"Saw" Surprising

Saw, unlike the teenage soft-porn thrillers and dime-a-dozen franchises that seem ill-conceived from the first installment but still manage to produce eight sequels, is a horror film that boasts a witty script, lightning paced editing and an effective cast. It is one of the most original horror films produced since The Ring or 28 Days Later.

Saw derives its chills from its storyline, sure the editing helps, as does the music and camera angles but, as is the case with Saw, if the story is good, it can effect you to the bone without any cheap tricks. It gets into your head, creeps you out, and it sticks with you for days after viewing the film.

Two strangers, Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Leigh Whannell), wake up in pitch black darkness chained to rusty old pipes in what is revealed to be a bathroom that goes far beyond what toilet-seat liners were designed for. The men are horrified to see a dead body lying in a pool of blood directly in between them. The two cannot reach each other and they can’t reach the dead body. It becomes obvious very quickly that, in order to survive this situation, they are going to have to work together. The two find notes and a cassette tape in their pockets which reveal that Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) has until 4:00 p.m. to kill his bathroom mate, Adam (Leigh Whannell). If he doesn’t, his wife and child will be killed. Flashbacks reveal how Adam and Dr. Gordon wound up in their situations as they tell their stories to each other. 

The audience gets background information on their captor through an on-going police investigation headed by Detective Tapp (Danny Glover). The villain is known as Jigsaw because he sets up traps for his victims – in these traps the victims are given tasks to perform which usually involve inflicting excruciating pain on themselves or on an innocent victim in order to escape. The choice then becomes one of self preservation or ethics. In that decision is where Saw revels.

The screenplay is written by newcomers James Wan and Leigh Whannell. Both perform double time, Wan as the director (his feature film debut) and Whannell as Adam. The two prove to be multi-talented. Wan uses percussive editing to whip up terror and knee-jerk reactions, while Whannell, who plays off the accomplished Elwes in nearly all of his scenes, brings depth to Adam. The music, a blend of punk, heavy metal and techno pairs well with the MTV style editing and is composed by another relative newcomer, Charlie Clouser.

Saw contains the usual plot twists, and sets itself up for a possible sequel, however the twists are truly surprising and the possibility of a sequel is something that I look forward to rather than scratch my head over.