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