I defended the Saw franchise long past the point where most self-respecting cinephiles and even genre geeks abandoned it. It was only after the moronic, baffling Saw IV that I got off the bandwagon. But as someone who thinks the franchise has (had?) something to offer beyond the admittedly questionable thrills of what smug know-nothings call "torture porn," I'm anticipating this month's annual installment with an ever-so-slight glimmer of hope. The first three films took a gimmicky serial killer concept and expanded it to something big and increasingly baroque, piling on twist after twist that, to me, consistently seemed bold rather than (merely) ludicrous. They were gruesome, yes, but they were also moody and visually exciting; Darren Lynn Bousman, in particular, seemed to take painstaking care in the second and third films to construct a cruel, self-contained universe around the crazy-ass story.

So here, briefly, are three things Saw V -- which sees the franchise's production designer David Hackl take over directing duties from Bousman -- could do to avoid the pitfalls of its immediate predecessor and restore my faith in the series.

By Monday, we were more than halfway through Fantastic Fest. On the one hand, festgoers who were just there for the weekend had departed, thinning the crowds slightly. On the other hand, some of us realized that there were still tons of movies to see and only a limited time, so we had better try to get into as many films as we could. I know some people who managed to see 5 or 6 films a day. I'm not one of them -- too wimpy.

One movie I saw and liked on Monday was Santos, a superhero film from Chile. When director Nicolas Lopez took the stage before the movie, I recognized him as one of the judges from Thursday night's Air Sex Championships. He was a wonderfully unpredictable judge and turned out to be a charming speaker during the intro and later during the Q&A for his film (as shown in the photo after the jump). Santos is about a comic-book artist who doesn't realize he has the same superpowers as one of the characters he writes about -- and at various points in his life, he's called upon to use those powers. It's very funny, but if you get the chance to see it, bear in mind that many of the gags are not at all family-friendly. Santos was produced by Elizabeth Avellan of Austin's Troublemaker Studios (which produces Robert Rodriguez's films) -- no U.S. distribution deals as of yet, but I hope that changes.

Things have changed a lot since Jennifer Aniston starred in Leprechaun in 1993 -- Friends, tumultuous romances, and a whole non-horror career. But what if she went back to the fold?

During a discussion with MTV, Darren Lynn Bousman, the man behind Repo!, wishes he could follow the rainbow. "I would do Leprechaun in a second. If Lionsgate is listening, give me Leprechaun." But he wouldn't get too serious with the material if given the chance to reboot it: "It's just one of those fun popcorn movies. I would love to bring back the fun popcorn movie -- extreme violence, extreme absurdity -- but make it fun." His idea of fun -- the little bugger in the old west with gold and gun fights.

Personally, I think this could be great if they get Aniston back in on it, and just go wacky. How about you?

Ah yes, Charles Kaufman's Mother's Day. A fine vintage of 1980 sleazoid cheese that was absolutely one of the "dare you to watch it" horror flicks from my childhood. (My friends had such an aversion to explicit gore. What kind of twelve-year-olds was I pals with?) The Drano scene. The TV smash. The filthy mess, the incessant slobbering, the omnipresent threat of grungy rape. Such fun. It was actually one of Troma's earlier efforts, back when they made bad flicks by accident instead of on purpose. But there's no denying that Mother's Day is a sick and twisted little puppy, and a flick that any serious horror fan should definitely check out...

Especially because Brett Ratner wants to do a remake!! Whaaaaat? Yes. According to Shock, Ratner will produce and Saw-maker Darren Lynn Bousman is quite interested in the director's chair. And feel free to toss writer / producer Franck Khalfoun into this crazy mix. (He did that P2 flick with Alex Aja last year, and apparently has a remake of Silent Night Deadly Night in the works.) Details are slim at this early stage, but to be honest ... my opinion of Brett Ratner just raised a few points. Who knew he was a fan of such awesome crap?

Wonderful as the classic family Christmas movies can be, the overwhelming sugary sweetness in most of them can be a little off-putting to adult audiences. I know my friends tend to gravitate more towards the R-rated holiday fare -- Die Hard, Bad Santa, The Ref, etc. Lord knows Hollywood doesn't want to be bothered coming up with original ideas, so I'm proposing seven remakes of Christmas family classics -- souped up for 2008 and aimed at the 17+ crowd. I've set up the plots and even suggested a possible director for each. Enjoy...

Michael Moore's A Christmas Carol

In Michael Moore's return to narrative filmmaking, George W. Bush plays with his shiny new train set, sets out cookies for Santa Claus, and falls asleep in his footie pajamas while watching Power Rangers. He is awoken in the middle of the night by The Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes Georgie through his days of frat parties, draft dodging, drunk driving, and cocaine abuse. Even faced with hard evidence, Bush denies any involvement. The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Bush deep into a post-Katrina New Orleans, where Bush cracks jokes and enjoys some caramel corn. Stunned by Bush's lack of feeling, the ghost takes him to Iraq, where he sees what Christmas is like for U.S. soldiers. Bush yawns. He is sleepy. The Ghost of Christmas Future shows Bush a world ravaged by the effects of global warming and America hated by countries all across the globe. "Not real concerned about my legacy, Future Dude" chuckles Bush, and he falls asleep safe in his bed. Bush wakes up twelve hours later, having learned absolutely nothing. As the movie ends, he runs over a homosexual couple with his truck and kicks a sick orphan in the face.

Rogue

I don't care how many times they push it back, or how much potential for hackneyed disaster there is in a film about a killer crocodile -- I'm looking forward to Rogue, mostly because there was a lot that impressed me about Greg Mclean's debut film, 2005's Wolf Creek. For one thing, it was bold enough to defy several horror cliches, such as foreshadowing dread in the early scenes -- the first thirty minutes of Wolf Creek could be part of an Aussie road drip dramedy, with three aimless kids taking their rickety car way too far into unsafe areas of the Outback. It's also a film that's completely unrelenting in the psychic trauma it wants to inflict on the audience. By the time the slaughtering starts, we know these characters -- we care about them. Frankly, Mclean seems like he'd be completely bored with making a standard slasher/monster film with paper-thin characters. Therefore, I'm going to be first in line for his killer croc movie, and wait for my enthusiasm to blow up in my face.

Friday the 13th

I have no idea if this will get to theaters by late 2008, but I know that Platinum Dunes does have the gears grinding, so it's a possibility. In fact, a little birdie recently told me something hilarious -- Corey Feldman went in and pitched himself as the star of this thing. For those who don't remember, Feldman played Vorhees foe Tommy Jarvis in two installments of the original series, and he apparently had designs on making the Friday remake his newest comeback vehicle. There's really nothing you can do with Jason at this point other than remake him, but how? Word is that PD wants the remake to feature both Jason and his trademark mask -- two elements that didn't congeal until Part III of the original series, so I'm imagining a smelting together of the first three films, set in modern day and with a lot of in-jokes. I guess it will be a film about a little boy who drowns in a lake and immediately morphs into an overgrown, lumbering killer with a machete. Sounds intriguing.

I've been a horror fan since before the first Friday the 13th, but I'm definitely in the "loves the tension, thrills and release, but has a weak stomach" wuss category when it comes to the increasingly detailed anatomical level of blood and latex that's splashed on the screen nowadays. So imagine how I felt when presented with the latest clip from Saw IV, which actually begins with the explicit autopsy of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell, or a reasonable facsimile thereof). Yup, you get the whole deal: medical saws a-cutting, body parts laid open, internal organs sliced and diced.

If your reaction was stomach churning disgust, you can skip to the next article. On the other hand, if you just said: "More, please!" head straight over to the Saw IV web site, where, after entering your name, street number, zip code, date of birth, and next of kin (just kidding on that last one), you may go directly to "video" and click "autopsy." As our resident horror expert Scott Weinberg reported earlier this month, the teaser trailer is there too, along with various graphics and production notes. If you just want a quick look at the teaser -- not the autopsy clip -- you can also head over to Moviefone for a look in glorious HD.

At the Saw IV site you can also take a look at some of the puzzle traps from Saw III and click on "commentary" to watch video clips on how they were realized, with director Darren Lynn Bousman and production designer David Hackl talking about the technical challenges involved. Other site goodies are still marked "coming soon," but if you get bored you can always watch the autopsy clip again. Unless you work in a slaughterhouse, the entire site is NSFW. Saw IV buzzes into theaters on October 26.

I never was into the whole Buffy the Vampire Slayer thing, so to me, Anthony Stewart Head is "that guy who played Frank-N-Furter when I saw The Rocky Horror Show in London after college." (I liked his small role in Scoop, too.) Now Head's official fan website has announced that the actor best known as Buffy's mentor Giles has joined the cast of Repo! The Genetic Opera. The "horror musical" is being directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who helmed the second through fourth installments in the Saw series. The website says Head has "the lead role" in the futuristic film, which will contain both rock and opera music.

Repo! The Genetic Opera is about a company that creates perfect internal organs ... and if you can't pay for them on time, a repo man will be assigned to remove them. It sounds vaguely Delicatessen-ish to me. As Monika Bartyzel told us in July, Paul Sorvino has been cast as the organ-company owner, and Alexa Vega (Spy Kids) as the daughter of a repo man. Her repo man dad must be important because Shock Till You Drop, where Cinematical first spotted the news, says that's the role Head will be playing. Shock Till You Drop notes another last-minute cast addition, courtesy of Bousman's MySpace page: singer Sarah Brightman.The cast also includes Tobin Bell and, as if the film didn't sound bizarre enough, Paris Hilton in a role that involves singing. Shooting is scheduled to begin this week in Toronto.

Now that Paris Hilton has served her time, we can all look forward to her moving ahead with her acting career. Despite the fact that she no longer has an agent, Hilton managed to win a part in Darren Lynn Bousman's Repo! The Genetic Opera. Bousman (Saw II, III and IV) and producer Carl Mazzocone (Boxing Helena) both claim that out of about 30 actresses who auditioned for the part Hilton was by far the best. And for those of you who enjoy her vocal talents as much as her acting skills, you'll be happy to know that she will be singing in the sci-fi-horror-musical. Hilton's character will be the daughter of Paul Sorvino's villainous "organ transplant magnate." Sorvino and Spy Kids' Alexa Vega were both cast last week, with Vega landing the role of a repo man's daughter. Perhaps Vega and Hilton will be friends in the film? And maybe the two can become BFFs in real life, too, and 18-year-old Vega can become the newest paparrazzi darling.

I don't know about you, but I'm now pretty excited about Repo! It isn't that I am looking forward to watching Hilton act and sing on the big screen, I just think the whole project sounds ridiculous, and I can't wait to see how it turns out. It could end up a big joke, or it could be enjoyable as a guilty pleasure or cult hit, or maybe it will actually be brilliant. What if Hilton's true calling is to be an opera singer? Of course, Repo! will not only feature opera numbers; there will reportedly be some rock songs as well. Last month Hilton told Larry King that she had two films lined up, but it isn't clear if Repo! was one of them. She will next be seen in The Hottie and the Nottie, which is due next year.

The "torture porn" genre may be on its way out, but don't tell that to the Saw folks who are already making plans to extend their horror franchise to at least six. Bloody Disgusting has received word that David Hackl has been handed the directorial torch for Saw V and Saw VI, replacing Darren Lynn Bousman ( who's currently finishing up a stint as director on back-to-back-to-back Saw flicks). Hackl was the production designer on Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV, as well as second unit director on Saw II and Saw IV. He was also in the running at one point to helm Saw IV until Bousman decided to give it another go. I'd say he's the right man for the job -- then again, I stopped watching this series after the first installment because, as my friends say, I'm a word that rhymes with schmussy.

It will be interesting to see how well Saw IV does at the box office when it arrives on October 26. While the horror franchise definitely carries a massive fanbase, audiences have made it clear that this whole torture shtick has run its course. We'll also have to wait and see whether the film leaks online, and if that damages its overall box office take. As with most sequels, additional Saw installments are not guaranteed; if Saw IV should fail to hit a certain mark, I imagine the boys will cash in their chips and congratulate one another on a highly-successful run. The decision will have to come quick, though, as Hackl and his team will have to begin work immediately on Saw V in order to have it completed by the following Halloween. Does there come a point when enough is enough? Would you Saw fanatics keep watching through part six, or do you lose interest after awhile?