Overrated mimic of Seven, You can be far better

Rating: 2/10 (14 February 2005)

To begin with, I must make a comment that I fear filmmakers are emulating this Gothic thriller style a little too faithfully. This film resembles "seven" in so many ways it is almost a farce that this movie has become so critically acclaimed.
The basic premise of this movie is quite good. A serial killer who coerces victims into murdering themselves, all in the name of helping people count their blessings. Two men are part of a game being played by this killer, and one has to kill the other before 6:00pm or his family is murdered.
The highlights of this film are all in the back stories of "jigsaw" including a chilling scene with a reverse bear trap on a woman's head and a large man forced to crawl through a room of razor wire. The tragic thing though is that these are the only real shocks this film has to offer, besides the overacting of Carey Elwis which actually becomes sickening by the end of the film. The man who plays Adam is essentially such an annoyance that you cannot help but wish the good doctor would actually slaughter him.
The sad fact is , is that Saw is nothing special. With a plethora of far superior and more stylish films to steal from, Saw has taken what worked and tried to up the ante. Rancid environments, shocking visuals, and unnecessary gore have made this film a clone, albeit a clone with luck, having gained stupid amounts of critical acclaim for very little reason.
My advice. Watch Seven, or resurrection (yep, even a film with Christopher Lambert is Better). It is disappointing that my fellow Australians can't be more original than this.