Saw (2004)

Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up in a dank room across from Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and the body of a guy who has blown his own brains out. Not a happy place, obviously, and it gets worse when both men realize that they've been chained and pitted against one another by an unseen but apparently omniscient maniac who's screwing with their psyches as payment for past sins. Director James Wan, who concocted this grimy distraction with screenwriter Whannell, has seen Seven and any number of other arty existential-psycho-cat-and-mouse thrillers, so he's provided Saw with a little flash, a little blood, and a lot of ways to distract you from the fact that it doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. Wan and Whannell (who's not the most accomplished actor, either) pile on the plot twists, which after some initially novel ideas become increasingly juvenile. Elwes works hard but looks embarrassed, and the estimable Danny Glover suffers as the obsessed detective on the case. The denouement will probably surprise you, but it won't get you back the previous 98 minutes.--Steve Wiecking Amazon.com

 oh yes their will be a stupid doll
this movie was great a real thrilling and shocking performence, that pig mask was a little scary when i first saw it, but this movie was great. May 1, 2008

 orignal was much better....
I saw this in distribution. I actually had to turn my head at certain points. This, along with Trent Reznor's soundtrack made for a great splatter flick. I thought the uncut version could only be better.....WRONG. It is not nearly as tense and nerve-racking as the theater version. Plus, they have replaced Reznor's soundtrack with something else. In this case, the orginal was much better. Be warned! March 12, 2008

 Slightly hacked off
I've managed to miss this one over the last four years. Doesn't deserve four stars in my view. For a film that was obviously made on a reletively low budget it mostly works well though.

The story reminded me of the sort of thing Clive Barker might have written in his Books of Blood (a series of short stories). OK there are a few inconsistencies in the plot but I thought it was pretty well acted and the twist at the end is well done. There are some genuinely creepy, not to mention grisly, moments scattered throughout the film.

However do not be mislead by the hype and the advertising blurb. This isn't a touch on 'Seven', which is better written, acted and in a totally different class. I have watched 'Seven' many many times, but having just finished watching 'Saw' I really have no desire to see it again. March 10, 2008

 A Grisly Film with Few True Frights
[Note: Beware... Spoilers lie ahead. Proceed at your own risk if you've never seen this movie.]

2 1/2 Stars.

This is another instance where hype leads to disappointment. Saw was a big "word-of-mouth" film when it came out in theaters. It was supposedly "different". Not typical horror, more of a mix of twisted psychological horror, suspense, and whodunit. It wasn't a gore fest by any means (although it's pretty darn gruesome at times). And some people loathe it for that because they expected copious amounts of blood and gore, and Saw didn't really deliver that.
Its story and devices are not original. Just watch Vincent Price in "The Abominable Doctor Phibes", or "Se7en". Saw plays with several genres including the detective story.
It's not a fun movie by any means. Some horror movies are fun because they are truly scary and entertaining. Saw is neither entertaining nor scary when you really examine it.

I'm not going to describe the premise or plot too much. Too many reviews for Saw start by saying "These two guys wake up chained to a pipe in a disgusting bathroom..." and they begin to delve into a nutshell synopsis. You'll find out what it's about when you watch it. And if you're already familiar with it, chances are you either love it or hate it.

Anyway, while not a great film, Saw seems fairly engrossing, at least for a bit. It presents, at first, a situation (although incredible to the Nth degree, like many scenarios in the movie) that makes the audience curious. And eventually the audience realizes that sooner or later one of these men is going to cut off his own foot. But it takes ninety minutes to get there. And when the time comes for said cutting, less is shown than I expected. I was ready for the most gruesome sight, and it didn't happen. Fine by me. I prefer using my imagination sometimes.

The scariest scene (arguably the only truly frightening sequence in Saw) arrives in a flashback involving one of the characters, Adam, walking through his dark apartment with a camera, trying to see if there is someone else in there. This scene was truly creepy because of its simplicity; you're alone in your home at night and have heard someone or something make a noise. After this scene, I kept wishing there were more creepy moments like that in the movie.

Saw doesn't really quite know what it is, or what it wants to be. Is it a horror movie? Some say yes, others deny it vehemently. Yes, it's stylish enough (but sometimes the silly sped-up cinematography gets too obvious, like the film is trying hard to be cool), and the twisted scenarios that the psycho has dreamed up are pretty disturbing. But there seems to be not really enough meat here. When it's finished we are left feeling a bit empty... like what we just experienced was just an exercise in sadism, and not much more. And the entire story falls apart when carefully scrutinized.

Maybe it's so disappointing because of the deus ex machina at the end. That moment when the guy gets up off the floor is done in such a bombastic manner that the writers/director obviously felt that it was a completely brilliant moment, that the audience would be utterly impressed and mindboggled. At first it sort of blows your mind a little, but after some introspection, you feel really gypped. You begin to consider the whole story. This guy supposedly lay there on the cold floor, motionless for more than eight hours. Right.

I do like the fact that Saw ends on a very bleak and grim note. Adam, the poor guy, after all he's been through in that bathroom, is locked inside to rot and die in the dark with a corpse. March 1, 2008

 Start of something great
Typical horror movies seek to use startle horror or just throw intense amounts of gore to scare.

Saw has some of both but by far blows away any other attempts to categorize this film. Unique movies are becoming very difficult to find but this movie will leave you wanting more and with a pleasantly disturbing feeling in the pit of your stomach that I haven't felt since such awesome films as Seven and Frailty. February 17, 2008

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