Grade: A… Usually in the case of popular long running franchises, a franchise tends to jump the shark. Those movies are just too silly to justify anything more than a trilogy. A sixth or seventh installment? Unthinkable! An eight or ninth? Seriously?!?!?! Usually by the later installments in the franchise, a fan or movie goer would often start to feel “franchise fatigue.” Saw X, the tenth movie in the Saw franchise, is quite possibly the best movie in the franchise.

It is no secret that I am not a horror movie fan by any stretch of the imagination. Personally, I would not classify the Saw movies as horror movies. They are not scary to me. Sure the deadly “games” featured throughout the years are brutal and can easily cause some movie goers some gnarly nightmares. John Kramer or “Jigsaw” (played by the great Tobin Bell) has always played by a moral compass and has never killed anyone himself. I almost did not go see Saw X because I felt like this was just going to be a waste of time like a few of the previous ones that came before it.

The first three movies were legitimately well done and enjoyable. The movies that followed, just became silly. That being said, I usually still wound up going to see the latest Saw movies in the theater because my friends went with me and it kind of became a Halloween tradition. So I figured, why not Saw X? It can’t get much worse than the few that came before the tenth installment.

Much to my surprise, I sincerely enjoyed Saw X far more than any of the previous entries of the franchise. Saw X delivers a solid story and excellent message that makes you root for John because it is morally the right thing to do.

Saw X takes place in between Saw 1 and Saw 2. John finds himself facing a cancer diagnosis and searches for a cure. His search for a miracle resides in Mexico where he plunks down $250,000 for the medical procedure that promises him a glimmer of hope. When he realizes that the doctors that perform the procedure are frauds and they don’t cure him, John makes the con artist doctors play a game for their lives in the name of justice.

Just like all the previous Saw movies, John gives the wrong doers a simple choice… Play the game and potentially live or don’t play and die. This time around it truly is personal with him.

As twisted as it sounds, you are truly rooting for the fraudsters to die because a cancer diagnosis isn’t a joke. To give a terminal cancer patient a glimmer of hope just in the interest of taking their money is flat out evil and the fraudsters deserve what they get. Without spoiling any of the games, you will literally be cheering out loud with the conclusion of every game. The twist at the end paired with the iconic Saw musical score is simply perfection and it left me with a gigantic smile walking out of the theater.

If you are a Saw fan, definitely do not skip this movie. Even if you’re not a Saw fan, and have the stomach for crazy amounts of blood and bone crunching sounds, you will enjoy the movie for the message of justice alone.

Go see Saw X. You will not be disappointed and it just may solidify your moral compass.