instant classic

Rating: 9/10 (5 December 2011)

People asked me why didn't you review Saw when it came out. Simply, back then, seven years ago, you had to wait almost a year for the DVD release. When it came out part 2 was already at the cinemas. So I had to wait until they finished the franchise which was last year. But then again, it wasn't that simple to know what DVD or Blu Ray to pick up, because some were bloody versions or uncut or directors cut. All versions I have are the longest versions, I do have the German collector editions on Kinowelt, they are all uncut.
It was my wife who came home one evening, she had won a screening, from the cinema and told me, I just have seen Saw, this is for you babe. And indeed, it became one of my 'things'.
What did it for me is the storyline. There are so many twists that you just couldn't see coming. It was based on James Wan's short of 9 minutes called, sigh, Saw. He directed it, Leigh Whannell wrote it in 2003. With that short they went out to hunt a production team who wanted to make it a full feature. Nobody really believed in it but they were so wrong, the merchandise and the franchise it created was beyond limits. Leigh Whannell also played as David in the short and appeared as Adam in the full feature.
What attracted me was that it was in fact just a simple police story with the focus on two victims of a serial killer. But what you couldn't see coming was that it contained a bit of real squeamish parts. The red stuff do flows and it is just on the border of gore. Due the fact that there were some really messy parts it created a new genre called Torture Porn, one year later Hostel was released and was gory as hell, with a bit of the same story, torturing for fun. The end of Saw is the strongest ending I have seen so far because what happens isn't predictable at all, and due that people start talking about Saw as they did about the reversed bear trap. The focus here wasn't really on Jigsaw, the serial killer. He was involved but wasn't the main concern of the coppers. But viewers were tricked by the writer of saw.
The acting itself was really sublime especially by the victims Cary Elwes. It's also weird that most of the original actors didn't came back in the other parts, only in flashbacks. But naturally it's Jigsaw that steels the show, what Tobin Bell did was really creating a new hero for the horror geeks. This is his best role ever for me.
Is it me or my imagination but I clearly saw some winks to the genre. When the so-called boogeyman appears in the closet just look how they filmed him, you just saw his eye in the closet, Black Christmas 1974 indeed. And at the end the closing of the metal door, Texas Chainsaw Massacre indeed. This is a must see for horror fans or people who liked a good police story like Seven or In Dreams.
Gore 3/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 5/5 Comedy 0/5