'Saw' buzz grows

Jigsaw is dead but "Saw" fans are still eager to pick up the pieces. On Thursday at 3:45 p.m., in Hall H, the Lionsgate preview panel will include actor Tobin Bell, who has become one of horror's most famous faces as the serial killer Jigsaw in the "Saw" films, as well as Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed the second and third "Saw" films and is preparing the fourth bloody installment for release at theaters in October.

"There will be a nice surprise on Thursday for the fans. We have something we're going to be showing; it's pretty cool," Bousman told us Wednesday afternoon. He was hustling from his post-production labors on "Saw IV" (shooting wrapped in late May) to preproduction work on "Repo! The Genetic Opera," which is the rock musical project he will be diving into next. "It's super-busy and very exciting."

Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda (in photo) died at the end of "Saw III," so there's plenty of conjecture about the nature of the fourth film (flashback? ghosts? copycat killer? hoax death?) as well as two new characters, FBI Agents Perez (Athena Karkanis) and Strahm (Scott Patterson). What can Bousman tell us about all that? "That would be absolutely nothing. You'll find out like everyone else on Oct. 24." (Editor's note: This may be the premiere date, but the film opens wide in the U.S. on Oct. 26)

The "Saw" films are now the most successful horror franchise ever, and Bousman believes the reason is the complexity and emotional resonance of tales and the depth of characters. "I think a lot of the films in horror right now are aimed at really young people, and while I can enjoy a wall-to-wall gory horror film as much the next fan, it can become monotonous and repetitious."

Bousman is amped to be at Comic-Con and not just to hype his movie. "I'm the biggest horror geek and comic book freak. I've been going for years; I used to go to Con with my dad."

Bousman, who inherited a sweet collection of original EC Comics from the 1950s, even shared a truly horrific story with us about comics. He had a collection worth thousands of dollars in the trunk of his car last year -- he was driving to have them appraised -- when he got rammed in the rear by an uninsured driver in North Hollywood. "It was the saddest day of my life. They were all bent up and ruined, and now they're basically worthless."

-- Geoff Boucher

Photo: Steve Wilkie / Lionsgate