Well, I watched this movie at 3 am. What a terrible mistake 🙂
Spiral, the latest in the Saw series, is the kind of too-close-to-home horror film that’ll really shake you up if you’re not ready. Chris Rock plays Det. Zeke Banks, a reformer and loner who starts receiving cryptic clues related to the murder of corrupt cops.
Famed killer Jigsaw wants to play a game, you see. He’s torturing officers one-by-one, demanding they atone for their crimes by losing body parts, or be murdered. A simple proposition, really.
The killings are grisly, certainly, but what really sells this film are stellar performances from this top-tier cast. Rock and Max Minghella are uneasy partners trying to stop the bloodbath, while Marisol Nichols shines as conflicted Capt. Angie Garza. Their secrets unspool slowly through this otherwise torrid movie, a testament to their multi-layered performances and director Darren Bousman’s masterful pacing.
Oh wait, totally forgot to mention, um: Sam Jackson stars in this?? He plays Rock’s father, a retired police chief who oversaw some of the department’s most abominable scandals. This makes him a massive target, a man forced to face the sins of his past while in conflict with his eternally righteous son. Their scenes together are the heart and soul of this surprisingly human horror flick.
‘You gotta understand, Sam is old enough to be my dad. So I look up to Sam,’ said Rock. ‘I know we’re technically peers, but I have a reverence for Sam like he’s Michael Jordan.’
On-screen they’re peers putting on a master class on bringing a personal touch to films with popcorn-movie panache. Watch these interviews and be sure to check out the film in theaters this Friday!Â
