Brilliantly sick and twisted...if you can stomach it!

Rating: 10/10 (20 June 2007)

After countless raves from nearly every one of my horror film loving friends, I decided one day it was time for me to watch "Saw," an indie slasher film premiering at the Sundance Film Festival as one of the "Midnight Movies" that is widely considered one of the greatest horror films of its generation. In no way does this film disappoint, no matter what you are looking for in a film.
Let's start with the story. Two young men--a doctor named Dr. Gordon, and a photographer named Adam--wake up chained to the wall in a dirty, old washroom. Neither of them know how they got there--and they don't know each other either. There is a slaughtered corpse between them eerily clutching a tape recorder and two tapes addressed to each of the men. The message is clear: one must find a way to kill the other by 6:00 that evening or they will both--along with Dr. Gordon's family--be killed.
Before long, they realize they are now victims of the Jigsaw killer--a known serial killer who captures people who do not appreciate life and force them to hurt themselves or others in order to save themselves from a bloody, gruesome, brutal, torturous death. In a series of flashbacks, we discover more about Jigsaw, and experience previous encounters his victims' have had. We learn of Gordon and Adam's past, an obsessed detective dedicated to finding Jigsaw, and a young drug addict named Amanda who survived Jigsaw's sick "games" and is now mentally scarred. As the story unfolds, it suddenly explodes into a brilliantly twisted psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the credits roll after the shock ending and even for some time after that. Lots of hardcore gore and an INCREDIBLY SCARY atmosphere accompany this much-above-average slasher flick.
The acting is both great and dreadful at different times, but is always thoroughly realistic. Jigsaw is perfectly cast in his role. Adam was sort of an annoying character, but still managed to deliver, and Dr. Gordon seemed like some WAY over-dramatic guy out of Star Trek, and was the only character in the small cast I was actually hoping to get killed.
The directing and editing is absolutely nothing to rave about and is solely why I didn't give Saw 5 stars. The flashbacks are adequately done, sometimes poorly, but unfortunately, for a super psychological horror film like Saw, that is a huge failure and deserves negative feedback. Very fortunately, the strong storyline and sheer terrifying simple atmosphere holds the film together.
Overall--a very enjoyable movie watching experience, and it will scare the living daylights out of you if you watch it alone on a big screen with surround sound. Not one for the little kids however, as it is very violent in some select scenes (particularly the ending) but that shouldn't keep you from seeing it. Very good and much, much more and above and ultimately smarter and more brilliant the average super-violent slasher horror films that are out there today.