Disturbingly good

Rating: 9/10 (3 October 2004)

I watched the Saw late last night in Birmingham. At the time, it wasn't my first choice of movie , it was however the only movie that was still available to watch at short notice. As a result, I had no idea of what to expect other than it was horror movie (so I didn't have any high hopes of expectation!).
The focal story revolves around two men (a doctor and a young photographer) who wake up and find themselves individually chained to the foot in some abandoned, industrial style bathroom. I don't want to give too much away since this is a movie fueled by twists and turns. But very quickly you realize the lives of these two men are dictated by a mysterious and perverse psychopath known as the "jigsaw". This sick individual does not kill his victims with his own hands but carefully positions them in twisted, moral scenarios where they have to perform horrendous acts to themselves and others in order to survive.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The Saw is very much a psychological horror film, there are some scenes that are genuinely disturbing (the situations in which some of the victims are placed in and also the mechanised clown-like mannequin!) but you also have your fair share of "jump out of your seat" moments. The story is fast-paced and I was left constantly guessing as to what was going to happen next. The comparisons of this movie to Dave Fincher's Seven are obvious (for a start, the same writer). Despite this, the director "uses" the underlying ideas of Seven to create an exciting, disturbing, frightening and bloody movie in its own individual right.
The acting is generally fine, though there are some scenes where the two central actors don't quite pull it off (the Doc got a few unintentional giggles). This movie is not for the squeamish - my girlfriend couldn't bring herself to look at the screen at some points. There are some great twists in this movie but this in turn diminishes the believability of the story, however I thought this was quite necessary in order to sucker punch at the end.
If you were a fan of Seven or someone who likes to watch movies for the scares then the Saw is highly recommended. 9/10