Saw

Rating: 9/10 (26 September 2005)

If you like good acting, mystery, suspense, horror, violence and gore, then you'll love Saw. From debut director James Wan (also writing) and writer Leigh Wannell (also introductory star), this is one of the most gripping film I have ever seen. Basically Adam (Whannell) along with Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Liar Liar's Cary Elwes) find themselves chained by their ankles in a dirty, disused bathroom, along with a dead man who shot himself. They find cassette tapes in their pockets, and Lawrence must kill Adam before 6 o'clock (there is a clock in the room), and they find hacksaws in a toilet. They realise they are wanted not to cut their chains, but their feet, this leads to their knowledge (and flashbacks) of who has placed them there, The Jigsaw Killer. Through the clues given in the room, finding ways to kill or help each other, there are many twists that help you to determine that Adam and Lawrence know each other, and this eventually will lead them to discover the identity of who they believe the killer is. Meanwhile, in a series of flashbacks you see events before going to the bathroom, including Lawrence trying to rekindle the breaking relationship with his wife Alison (Patch Adams' Monica Potter) and daughter, Adam secretly photographing Lawrence for suspicious Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover) who is obsessed with catching Jigsaw. The ending is fantastic with Lawrence putting the saw into use, the man they suspected, Zep Hindle (Michael Emerson, who appeared in TV's Lost) is himself a victim, and the dead guy on the floor, John (Tobin Bell), a patient of Lawrence's is alive, and involved in "his own sick game". Also starring Ken Leung as Det. Steven Sing, Dina Meyer as Kerry and Billy the Jigsaw Puppet (LOL). Traps in the flashbacks include: a guy in a room of razer wire and a timed trap door to get to, a room of combinations on the wall to the safe with antidote inside and the guy is covered in a flammable substance with a candle and broken glass on the floor, and of course, Amanda (Shawnee Smith) has a timed jaw trap and the key is inside the stomach of a guy on the floor. Very, very good!