“Spiral” is yet another attempt to revive the “Saw” franchise. Allegedly, it tries to take things in a new direction. However, I struggled to see any difference between this and any of the other films in the series. Aside from the fact that it stars Chris Rock (“Madagascar”, “Dogma”), this is the same tired formula.

Zeke Banks (Rock) is a cop that isn’t liked much by others on the force after he helped bring down a corrupt colleague. Now, he’s investigating some grisly murders that are reminiscent of the crimes of Jigsaw. Can he catch the new copycat and bring his reign of terror to an end?

If you think having Chris Rock in your movie is going to save it then you’re crazy. Rock is just awful and irritating as always. It’s so weird seeing a comedian star in a horror movie. Apparently, Rock pitched the idea for this movie. Maybe we’ll soon get a “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” with Mike Myers (“Wayne’s World”) and “Halloween” with Will Ferrell (“Elf”). Samuel L. Jackson (“Snakes On A Plane”) is here but adds nothing. Everybody else is deathly boring. Don’t expect to see Tobin Bell from the other “Saw” movies (not even another lousy flashback).

This film starts with a man being told that the only way to avoid an oncoming train is for him to rip his own tongue out to escape a trap device. A far more frightening prospect would have been having to endure sitting through a Chris Rock comedy show. This movie does absolutely nothing to get me interested in this franchise again. It’s just more the same boring stuff that we witnessed in all the other “Saw” movies. I don’t get why the studio is pretending that this is some new direction for the series because it’s just more of the same.