The next time someone asks if I want to play a game, I'm saying "NO."

I realize, as Halloween creeps closer, that I’ve failed to review SAW II, but I figure before I review that, I should review the first one.

SAW in a nutshell: If you don’t appreciate life, a man dubbed the Jigsaw Killer will find you and put you in a survive-or-die situation. Oh, he doesn’t kill you straightaway, but he does find interesting ways for you to kill yourself or allow yourself to be killed. Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Leigh Whannell) are two men that find themselves in this position. And while they’re busy trying to escape their situation, Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover) seeks a way, any way, to stop Jigsaw.

First off, I have to say when I saw the previews for this I thought, “Bleh, another movie full of people dying in horrible ways. Boring.” Then I heard that Elwes and Glover were in it and was surprised. When is the last time (if ever) one of those guys popped up in a horror movie? Interesting.

One other thing I feel I should add – I’m not a fan of horror movies. I don’t watch them that often (if ever) unless I feel a particular itch to (which is maybe once a year).

Ok, moving on. SAW is indeed pretty freaky. Jigsaw has some incredibly creative ways of taking out his victims. What I liked most about this movie was that it had an actual, in-depth plot. A lot of other horror/gore movies are just that; they focus on some person/force that methodically dispatches a bunch of people (usually teens, and often most of them girls – what’s up with that? So unfair), and tosses in a lot of blood and ridiculous gore just for the heck of it. In those respects, I know plenty of horror fans who are disappointed that the horror genre has gone from truly freakish to nothing but cardboard gore-fests. Yawn. And I’m not even a fan, but geez, even I can appreciate a good plot.

You find out why Jigsaw abducts each person, and eventually find out who Jigsaw is (oh the twists!), and how some of these abductees are intertwined. This mostly focuses on Dr. Gordon and Adam, as they are the ones stuck in a decrepit bathroom, their ankles shackled with thick chains. The things they have to go through, the “game” they have to beat. Eeeeeh. Not pretty. But very twisty. I like twisty. There are plenty of people you feel bad for, others you wish would make it out…actually a lot of them you wish would make it out just because, let’s face it, the situation they’re in sucks.

The acting was pretty good, as to be expected from everyone involved. Poor Cary Elwes. I felt so bad for him. Anguish and pain, good job. At times it still seemed weird to see him and Danny Glover in this movie because I’ve never seen them in these positions, but hey, they did great.

Of course, you’ll have to watch out for the freak out factor. It’s a great balance of both psychological “Ohmigod” and gore “Ew ohmigod.” I found myself quite pleased (if I can use that word for this movie, haha). Honestly, I never thought I’d like this movie. I flip off movies like Scream, and crap like Final Destination just made me sick (it wasn’t horror, it was horrible). But SAW had some substance to it. Granted, I wanted to know what happened to a certain character at the end (did he live, die, what?? Personally, I think he had a perfectly good chance of surviving, if you’ve ever heard of any mountain climbing survival stories before) and there were a few inconsistencies…well, maybe not inconsistencies, but the way everyone talked and such, I was under the impression Jigsaw always gave his victims a chance to survive – flat out killing police officers and a child doesn’t fit him, but oh well.

If nothing else, maybe this movie will help you appreciate life more. Eeh…

NT

This review has been submitted to CaptainD's Good Movie Write Off (if you can believe it)

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age