An action flick disguised as a horror movie ruined by bad acting....

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2004)

I sit here and tell myself i will not pick this movie to pieces, much as I want to. In my short lifetime, i have seen thousands of films, and consider myself a fair judge of movie form.
That said, "Saw" is appalling. And intriguing. And nail biting. I have never, not once watched a movie with such laugh out loud bad acting, that actually kept my attention and had me riveted to the seat. It reminded me of a low-budget horror film made by college students, and acted by the students themselves. The problem is, only the writer acted in the film, the other roles filled by what I thouhgt were real actors. Cary Elwes put in a performance my High School drama teacher would have laughed at. It is not good in a thriller when the audience starts laughing during a tense, climatic scene.
OK, thats out of the way. Onto the rest.
The story is actually original. Sure, it steals from other films, but is not a complete knock off like "The Grudge." It is not a terribly engrossing, complex story. It has its twists and turns, but is told in a straightforward, flashback ridden type of way.
The scenarios the folks found themselves in were, to me, disappointing. They were short, and breezed through, and not all that gruesome. Now, the thought of having my jaw wrenched the wrong way definitely had me squirming, but it wasn't the gorefest its made out to be. By far the scariest part was the mannequin.
So the question you must ask yourself is this: Should I pay to see this movie. Regrettably, my answer is yes. The idea is so original, you have to see it.
I sit and wonder what this movie could have been if Al Pacino was in it.
6/10