Last week I praised The Grudge for putting the fear back into the horror genre. It was something that reminded me of the early horror movies. Not relying on the blood and guts factor, but relying more on scare the living crap out of you factor.
I thought I wouldn’t see a good horror movie for a while, but, alas, I was wrong.
Last Friday, Lions Gate Films released Saw, a suspense/horror film that will make you leave the theater happy.
I have been following Saw since mid-May when the film was starting to gain speed – a speed that would change the movie from a limited release, independent movie to a wide-release, highly talked about independent movie.
I was completely terrified by the teaser trailer, so going into this movie I had high hopes. Not just with my expectation, but also with the hope I might see two damn good horror movies back-to-back. After seeing Saw, my hopes and expectations were surpassed.
Saw stars Cary Elwes (Liar Liar, Ella Enchanted, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights), Leigh Whannell (who wrote the script and had a cameo in The Matrix: Reloaded), Monica Potter (Patch Adams and Along Came a Spider) and Danny Glover (c’mon who doesn’t know Danny Glover … OK, Lethal Weapon, Predator 2, The Color Purple).
Saw opens up in a dark and dirty bathroom. Adam (Whannell) finds himself chained to one of the pipes in the bathroom. There with him is Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Elwes) a man he knows nothing about. Along with them is someone who has already taken his life.
Here in this dirty and brightly lit bathroom is where the story comes together. The truth behind each character is revealed as the story unravels itself until the shocking ending.
Without giving too much away, Saw is centered on the characters Adam, Gordon and detective David Tapp (Glover), who is in search of the killer “Jigsaw.” I use the term “killer” loosely because, as said in the movie “Technically his is not murder. He finds ways for victims to kill themselves.”
Jigsaw, the obvious villain in the movie, finds ways to put his victims in a situation where they must make a choice. To Jigsaw, his victims are abusing their gift of life. At the same time, this is a game to Jigsaw.
While the movie, for the most part is dark, it does have a cause for being dark. It uses the darkness and shadows to amplify the intense moments and add to the suspense. The story is told through the memories of Adam, Gordon and Tapp and it safely travels between past and present.
I was happy with the direction of the movie. it told the story perfectly and at the end wrapped everything up nicely, leaving no plot holes. Saw does a great job telling the story and reminds me of Se7en.
The greatest part about Saw is the shocking twist at the end. It even fooled me into thinking I knew everything. I sat back, relaxed and was pretty much happy with the ending, but the last 30 seconds alone are worth the ticket price.
I was completely blown away, and by the time my mind caught up with what I was seeing, the movie was over.
The ending has to be one of the greatest twist endings ever. It ranks among The Sixth Sense, Se7en, The Usual Suspects, 12 Monkeys and Vanilla Sky.
Saw is a movie that does just about everything to a viewer. It will scare you, mess with your mind and leave you completely blown away.
Cary Elwes does a great job acting as Dr. Gordon. He is usually typecast as a villain, but it is nice to see him acting where I don’t have to wondering what he is – villain or hero.
Newcomer Leigh Whannell also pulls a great performance and does an excellent job writing the script. Danny Glover also pulls in a great performance as a man on a mission who does whatever he needs to to catch Jigsaw.
Saw is another movie that will pave a way for horror/thriller movies. There is nothing wrong with this movie. Period.

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