Review #125: Saw 5 (2008)

Cast/Notable Credits:
David Hackl (Director)

Tobin Bell (Jigsaw)

Costas Mandylor (Det. Hoffman): Saw 4

Scott Patterson (Agent Strahm): Saw 4

Betsy Russell (Jill): Saw 3

Julie Benz (Brit): Rambo (2008), Punisher 2 (2008), Buffy & Angel T.V. series

Meagan Good (Luda): Venom

Laura Gordon (Ashley): Piranha (2007)

Carlo Rota (Charles): Mission to Mars (2000), 24 T.V. series

Greg Bryk (Mallick): A History of Violence (2005)

Mark Rolston (Erickson): Aliens

Saw Link

Saw 2 Link

Saw 3 Link

Saw 4 Link

Trailer:


Plot:

Saw 5 picks up right after Saw 4, Det. Hoffman survives his game and saves Jeff and Lynn's little girl. With Jigsaw dead, the F.B.I. and police wrap up the case. While Agent Strahm pursues the investigation on his own looking for a secret Jigsaw accomplice...Jigsaw the Third.

Jigsaw the Third abducts a new group of people to play another game. Trapped in a sewer, five people (Brit, Luba, Charles, Ashley, and Mallick) awake in a room with collars around their neck with five glass boxes each containing a key in the far end of the room. Billy the Puppet comes on a T.V. and explains to them the new rules of the game.

Villain:

There are multiple villains in the film, but mainly it's (Det. Hoffman as Jigsaw's apprentice or Jigsaw the Third). Yes we get Jigsaw back, but it's through a series of flashbacks as he teaches his new apprentice the tricks of the trade.

Honestly, I haven't been too impressed the past two films with Jigsaw the Third. In my opinion he hasn't brought anything new or exciting to the table. His moves in this film were easily predictable and not well thought out. And what the hell happened to Jigsaw the Second (Amanda)? It's like she's been completely phased out of the past two movies.

Cast:

There were many previous Saw movie returnees through the help of flashbacks and current story lines. As far as the new batch of cast members go, my favorite was the beautiful Julie Benz (Pictured left). I've always liked her since her early days in the first season of Buffy. She plays one of the new batch of captives, Brit. All of the new captives have hidden stories behind them, so I won't indulge too much into her character or past. But I will say that the new cast didn't excite me at all.

There were two other characters which I liked from the movie. The first one is F.B.I. boss Dan Erickson who was played by Mark Rolston (Drake from Aliens). Man was he such a tool. His character was nothing special, but I ended up liking him because he was such a tool. Clearly you can see it that he was being set up for something big in Jigsaw's game. He was pathetic and gullible. Don't ask me why I liked him, but I just did. I hope he comes back for Saw 6.

The other character I liked was Charles, one of the five captive. He was sneaky and ruthless, and I loved it!

SFX/Gore:

One thing that has always intrigued me from the Saw series was it's ability to come up with fun, cool looking traps to provide the victims the choice of life or death. I was a little disappointed with the majority of the traps in the movie (and deaths). Cool traps and deaths are highlighted in Red, and the lame, cheesy deaths and traps are in Yellow.

Traps:

Pendulum Trap: The movie starts off with this trap. We find a captive victim (Seth) strapped down to a table with a swinging pendulum above him. His choice is to push buttons with his hands to prevent the pendulum from lowering and cutting him in half. The only problem being that his hands must go through a closing vice to push and hold the buttons.

The Cube Trap: The second trap involves a glass box over the head of (Agent Straham). The head is secured in a cube glass box with water filling in from the top. It's a "no escape" situation.

Collar Trap: We find our five captives in a dark room with collars secured around their neck. There are little pad locks to unlock the collar, and on the back of the collar are metal wires that lead back into the wall. At the other end of the room are 5 stands with glass boxes on them. In each of the boxes lay a single key (to unlock the pad lock).

The wires on the back of the collar actually connects back to another participate in the room. It's based on a pulley system. As one person goes forward, another one goes backwards. The only problem, if someone goes back to far, the meet the edges of a razor sharp blade that decapitates the head.

Jars Trap: The survivors of the collar trap step into the next room and find themselves in a room with glass jars with keys in them hanging from the ceiling. Along the sides of the room are three chambers with locked gates leading out of the room. In the corners of the room are jars full with nails attached to bombs. The object for the captives is to find the keys to the gates and hide in the chambers before the bomb goes off.

Bathtub Trap: The bathtub trap is...well...pretty gay. In another room, the captives find a bathtub filled with water (or blood) and five power cables that are too short to reach the tub. The door is electronically sealed as they entered the room. Each cables, along with the correct voltage unlocks one of the five locks. It is required for all five cables to be touching a person in the water filled tub in the room to unlock the doors.

Blade Table Trap: In another room, the captives find themselves locked in with a table with five holes on the sides. Sealed in the middle of the table is a jar that captures blood. Once the jar has accumulated enough pints of blood, the door exiting the room opens. Inside the holes on the side are spinning table saw blades meant to slice and dice someone to accumulate the blood.

Coffin Trap: The coffin trap is a full size glass box (coffin) in the middle of the room. Inside the box are shards of glass. The trap works by...well let's just say watch the movie. I'll give you a hint: it has something to do with a trash compactor.

TNA:

Hey, we get three beautiful little honey's in this one. Of course we have the previously mentioned, Julie Benz supporting a different look with dark black hair. Personally I love her as a blonde. Just in case you need some persuasion...Julie as a blonde below:

Next we get Meagan Good (Pictured Right), the chick from the bad movies One Missed Call and Venom. She wears one of those "I'm a professional business woman" outfits you just want to bang the hell out of.

And wrapping up the trio of hotties is Laura Gordon, who plays the captive Ashley. I can't say much outside of...that she's a hot blonde! Tasty!

Story:

Saw 5 explores the back story and teachings between Jigsaw and Jigsaw the Third. Yawn! Nobody cares. Saw 5 also dives into the Psyche of (Hoffman) and his pursuit of justice stemming from the death of his sister. Apparently this leads him to the "dark side" and joins Jigsaw in his quest for rehabilitation of troubled people.

The story line was loosely written and more predictable than ever. The script was paper thin, and nothing in the film took me by surprise. It's definitely one of the weakest installments of the franchise. My recommendation...take a little bit more time off before spitting out the next one.

On top of the crap called writing, the new game with the five new captives was even lame as hell. Jigsaw explains the rules to them and pretty much tells them...don't do anything and nothing will happen to you. Work together and you'll be free. So what do they do? They panic and it's every man for himself. Which sets them up for a series of comical death traps that will make you just want to bang your head against the wall. They only put themselves in danger by proceeding into the game and being selfish. It's called "teamwork" people. Try it!

One positive thing about the film is that...I think...the time line issues have finally wrapped up, and now the movies are back in chronological order. Unlike Saw 4 being a prequel to Saw 3. Talk about a "cop out" to make another movie. But...you never know, it's Saw. Saw 6 can just as well be a prequel to Saw 4, which would make it a prequel to Saw 3, therefore it's actually Saw 3 and Saw 4 is actually Saw 4 and Saw 3 is actually Saw 5 and Saw 5 would be Saw 6. Confused? That's why they need to take some time off from this thing.

T.Gun Factor:

Apparently I saw the Director's Cut version of the film (which was 14 minutes longer), and it still sucked. Horrible. I'm so pissed off about the movie, it's confusing me. Even my thoughts are out of order!

I can definitely tell that as the torch gets passed from one director to another, the director ends up patch-working something together from the past films to make it work. I beg of them, "STOP with all the flashbacks and back stories that mean ZILCH! Deliver us something new to the screen." I don't care if Jigsaw the Third was helping him all the way. Give us something new!

Tobin Bell's character is nothing more than a cameo in a few scenes and has very little impact on the movie. That disappoints me. In a day of remaking all the oldies to bring back the notorious horror icons, we finally have a franchise that has created a new icon for killing. AND what do they do? The kill him two films ago and bring him back in minor roles to appease the viewers. BULL SH*T! There. I said it. Stop making these films. Jigsaw the Third sucks.

Or at least start off with something new and fresh by Jigsaw the Third, like a new game that has NOTHING to do with Jigsaw and every victim, character, cop, detective, F.B.I. agent in any of the previous movies. Is that asking too much? Have I mentioned, "Give us something new!" yet?

Saw was once a promising horror franchise that needs to take a little time off to focus on some minor things...such as plot, and storyline. And I know that I sound like a broken record when I say, "Give us something new." But really...put some real effort and thought into the next one. I know Saw 6 is going to suck since it already has a release date set for October 2009 and as of the end of January 2009, it hasn't started filming yet. Less than 8 months of production...yeah, it's gonna suck too.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on October 24, 2008 and made $56.7 million at the Box Office ($30 million opening weekend)
-Franchise producer is Oren Koules, owner of the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning
-2 Lightning goalies wore Saw themed goalie masks for two weeks prior to release; later auctioned off

Review #96: Saw 4 (2007)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Darren Lynn Bousman (Director): Saw 2, Saw 3
Tobin Bell (Jigsaw)

Shawnee Smith (Amanda)

Betsy Russell (Jill)

Costas Mandylor (Hoffman): Dr. Chopper (2005)

Scott Patterson (Agent Strahm): Gilmore Girls T.V. series

Athena Karkanis (Agent Perez): Saw 5

Justin Louis (Art): Dawn of the Dead, Saw 5

Simon Reynolds (Lamanna): Skulls 2 (2002), Cold Creek Manor (2003), Dark Water (2005), P2
Trailer:


Saw 1 Link

Saw 2 Link

Saw 3 Link

"I want to play game with you Mr. Director. For years now, you have reaped the benefits from making crappy Saw movies. There you wait, hiding behind the camera, directing bad movies and cashing in at the box office later. You take from the unknowingly and poor; only to benefit yourself. Now you've found yourself starring down the barrel of pissed off fans. Your choice: make a better Saw movie before next Halloween. If you don't: you directing career dies. You must choose..."

Plot:

While performing an autopsy on Jigsaw, a coroner finds a cassette tape encased in wax inside his stomach. Arriving to the scene is Detective Hoffman who plays the tape. The tape explains that he (Jigsaw) might be dead but his work will carry on.

The police finally find the dead body of Detective Kerry in a secluded basement. Also joining the investigation are two agents from the FBI, Perez and Strahm. Det. Hoffman, and SWAT leader Rigg are also present at the crime scene. Rigg is depressed and angry because all of his colleagues are turning up dead or missing. Detective Matthews (Saw 2) has still missing at this point. The FBI has been called in because Det. Kerry was one of their informants, and they believe that Jigsaw has another accomplice in his killings. They also believe that two other officers may be targets for his next game.

Obsessed with solving the puzzle, Officer Rigg has been dedicating his life to the Jigsaw case. Once he arrives home, he finds that his wife has packed her bags and is leaving for mother's house. She encourages him to come with, but he declines and opts to stay and work on the case. Bad move, because he becomes Jigsaw's latest pawn in his twisted game. Rigg is knocked out and awakes in a bath tub with the shower running. He slowly comes to a opens the bathroom door and triggers the famous instruction tape that tells him how he wants to save everyone, and has become his obsession, now he must learn to let go. Rigg is put through a series of tests that result in other's deaths. Meanwhile, back at headquarters the police believe that Rigg might be a suspect and arrive at his house to find him gone and a trail of Jigsaw traps and a death left behind.

Also, Det. Hoffman has been abducted and placed in his own trap. So the clock is ticking for Officer Rigg to find Det. Hoffman and Mathews before time runs out and they die. While Rigg plays Jigsaw's game, FBI agents are a step behind trying to catch him. Agent Perez, the beautiful Athena Karkanis pictured left.

After seeing Saw 3, my expectations for Saw 4 were down the tube. After all, Jigsaw and company had died. So how the hell was this gonna get pulled off? Throw in another accomplice, that's how. I give the movie credit for being a little bit better in its twist and thought process. On the other hand, the film lacked any plot and suspense. I guess when you've seen it all before in the other three movies.

Saw 4 also explores the past of Jigsaw. We learn that he was a renowned engineer married to a smokin' hot wife Jill (Betsy Russell...pictured left). Jill was a doctor who had opened a "help clinic" for the addicts of the world. Jill was pregnant with his child when one night a druggie robbed the clinic for drugs and accidentally smashed her pregnant belly killing the unborn. Jigsaw became vengeful and dark and started his ways. And then got diagnosed with cancer, survived a car wreck, and all other story lines that has been presented.

And on a personal note: F*CK YOU! executive producer, Peter Block. Throw some more salt on my wounds. While listening to the commentary feature on the DVD during the tractor-collar-pull, he made a painful reference. He commented that the blind guy in the fight was a no win situation. It was just as unfair and lopsided as the Red Sox beating the Rockies in the World Series. F*CK YOU! I was at the W.S. Game 3. I love the Rockies...once again...F*CK YOU! & SUCK MY C*CK!

Notable Traps:

-The Hair-tie trap: Brenda is strapped in a chair with her long hair caught in a vice that slowly turns and tightens causing her head to yank back slowly and eventually tearing the scalp.

-The Ice/Electrocution: Det. Mathews is hanging from the ceiling with only a block of ice to stand on. The ice slowly melts and the water runs down to his left into a pan where Det. Hoffman sits strapped in a chair. The trap is set like a scale, once the ice melts and water runs off Det. Mathews side lowers and Det. Hoffman side rises. Once there is enough water on Hoffman's side, a wire hooked up to a High Voltage electrical panel triggers thus shocking Hoffman to death. Also connected to this trap is that when the door opens to the room, a wire trips up two massive blocks of ice that would fall and smash Det. Mathew's head.

-Spike trap: a couple are bound together back to back. Long rail road spikes lodged close to the major arteries of the couples. The object is for the female to pull out the spikes, saving herself, but killing her abusive husband.

-Knife helmet: I think it's Jigsaw's first trap. A drug addict, Cecil is bound to a chair with spikes through various parts. A mask of knives on his placed on his head. His object is to lean forward through the knives which would cut his face, but spring him free. Otherwise bleed to death.

-Bed trap: A rapist is tied spread eagle to a bed. His choice, let hammers bash his eyes or let a device rip him apart limb by limb.

-Tractor collar pull: Two guys have chain collars around their neck. One guy has his eyes sewed shut, and the other has his mouth sewed shut. Once the device is tripped, a wheel slowly pulls the chain and each guy toward it's jaws of death. Around the room are weapons and on the back of each man's neck is the key to unlock the collar.

I'm really torn on where to put this one on my list. It's better than Saw 3, but still sucky enough to be pissed off at. Again, the pitfall of fast tracking the movie. I think if a little bit more time was put into the film, it probably would have paid off. The beginning is great, the end of the film is a little confusing, but overall good. And the middle falls under the category: "been there, done that".

"Game Over, Mr. Director. You lose."

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on October 26, 2007 and made $63.2 million at the Box Office ($31.7 million opening weekend)
-Sent to theaters as "Angel Fish"
-Beginning of the film was actually shot during Saw 3 and was intended to be the final scene of that movie, but opted to be the beginning of Saw 4
-Filmed in 32 days

Review #95: Saw 3 (2006)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Darren Bousman (Director): Saw 2, Saw 4

Previous Saw Movies:

Tobin Bell (Jigsaw)
Shawnee Smith (Amanda)
Lyrig Bent (Rigg)
Dina Meyer (Kelly)
Donnie Wahlberg (Det. Matthews)

Angus McFayden (Jeff): Impulse (2008)

Bahar Soomekh (Lynn): Crash (2004), Mission Impossible 3 (2006)

Betsy Russell (Jill): Cheerleader Camp (1987)

Barry Flatman (Judge Halden): The Paper Boy (1994), Cruel Intentions (2000)

Trailer:


Saw 1 Link

Saw 2 Link


Plot:

Jigsaw's back and the movie picks up right after the ending of the second movie. Det. Matthews has gone missing and Det. Kerry has been searching for him. The police come across another Jigsaw crime scene only to find that the victim is not Det. Matthews. While studying the crime scene, Det. Kerry realizes the M.O. on Jigsaw has changed a little bit. This puzzles her a lot. They find an instruction tape and later on that night while she is studying the tape, Kerry is abducted and placed into her own game of survival by Jigsaw and his new apprentice.

Now the duo has abducted a doctor to help keep Jigsaw alive as his cancer illness has become more fatal. Dr. Lynn's objective in her game is to keep Jigsaw alive until the end of another game involving a man named Jeff has ended. An explosive collar has been placed around Lynn's neck while she tends to the ill-fated Jigsaw. If she wonders off or Jigsaw's heart monitor fails, the collar will detonate and her head...goes bye bye.

The second abductee, Jeff, awakes in a wooden crate and has been put to the test for his life and others. Years ago, Jeff's young son was killed in a hit and run car accident. After the man who killed his son has been "let off easy" by the justice system, Jeff has been plagued with revenge and bitterness. Now Jigsaw has captured three key participants in the death of his son and places their lives in Jeff's hands. A woman who had witnessed his death, the judge over the case, and finally, the man behind the wheel, lives all rests in the decisions and sacrifices that Jeff may or may not choose to make.

Surprisingly enough for me, this film was fast-tracked for the next Halloween after part 2. Hey, I'm all for sequels and continuing horror franchises, but I was a little weary to see the quick slap it, tag it, and sell it approach. Maybe if they are gonna make these films this quick, they should probably have a couple of the movie scripts already written, and film some of these at once. Or just put the time and effort into doing the film right. Not that this film is completely horrible, but each of the sequels tends to lower the bar a little more each time. Dr. Hottie, Bahar Soomekh pictured right.

The storyline of the movie was a little "watered down". Some of the twists were easy to predict, and in order for half the sh*t to work, you have to bank on certain things happening. It's like Jigsaw jumped into the future and saw what would happen. Again, common sense in the film prevents over half the deaths.

I give the film credit for the one thing the franchise does well, the traps. At least the cool ones. The traps continue to be the staple in the franchise. Choose sacrifice or death. Unfortunately I think they focus on one or two of them really well, and the rest of the film suffers from lack of focus (or development). Clearly the film makers focused on two good traps, The Rack or "Twisty Tim" and the Ribcage Trap. I know all the traps in the movie can't be grade "A", but these two definitely make the grade. Time was well spent on the design, and operation of the traps. Good Job!

The other traps, I considered a little weak. Don't get me wrong, they were mostly still good, but they're a little unimaginative. The Freezer Room was...blah. I liked the naked chick with hooters, but spraying water on her until she froze to death...YAWN! Boring. The Pig Vat trap, dumb. It had a guy strapped down by the neck at the bottom of a large industrial sized barrel. Grinders cut up dead pigs and their waste went down the chute to the barrel, slowly filling it up with waste thus drowning the guy. That's just gross, not eventful. The Classroom Trap, I thought was one of the worst. Hooking chains to various body parts, and let the victim rip them off before a bomb goes off. Double yawn! Eerie, but boring.

Overall, the film is okay. The Saw franchise is getting a little repetitive in ideas. Stop with the twists already. We all know somethings coming. How 'bout just go out and kill people like a good horror movie does? My suggestion for the series is to take a Halloween off and spent some extra time working on another kick a** script like the first movie.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on October 27, 2006 and made $80.1 million at the Box Office ($33.6 million opening weekend)
-Sent to MPAA ratings board 7 times before receiving a "R" ratings
-1st Saw movie to include nudity

Review #94: Saw 2 (2005)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Darren Bousman (Director): Saw 3, Saw 4, Repo! The Genentic Opera (2008)

Tobin Bell (Jigsaw): Saw

Shawnee Smith (Amanda): Saw

Dina Meyer (Kelly): Saw

Donnie Wahlberg (Eric): Dreamcatcher (2003), The Sixth Sense (1999)

Lyriq Bent (Rigg): Skinwalkers

Beverly Mitchell (Laura): Crow 2 (1996), 7th Heaven T.V. series

Emmanuelle Vaugier (Addison): Wishmaster 3 (2001), House of the Dead 2 (2005) (Pictured Right)
Trailer:

Saw 1 link

Tagline: Oh yes, there will be blood

Plot:

Jigsaw is back with a new game to play. This the police has finally caught up with him. Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), Kerry (Dina Meyer) and members of S.W.A.T. have discovered Jigsaw's location and raided the building capturing the mastermind. Only to learn that Jigsaw is in the late stages of his cancerous health, and there are video monitors of eight people locked inside a room at an unknown location.

One of the captured people happens to be Det. Matthew's teenage son, Eric. Jigsaw informs the police that they have two hours to find an antidote to a deadly toxin that has been released into the room or they will die.

Meanwhile, the eight new members recruited all awake inside the room and learn of the "rules" Jigsaw has given them to play the game. The doors with automatically open in three hours, but within two hours, the deadly toxin will have already killed them. Inside the middle of the room is a safe, the combination to the safe lies in the back of each members head and the order can be found over the rainbow, at least according to Jigsaw's clues.

Inside that safe is the antidote to the toxin. Also given to them is a key, but it does not work to the door room. As one of them, Gus finds out, he accidentally triggers a fatal trap for himself. One of the hot new victims...Emmanuelle Vaugier...pictured below.

Minutes later that door opens and the remaining seven are free to wonder around in a sealed up abandoned house. Scattered around the house are clues, vials of antidote and deadly games marked for each of the individuals. They all soon discover that they were not randomly picked, but all have one thing in common, they all did prison time and they were all arrested by the same detective. That detective happens to be Eric's dad.

While the police detain Jigsaw and monitor the new game over a video link, Jigsaw wants to play a private game with Det. Matthews. It seems that Det. Matthews is the focus of the larger game as Jigsaw wants to teach him a lesson about dirty police work. Using his son, Eric, as a pawn in the game, Jigsaw plays a psychological game with Det. Matthews as the police rush to find the location of the house and save the surviving members of Jigsaw's game.

The bar was set really high with the first Saw movie in my book. The fast-track sequel well...let's just say the bar came down a few notches. Was it a horrible sequel? Not in my book. It still delivered in certain areas, but just like many sequels, it wasn't as good as the original. I was kind of hoping, with a bigger budget from the success of the first, that this movie might be better. But I was wrong. Oh well. Realistically, how could you top the awesome twist ending from the first movie? The twist ending in this one was nice, but it wasn't as crafty as the original.

I was also disappointed in some of the deaths in this one. I was hoping for more trap-choice deaths, and got a couple cop out deaths. For instance, like the death of the cute Beverly Mitchell (pictured right). Sorry if I spoiled her death for you, but if you watch the film for ten minutes, I'm pretty sure you would have figured her out to be a goner. Her character was completely useless. She was one of the "captive eight."

The film never revealed why she was there (what crime), any background story, and gave her an uneventful death. Wow...she died from the poison. Big deal. While the others in the house were looking for clues and ways out, she coward in the corner coughing up blood and was too sick to do anything. What's up with that? They've could had casted grandma into that scene. The film didn't even try to give the audience some type of emotional connection with her character, or any of the others. I just thought it was a waste of good eye candy.

Her death wasn't the only disappointment. * Highlight to read * Jonas dying from the bat was cool, but nothing to do with any Jigsaw trap. Xavier got his throat cut. Yippee! Not as inventive as I was expecting from a Saw movie.

Another disappointment for me was the mentality of the eight. I know they were criminals and all, but they didn't even try to work together. It was every man for himself. I've dealt with "alleged" criminals, and trust me, they'll work together if it benefits them. The movie had to build off there distrust and selfishness to create the "panic" atmosphere of the game. Honestly if the tried to work together, there wouldn't have been so many deaths. The movie probably would have been more boring, but that's why you have writers. Create the atmosphere, not just cross your fingers and throw out common sense.

So far I've bitched about the negatives, but there were some positives to the film (like returning Shawnee Smith to the film pictured left). First of all, the pit sequence was squirmy as hell. One of the characters were thrown into a pit of syringes to find a hidden key to unlock a vault that stored a vial of antidote. Over a hundred thousand syringes were used to make the pit. Apparently the bottom of the pit was layered with jello to give the pit some movement when the character was thrown in. I'm not a big needle person to begin with, and seeing all those needles and the character getting stuck with a few as they searched for the hidden key just really turned my stomach. It was awesome but...well just shivering to think of.

A good death in the film was the opening kill. The film called it, "The Venus-fly Trap". A dude woke up with an open iron mask of spikes (like Iron Maiden!) around his neck. He had to find the key and unlock the device within a minute otherwise the mask would shut, crushing his head. Jigsaw's clue: an x-ray of the dude's skull with a picture of a key located behind his eye. Now that just rocks! That's the sh*t I was hoping for all movie long...too bad it was the opening death.

Another good trap/kill was the gun behind the door. Realistically, what are the chances of the dude looking into the hole at the same time as the key turns? Probably not high, but it made a good statement. The glass hand ceiling box trap was another good idea, but badly executed. Seriously, I could see the mistake of putting your first arm through the hole and getting stuck, but to do the same thing to your left arm and your right got stuck? Come on'! A little bit more of common sense here. I'm sure there could have been a better way to do that trap. Maybe require one of the arms to pull something while having to use the other one to get the vial. Good idea, poor execution.

Overall, I was pleased with the sequel despite some of it's flaws. I was just happy that they were continuing the Saw franchise and laying down the ground work for many to come. Unfortunately the upcoming sequels just get worse and "ruin" the legacy of the first. But I credit that to the studio's fast-tracking them and rush, rush rush to the theatres. Each one comes out within a calendar year of the last. I like the enthusiasm and tradition of releasing the films close to Halloween, but put a little bit more effort and writing into these bad boys. At least they lived up to their tag line, there was plenty of blood.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on October 28, 2005 and made $87 million at the Box Office ($31.7 million opening weekend)
-Film shot in 25 days
-120,000 syringes were used in the Pit sequence; took 4 days to replace all the tips with fiber ones

Review #93: Saw (2004)

Cast/Notable Credits:
James Wan (Director): Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007)

Cary Elwes (Dr. Gordon): Shadow of a Vampire (2000), Kiss the Girls (1997)

Danny Glover (Detective Tapp): Leathal Weapon Movies

Leigh Whannell (Adam): Death Sentence

Shawnee Smith (Amanda): The Island (2005), Armageddon (1998), The Grudge 3 (2009)

Dina Meyer (Kelly): Dragon Heart (1996), Starship Troopers (1997), Bats (1999), Star Trek 10 (2002)

Ken Leung (Detective Sing): Rush Hour (1998), Red Dragon (2002), Lost T.V. series

Monica Potter (Alison Gordon): Con Air (1997), Along Came A Spider (2001) (Pictured Right)

Michael Emerson (Zep): Lost T.V. series

Tobin Bell (Jigsaw): Saw Franchise, Boogeyman 2 (2007), Decoys 2 (2007)

Trailer:


Plot:

Two men (Adam & Dr. Gordon) wake up in a dark, abandoned industrial bathroom in opposite corners each with an ankle chained to a pipe. Both have no memory on how they got there. In the middle of the room lays a dead body clenching a gun and a tape cassette recorder. They both find mini cassette tapes hidden on them with the words, "Play Me" on them. Dr. Gordon also is given a key and one single bullet. And I'll give you a hint: the key does not fit the chain locks.

According to the tapes, in order for Dr. Gordon to survive his "life lesson" he must kill Adam by six o'clock. Otherwise his kidnapped wife (the beautiful Monica pictured helplessly left) and child will die and he will be left chained in the basement for eternity. In order for Adam to survive, he must...live. The tape also mentions "clues around the room" to help "win" the game.

After discovering one of the clues they find the third alternative to escape, a pair of hacksaws. Just that the hacksaws are too dull to cut through the chains, and they are actually meant to cut off their feet to free themselves from the chains. They soon realize that they have been captured by the notorious serial killer, The Jigsaw Killer.

The Jigsaw Killer, Jigsaw for short, is a serial killer who captures victims and makes them play a twisted game for their survival. In most cases the twisted game consists of the victims sacrificing a part of themselves (body parts) for their life. Victims are place in some sort of trap or device which requires themselves to "self sacrifice" whatever limb that the life lesson Jigsaw wants them to learn in order to "save their own life". Jigsaw will leave them a video tape or a cassette recorder nearby with instructions on how to survive, and a clue on how to do it.

So technically Jigsaw never kills anyone, because the ones who die ultimately decides not to inflict the self harm required in order to sustain their own lives. The ultimate goal for the game is for the victims to gain a better appreciation of their lives. Jigsaw first earned his name by cutting out the skin of one of his victims in the shape of a jigsaw piece.

Through out the movie we learn about the two men and their story through a series of flashbacks. We also learn the tale of the lead police officer on the Jigsaw Killer case, Detective Tapp and his quest to take down the killer. Detective Tapp has an obsession for the Jigsaw Killer after he had murdered his partner, and Dr. Gordon is #1 on his suspect list. The rest of the movie offers twists and turns, lies and deceit, clues and puzzles to the identity of the killer.

I was excited when I learned that the Saw movie was being distributed to the movie theatres rather than the "Straight to DVD" treatment. And when I saw it in the theatres, it didn't disappoint. It's actually one of my favorite horror movies of modern times. And the end of the movie presented one of the best twists ever!

I thought Saw brought a "fresh look" to the horror industry. The horror genre was running dry at the time. Fresh ideas started to include remaking older favorites to sustain the genre. Before it's release, the horror genre was filled with zombie and slasher movies that offered little or identical plots to each other. Substitute different hot young actors and actresses into different settings. It basically was the same plot in a different movie. I give plenty of props to the movie Scream as it revitalized the industry. But it's formula of "who dunnit" or "who's the killer" was starting to be old and played out. Saw adapted the parts of the formula and shaped it into a new breed of sickness. They made a sick twisted game out of it. And it worked.

Saw also brought back a villain we could cheer for, Jigsaw. At least I knew want to call him. I couldn't say that for the Scream guy. Ghost Face? No. The revolving mystery killer from the Urban Legends or IKWYDLS franchises? No. Friday, Halloween, Chainsaw, and Nightmare each had a name of fear, and now Saw. That's what the horror fans love the most. It's the name of the legend that people love. The elaborate costumes that some of these movies come up with are cool, but if I don't know what to call it, then the film's lost some credibility. If the fan doesn't know what to call the evil dude, then it's no better that...Ghost Face. The franchise dies. No sequels, no legends and no fun for the fans. Just a waste of a good idea. That's a picture of Dina Meyer...I know her name...HOT!

Another thing that the Saw movie brought to the horror genre, was its classic traps and ways to kill a person. Instead of a machete blow to the head, knife to the throat, chainsaw to the body, or any other common way to kill, Saw incorporated some new clever ways to die in the use of it's traps. The traps itself plays off of the fear of the simplicity they operate. The fear of getting your jaw ripped open from a device that looks like a bear trap. Now that's pretty damn scary when you're given a couple of seconds to think about it.

Saw Movie Traps/Jigsaw Trap Devices:
The Jaw Bear Trap: A face device that looks kind of like a bear/beaver trap. It's a hideous helmet looking thing. The iron claws meet at the mouth and it operates in reverse, ripping off the the jaw when the trap is sprung. How cool is that?
Shot-gun Trap: A more simpler trap. Strategically placed shot guns aimed at a target goes off when a trip wire is set off. Thus killing whatever trips it.
Drill-bit Trap: Someone strapped and immobilized in a chair as two drill bits slowly close in on the victim. There is one placed on each side of the skull, closing in on the ears.
Barbed wire maze Trap: A maze of razor thick barbed wire. Freedom is at the end. If you make it.
Fire-Safe-Glass Trap: A naked person wakes up in a dark sealed room with the floor covered with shards of broken glass. Their tape says that poison is in their blood, and the antidote is in the safe. The combination to the safe is on the walls of the room (only the walls are completely covered with hundreds of possible number combinations) and a candle is used as the rooms only light. Oh yeah, and the person is covered with a flammable substance.

Saw's success pretty much kicked off the torture-porn era in horror movies. It lead the way for movies such as Hostel and Turistas and all other wannabe spin offs. And it's success has lead to many sequels and it's own legendary status as a horror franchise. I gotta say, the Saw franchise comes out with sweet promotional material (posters) and gimmicks. There are actual "blood drives" that the movie promotes each time one of it's sequels comes out. October has been historically known for the season of the witch, but due to Saw's success, it's starting to be known as the month Saw (insert sequel number) comes out.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Filmed opened October 29, 2004 and made $55.1 million at the Box Office ($18.27 million opening weekend)

-Originally debut at the Sundance Film Festival

-Was cut from the NC-17 rating to R for it's theatrical release

-Jigsaw puppet was completely made from scratch

-Filmed in 18 days