Obsessed with
teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic
serial killer abducts the morally wayward. Once captured, they
must face impossible choices in a horrific game of survival. The
victims must struggle to win back his or her life, or else die
trying. The latest victims are played by Cary Elwes and Leigh
Whannell, with Danny Glover and Ken Leung playing detectives hot
on the killer's trail.
CRITIQUE
If it wasn't for my
friends I probably wouldn't have seen Saw in theaters. It
looked intriguing from the trailer but nothing else. I saw the
movie with a big audience, who reacted and responded interestingly
to the film's more screwed up moments. In the overall sense Saw
is a creepy B-movie that's effective when the plot twists spin the
direction of the story to a new place.
The script is not
without its flaws though, such as the subplot following two
detectives searching for the killer; granted, it provides the
audience with access to the killer's previous victims (told in
flashbacks), but the limitations of the production and story don't
give this subplot the attention it requires. The main story
focuses on the latest victims, a doctor (Elwes) and an
unsuspecting young man (Whannell), trapped in a dirty bathroom on
opposite ends with their ankles chained to a pipe.
The villain in the
story, the Jigsaw killer, makes for a cool but totally deranged
bad guy. The good thing is that the audience never sees Jigsaw in
person, which builds suspense and makes the killer even more
scary. In terms of pacing, Saw flows quite well, while the
direction by James Wan is quite good, given that the shooting
schedule was only eighteen days and the budget was pretty low. The
production values look pretty simple although Jigsaw's traps for
his victims are realized well and are at the same time imaginative
and disturbing.
THE VIDEO
Lions Gate presents Saw in 1.85:1
anamorphic widescreen. Optional subtitles include English and
Spanish.
THE AUDIO
Lions Gate presents Saw
in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Dialogue is clear and
easy to understand, as is the music and the sound effects.
THE EXTRAS
At first glance
the DVD looks like it contains a good number of special features
but upon closer inspection that's not the case. The audio
commentary by director James Wan and co-writer/actor Leigh
Whannell is informative in spots and a casual conversation.
Aside from that there's a paltry two and half minute making-of
clip (not a featurette by any standards) called Sawed Off.
Next are a selection of trailers and TV spots, two
versions of the "Bite the Hand That Bleeds" music video
by Fear Factory, a making-of for the unrated video, and
lastly a poster gallery.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Saw is an
enjoyable, creepy and gory thriller, and despite its low budget feel,
the plot twists in the script keep the suspense going. The acting is
somewhat rusty but overall decent. The DVD edition is not too good (in
fact it's disappointing) except for a good commentary, the rest of the
extras are kind of lame. I'm recommending this disc mainly for the
movie.
