes his particular brand of the moviegoing experience so special. “When the lights flicker on and off,” he tells the audience,” and your calls for mercy go unanswered, and you wake up chained in a dirty warehouse, somehow still breathing, bloodsoaked blades on a huge silver screen …fear that I can feel. Somehow, self-amputation feels good in a place like this.”
And then the zinger: “Traps: they make movies better.” Sure they do, for the horror fan who still finds novelty in a franchise that arguably should have ended with “Saw 3D” in 2010. “Saw X” follows Tobin Bell‘s serial killer John Kramer as he travels to Mexico City in the hopes to cure his terminal cancer. But he soon realizes the treatment he seeks is actually a fraudulent scheme, and he decides to wield his particular brand of vengeance against the con artists who run it. The sequel also stars Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Michael Beach, and Renata Vaca. Kevin Greutert returns to direct his third film in the franchise.
“Saw X” hits theaters on September 29. Watch Jigsaw’s AMC parody teaser below.
