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The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags are used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Saw IV can be found here.
Saw IV is the fourth movie in the Saw series, all of which stem from a screenplay by Australian screenwriter Leigh Whannell. Saw IV was co-written by American screenwriters Thomas Fenton (story), Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan.
Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) has his brains removed during the opening autopsy scene to explain that he is no doubt deceased. Amanda (Shawnee Smith)'s body can be seen lying on floor in the operating room next to Lynn (Bahar Soomekh) who had the shotgun shells around her neck from Saw III. This is also proof that Amanda is deceased.
The first one was made as a toy for his unborn son. Represents a piece of Jigsaw's past that contributes to his murderous nature.
Producer Oren Koules wants Saw fans to know: "Leigh and James are still very much involved."
After escaping the bathroom, Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) was put in a small room being fed through a hole in the wall for six months, waiting to be a part of Rigg (Lyriq Bent)'s test. He is so depressed by this point he tries to kill himself several times during the game. Addison (Emmanuelle Vaugier) one of the people in the house in Saw II, approaches Jigsaw who is waiting to pick up his wife from the clinic. She was apparently a prostitute. Gus (Tony Nappo) is one of the men in the health clinic who starts the fight; his name is even said. Michael (Noam Jenkins), the guy in the Deathmask Trap in Saw II is sitting next to Gus in the clinic. Troy (J. LaRose) from Saw III and Paul (Mike Butters) from Saw I are also seen in the background in the clinic. When everyone leaves Jigsaw's wife Jill says goodbye to the man who was Amanda's "dead cell mate" in the first Saw.
Cecil (Billy Otis) is a drug addict who belongs to Jill (Betsy Russell)'s detox clinic, which is shown in flashbacks. Cecil plays Jigsaw's first game, where he has to push his face into some knives in order to release himself from a chair. If he remains in the chair then he will bleed to death from the knives cutting into his wrists. When Cecil makes it out of the chair alive, due the chair breaking, he immediately attacks Jigsaw with one of the knives. Jigsaw simply steps aside and lets him fall in a cage full of razor wires. Cecil ends up bleeding to death.
Obi does not appear in the film in any way, either in flashback or in mention. He did however appear in the official Saw video game. It reveals Obi's connection to Jigsaw.
This lady that was in Jigsaw's memories (Jill) was revealed to be Jigsaw's ex-wife before he became obsessed with making people appreciate their lives. She has a much larger role in Saw IV than Saw III. In Saw IV we discover that Jill was pregnant until Cecil, a drug addict, caused her to have a miscarriage by accidentally slamming a door into her. This is what leads John into becoming Jigsaw. His anger turns psychopathic, and he warns Jill to stay away from him.
We learn Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), a police detective, wrote what was in the envelope and placed it in the drawer, but what is actually written on the page is revealed in Saw VI.
At the end of Saw III, it was revealed that Jigsaw is holding Jeff's other child, his daughter Corbett. This leads into Saw IV.. Hoffman is seen with a black teddy bear. When asked if he was married, he responds "I'm not. It's a short story, believe me." This teddy bear is more than likely Jeff's daughter's. It is important to remember that at the end of Saw III John/Jigsaw stated that he is the only one who knows where she is. In the original script after Hoffman locks Strahm in the room with the bodies of Jigsaw, Lynn, Jeff and Amanda, he calls the police on the cellphone and tells them to get here. When they do, Hoffman emerges from the lair with Corbett, Jeff's daughter, and he says he saved her. This was taken out because it was used in Saw V. This could also be a clue to what part Hoffman plays in Jigsaw's games.
There is only a passing reference to Gordon and his place at the hospital while he was treating John's cancer. Also, Fisk mentions to Hoffman that another doctor is missing from the hospital. he is reffering to Lynn as the other, as Dr. Gordon was the first. This could mean that he is still missing. Lawrence Gordon's fate still remains a mystery. [What's really happening is that Cary Elwes (the actor who played Dr. Gordon) was locked in a battle over money with the studio after the first movie. This law suit is long finished. Leigh Whannell stated that because the lawsuit is over, Cary and the producers made up. Leigh also said that Gordon may very easily return in future Saw movies.]
They're the same body. The events of Saw IV take place more or less in synchronisation with the events of Saw III. The autopsy at the beginning of Saw IV chronologically takes place after the events of Saw III and Saw IV. Essentially, the entire movie occurs alongside the events of Saw III, after Kerry (Dina Meyer)'s death. Therefore, Jigsaw died at the climaxes of both Saw III and Saw IV. His body is somehow moved to the autopsy room for he appears at the very beginning and end of Saw IV (the latter taking place in the correct order.) It is unknown how the police recovered his body.
Most of you saw a movie still of a man trying to escape a box of glass. It is presumed that this was Jigsaw's second trap and was deleted from the movie. It's possible that it will be explained in Saw V. During the audio commentary for Saw IV, director Darren Bousman claims that the trap was used on the loud man in the hotel lobby, and that, since it has been shot, it will be shown in Saw V. It was apparently cut from Saw IV because it was deemed too violent, it was also not in the original script and was created by Bousman because he was tired of shooting dialogue scenes.
This may be a goof. There doesn't appear to be a reason why, after the piece was removed, it would be reinserted into John's head. The fragment would most likely have been disposed after the surgery.
It's a trap set to go off and cut his spinal cord if he presses the release button for the detectives too early.
The fourth installment of the franchise got an R-rating for its theatrical release. This was also released on DVD and Blu-ray later as well as an Unrated Director's Cut that runs approx. 3 minutes longer. Looking at this cut one can conclude that the theatrical version was censored in many scenes. A detailed comparison between the theatrical version and the Unrated Director's Cut can be found here.
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