At Least I Didn't Pay To See It...........

Rating: 3/10 (1 November 2004)

Since when did the prerequisite for being a serial killer require a BA in graphic design and an extensive knowledge of spot welding? The murderer in SAW seems to have a flare for the dramatic and time on his hands, never a good combination. As the film opens we find two men caught in the thinly constructed web of said psychopath. They are Adam (Leigh Whannell, who co-wrote the script) and Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes, THE PRINCESS BRIDE), and they are chained to the walls of an abandoned bathroom. There is a dead man in the middle of the floor and a clock on the wall, it's a pretty nice clock. Anyway, they each listen to a micro-cassette on which the voice of the killer explains his wicked hedge maze of deceit and horror. They are given clues and begin to piece together what little they know about the situation they find themselves in. Oh, and there are pointless flashbacks to the killer's previous crimes and of two cops (Danny Glover[?] and Ken Leung) who hang around because a movie like this needs cops who do that. We learn more and more about the two men as the clock runs down towards the hour of our killer's ultimate evil crescendo.........
I blame several previous modern films for the the likes of SAW and its ilk. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, for creating the hyper-intelligent icon of killer as genius; THE USUAL SUSPECTS which launched the "twist ending" that doesn't have to make sense as long as the movie is stylish; and SEVEN, which spawned the serial killer as moralist avenger. SAW uses all these conventions and mixes them all together and adds some irritating MATRIXesque CGI set-ups for, seemingly, no reason because they undercut the tension by speeding up scenes which, if played straight, would have been grueling and dramatic.
Truth is is that SAW is just another film entry in a group that includes such films as MINDHUNTERS and THE CELL, where whatever loosely constructed plot gets buried in a wash of the screen writer's own prescient cleverness and some production designer's fetishistic vision of the "mind of a killer". SAW isn't as bad as either of the two films mentioned above (a movie has to have ambition for that, which SAW doesn't), but I can't help thinking that Hollywood dragged the fetid lake of quickie psych-horror flicks so they could make a few bucks on the Halloween crowds marching through the theaters over the weekend looking for knee-jerk thrills and high volume musical stings. And if SAW is sold out there is always THE GRUDGE. 3/10.