Somehow the ninth Saw movie thus far, Spiral appears on the outside to be an exciting new take on the series, simply thanks to the presence of Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson — by far the most exciting actors these films have attracted. But with the return of director Darren Lynn Bousman, helming his fourth Saw installment, and Jigsaw writers Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger back on script duty, it’s merely a stale rehashing of the saga’s tropes with different characters going through the motions.

Tonally inconsistent from the start, it’s unclear whether viewers are meant to laugh at the dark, self-deprecating comments of loner detective Zeke Banks (Rock), though his adventures tracking down a Jigsaw copycat killer targeting corrupt cops yields a decent number of unintentionally funny moments.

The fairly large cast of miscreants raises the possibility for several likely suspects, and though the guessing game is intermittently entertaining, the filmmakers settle on the least interesting option who’s all but marked after an obvious tell around the halfway point.

Done few favors by Spiral’s shoddy visuals, Rock nevertheless proves a decent horror/thriller protagonist, building off his Fargo experience with another mostly non-comedic role, yet Jackson is sadly M.I.A. beyond a handful of scenes. But it’s the disturbing torture scenarios/games that series fans are here to see, and in that department, they’re sure to be satisfied.

Grade: C-minus. Rated R. Now playing at Biltmore Grande and Carolina Cinemark

(Photo: Brooke Palmer)