Starring Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Michael Beach and Renata Vaca.

Directed by Kevin Greutert

Lionsgate, in cinemas now

A sick and desperate John Kramer travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer.

Set between Saw (2004) and Saw II (2005), the tenth instalment in the popular horror franchise is a significant return to form, proving that there’s life left in the Jigsaw killer yet.

One of the strongest elements of this series has always been overseer architect John Kramer, played by Tobin Bell, an avenging angel who sets people up in demented escape rooms where they typically have to saw off a limb to escape. Unfortunately, because he dies in Saw II, his subsequent appearances are usually as brief flashbacks. By rolling time back to the period between the first two movies, Kramer is alive again and the focus of the movie.

Director Kevin Greutert returns to the franchise for the third time, 14 years after his Saw 3D, and co-screenwriters Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger (Spiral and Jigsaw) serve up some typically gruesome scenarios for the victims to deal with. Another welcome return is Kramer’s accomplice Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith Saw I, II, III, VI), who also relishes her increased screen time.

Verdict: Tenth time’s the charm. Against all the odds, Saw X is the sequel that nobody really wanted but ends up being the second best in the run. X out of X

Nick Joy