Saw is a horror movie not of the supernatural kind, but of the very greusome and human kind. If any of you remember Se7en, than you know what I mean. The basis is that a serial killer is making a reputation for himself by teaching the scum of...
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Saw is a horror movie not of the supernatural kind, but of the very greusome and human kind. If any of you remember Se7en, than you know what I mean. The basis is that a serial killer is making a reputation for himself by teaching the scum of society the error of their ways using very torturous means. For example, one of his victims failed to commit suicide by slitting his wrist. To teach him to value his life, the killer trapped him in a maze of barbed wire naked, promising that there was a way out, if he could only find it and crawl through.
While the forced attrition theme could be considered a copy of Se7en and other films, the story is told rather differently. We begin our journey by waking up with two of the main characters, who find themselves trapped in a large, filthy, delapidated old bathroom with nothing but a dead body in the middle of the room and large chains around their ankles cofining them to large pipes. Quickly, they each find an audio tape in their posession telling them that if one person does not kill the other in a certain time frame, they will both be killed. They each have a story to tell, and the more we learn of the backstory, the pair slowly start following clues left for them as they try to solve this deadly puzzle. The ticking clock and the disturbing nature of events do a wonderful job of building suspense.
We also meet the cop in charge of the investigation, one minute a determined detective, next minute an injured hero who becomes insanely obsessed with cracking this case and bringing the culprit to justice. Midway through the movie, we are not sure who to trust, as every character has their own role and their own secrets.
By the time we get to the end of the film, almost all the pieces have fallen into place, and the resulting picture comes together nicely. The surprises are far from over however, as the last couple of scenes will have you wincing and asking yourself how much courage you would have in the same situation, followed by one of the most blind-sided twists in recent memory.
If you enjoyed Se7en, you will definately be able to appreciate Saw. Also like that film, it may not be your cup of tea if you have a weak stomach. There is nothing that is in your face graphic, but the quick, frantic cutting style of the human death traps makes it easy to conjure up some horrific images if you have an active imagination. Saw has some similarities to what has come before it, but is more than unique enough to have it's own identity. It is a tension filled two hours, with an ending that more than pays off the time you spent with it.