By Geno McGahee
In 2004, SAW was released and it was an immediate hit. It was so popular that it spawned six sequels. They were put out in machine gun fashion and they did what they were intended to do. They turned a buck. Why did SAW take off and become this monster of a hit in the horror genre? What was the special ingredient? There are reasons why SAW did so well. The biggest factor is that it is a good movie and it was released in a year that was not very good for horror. Movies like THE VILLAGE, SEED OF CHUCKY, SHUTTER and THE GRUDGE was what the horror fans were being offered. When SAW was released, we saw a gritty whodunit sort of horror film that was far superior to what was being offered. It’s not so much that SAW took such a huge step forward. The others took a huge step back.
Adam (Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) awaken in a room that is pitch black. They can hear each other but cannot see until Lawrence discovers the light switch. Neither has any memory of how they got there or why they are there, but the doctor thinks he knows who is behind it. Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is a serial killer that creates unique scenarios where the victim is given a chance to live if they make the correct decision.
Both Adam and Lawrence are chained to pipes and have no way of getting out. Lawrence begins filling in Adam about how he was implicated into the Jigsaw murders. Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover) and Detective Steven Sing (Ken Leung) found a pen on the scene of one of the murders that belonged to Gordon. His alibi was a woman that he was seeing behind his wife’s back and now we begin to see a window into the madness that is Jigsaw. He doesn’t believe that people appreciate life and he wants to change that. He is dying and that is why he is so obsessed with showing people how valuable life is.
Tapp gets close to getting Jigsaw but he escapes and kills Sing in the process. This led to an obsession and a removal from the force for Tapp. He is convinced that Gordon is Jigsaw and keeps an eye on his house at all times. He even notes to the doctor that the sewer runs under the good communities too, citing a recent pedophile dentist in the neighborhood. Well, if you can’t get Jigsaw, getting a molester dentist isn’t a bad catch. That deserves some praise.
Adam and Gordon do everything that they can to escape but there’s no use and unknown to Gordon, there is a connection to Adam that is revealed. There is also a phone call from his wife, Alison (Monica Potter), who is held hostage with their daughter, Diana (Mackenzie Vega). This prompts the good doctor to do something insane. If you are one of the five horror fans that have not seen this, I will not spoil it for you.
We get a cool ending and the potential sequel hint. None of us knew we would have six sequels, but the franchise became a money train and with good reason. SAW is unique and brings in a couple familiar faces that immediately put it a step ahead of many other horror films, especially of that time. Danny Glover of LETHAL WEAPON fame was a cop again, and he is always great, giving a very sincere performance here.
Cary Elwes was great in this as well and it’s very easy to say: “Hey, it’s the PRINCESS BRIDE guy!” This was the second movie I have seen Elwes tortured in. In the 2010 movie, “AS GOOD AS DEAD,” he was tortured for most of the film. I think his SAW experience helped him in that role. His presence in SAW gave the film more credibility and was another reason why fans were flocking. With so many horror films relying on young, attractive lesser known actors and actresses, SAW came at it in a different way. This isn’t a teen horror film. This is for an older crowd. It was good to see Shawnee Smith in this as well. She was another blast from the past. She was in SUMMER SCHOOL and THE BLOB. Considering her BLOB cred, she was another person the horror fans that this film was targeting could recognize.
SAW was a case of “right movie, right time.” Has this come out when some of the big horror players did, it would have been lost in the mix. Instead, it was showcased and stood out easily from the shit that Hollywood was dishing out. I find it interesting that Leigh Whannell wrote this film. He did a very good job acting in it and typically when you get a writer that wants a feature role, they stink it up. Leigh was very believable in this and likable, despite him having some negative characteristics.
I recommend SAW. Considering I bought the entire series, I will start making my way through them and review them as I go.
Rating: 7.5/10 – I like Jigsaw’s puppet