Not just a lot of blood, believe it or not!

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2007)

Two men wake up in the bathroom from hell with a dead man lying in the middle with a bullet through his brain. The two men have no idea of why they have been brought here. Then one finds a tape labeled with there name. "Hello Adam, I wanna play a game." Does a movie need a more intriguing start? Not for me.
Now, at the word "Saw", most people cringe because of the things they have read in the tabloids about it, but this film, while having extreme amounts of blood and gore, has one of the greatest story lines and cruel twist endings since Craig was left helpless in that young girl's subconscious in "Being John Malkovich" and is one of the smartest psychological thrillers since..... ever! This movie is often overlooked as "a senseless amount of unnecessary hour - and - a - half blow of violence." But oh, is it so much more. Not only, as every minute goes by do you want to know more and have your eyes literally stuck to the screen, but the movie shows such a psychological side to it that makes you think a team of expert scientist spawned this creation.
This movie not only explores the thought of human reactions in a panicked state, but shows us how humans really do seem to have the "Survival Gene" missing. It also puts forward many clever theories, such as that we become "Immortal" when we face death and survive. We finally start being grateful for things and our eyes are widened. Things seem to taste better, and smell better, but it shows that that is usually only active once our own lives are put in danger, but even then, our will power and survival instinct just seem to be missing. And lastly, it really seems that important things seem so much more important once threatened with death.
Although put in the "Thriller" category, the movie uses clever horror techniques that still make me laugh with satisfaction. The horror in this movie goes by the theory that "The most irregular things in life are usually the scariest." - A clown is usually funny in the day at a carnival, but when it appears down the street at night, standing in the mist of a street light, that is the most scariest thing you will ever see. Examples of this is primarily with the doll, a doll that may have been colorful and a child's play toy once, is now seen as evil and scary and therefore, becomes frightening because ironically, dolls are meant to be a thing of joy. Other elements are exampled in the scene where Adam wakes up in his "Shit - hole Apartment" and goes on a chase for the thing in his house. His only source of light is his flash on his camera, which leads the viewer on a series of blank shots in the dark until Jigsaw with his boar mask leaps out, which makes almost every watcher in the room wet themselves, feeding on our tension.
The film goes through a series of traps used on "victims", which seem to be very ironic to their crimes or misleading lives. This is shown especially with the suicidal man trapped in a barb maze. He had been cutting himself and Jigsaw decided to see if he truly wanted to die, or was just wanting attention. If he truly wanted to leave this life, he would just stay in the maze to rot, but if he was only seeking attention and wanted to live, he would have to cut himself, again and again and again. As a very realistic sped - up scene of the man panicking and screaming ensues, he finally begins to make his way from the bloody maze. He gets quite far, but in the end, it isn't enough, the timer runs out, the door closes and the maze becomes his own crypt. As the barbs had cut him so deep, enough to spill body acids out, so he seems to die a quick death, quicker than his alternative, that is.
As the movie continues, more and more realistic outcomes of the two men display, and Lawrence's slow descent into madness is one of the best things I have seen in a movie. And every time i show the movie to a friend, they always cringe at the moment when Lawrence ties his shirt around his leg and bites down on his sleeve. They only know too well what is about to happen. And the ending is something that sends a chill through my bones every time as Adam's cruel screaming drowns out all other sounds over the ending credits.
While I love this movie immensely, it still does have some things unexplained, like how could Adam get out of his situation, did he just have to persuade Lawrence not to kill him until the timer runs out? All that aside, this movie is a classic and sheer brilliance. I have seen it at least 10 times now and every time i solve something else in the giant jigsaw - piece puzzle of a movie. This is some experience no amount of alcohol or drugs could ever give. In fact, this movie is a drug in itself.