Good story but more of psychological thriller

Rating: 8/10 (29 October 2004)

Okay so in all fairness I watched The Grudge last week, which was absolutely freaky and VERY scary. I was looking for the same scares in this film but it definitely is more of thriller/suspense than horror. I liked the way the story is told and the visuals definitely set the mood. The colors and music are gripping, and you feel desperate by the time the characters/story reaches their/its climax. Elwes was a bit funny at times when he was supposed to come across stressed and worried. The guy playing Adam (sorry I didn't look his name up yet) was very good. I liked him and actually found myself cheering him on as opposed to the character of Lawrence. The graphics aren't very gruesome, which makes me wonder how much they edited to bring it down from a NC-17 rating--if it was indeed ever going to get the NC rating. I'll be looking forward to the (hopefully) unrated DVD with deleted and extended scenes (again a hope of mine). It definitely has the "feel" of Seven but I would've liked to hear more of the music rather than feel it. There were some great songs in Seven but I can't really remember any songs used in Saw. I just remember the melody, no lyrics. The twist was entertaining but a tad predictable.
If you're in the mood for a good, suspenseful, "who's the bad guy?" movie then this is it. Very entertaining thriller that was worth the ticket price but like I mentioned above I'll be looking forward to its DVD release.