He came, he saw, he Wan

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2005)

Thriller fans can finally breathe again, or better hold their breath again; because once again there is a good no-nonsense thriller out there that stays away from Hollywood clichÃ©s and will chill you to the bone. Although the film is very original overall I'll among the first ones to admit that it sort of leans on a premise similar to that in Cube (in some ways). Now originality, for starters, are already two big thumbs up for this film, since it is unpredictable from beginning to end. Every once in a while you will catch yourself thinking: "Now I get it..." and I bet you: You do NOT get it! But there is much more to this film than originality. What I especially liked about this film, was that it was shocking and disturbing, without being too graphical. You know, many films (especially horror and splatter films) are very graphic, but in being so they lose every chance at being gory or disturbing. A film like this though (or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)) is maintains a certain sense or realism and becomes truly disturbing because it avoids visual overkill. This cannot be accomplished though without the help of a good script, good actors and a capable filmmaker behind the camera and let me tell you Saw has it all. James Wan really put himself and fellow writer Leigh Whannell on the map with this one. There is not a single hole to be found in the entire story and the directing is good (although somewhat messy in some scenes with the head gear). I for one am excited to see Wans next picture (with Whanell contribution of course), although I'm not too keen on seeing Saw 2. To me it seems as pointless as a Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, but hey they even made American Psycho 2 and Cruel Intentions 3, so I guess there's no stopping the Hollywood machinery...nonetheless some things are better left alone!
8 out of 10
post scriptum: I know it's hard to believe but I actually saw the Dutch premiere of this film