Spiral: from the Book of Saw

There's a copycat Jigsaw in town killing dirty cops in this nimble, ludicrous and reliably grisly reboot for the Saw franchise. Producer (and series super-fan) Chris Rock stars as a squeaky-clean detective tasked with playing the killer's homicidal games alongside rookie partner Max Minghella, making for an instalment that more closely resembles a police procedural mystery than an outright horror. Smartly written by returning Jigsaw scribes Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg, the film disguises its new villain until the finale, suggesting a fresh take on the series going forward. Spiral hardly skimps on gore - the killer's signature contraptions are dementedly designed to rip off fingers and tongues and even, in one sequence, force a character to sever their own spine - and franchise veteran Darren Lynn Bousman arranges all this with a certain slickness and some neat nods to previous episodes. No doubt die-hard Saw fans will be painting the town red.