To me, Saw – The Ride had to have the Saw atmosphere to be good. Indeed, the musty feeling aroma in the initial corrugated metal tunnel was right in line with it. However, The Rack from Saw III, which is situated in a rather cramped corner, is somewhat dismantled from its former Technicolor glory. The motors have been removed, along with some of the head restraint, which was disappointing for a fan.
The rest of the queue was ok, but it never achieved the Saw atmosphere. This was due to one crucial reason, Jigsaw’s voice; it was clearly not Jigsaw. If Tobin Bell or even Costas Mandylor had done the spiels, they would’ve nailed the atmosphere. Unfortunately the voice proved to be a disappointment. Consequently, I’m not sure it does the franchise justice.
Although on a positive note, I cannot stress what a good touch those shotguns are, and what hilarity ensued when a group of schoolgirls were behind me, absolute genius!
The indoor section of the coaster is great. Although the axe pendulums were not swinging on my visit, Billie the puppet, on his (broken) tricycle was cycling and talking. The spiel here was respectable, but his mouth should have moved more realistically, it did in the films, slightly disappointing.
The rest of the indoor coaster section is good, if a little unimaginative (cross bow corridor for instance, seems overlong). And the blood-squirting body would’ve been more effective, if the water actually looked like blood, nevertheless it’s still a highlight of the ride.
Upon exiting the ride, Jigsaw informs guests that “the games have just begun”, but this wasn’t backed up with anything. It seemed pointless and a bit confusing. If however, they placed some more shotguns in there, which went off at the end of the spiel. It would’ve been a much better ending.
Still, that prop from the Saw IV posters is marvellous; it was fascinating virtually seeing Tobin Bell in real life.