Clever, kodak-worthy, and pace-threatening!!! I like it!!!

Rating: 8/10 (4 June 2005)

Aside from "Amityville Horror", there were a bunch of BAD, and I mean really BAD, horror movies out in the past few years. Especially ones that try to force plot into you but don't work, or ones that can't hold a plot for Cadbury bunnies! Movies that only work on scares and doing them very poorly throw me off, and I've grown rather irritated at them.
SAW came out in theaters some months ago, though I haven't caught a chance to watch it, because of my overly bearing skepticism. Now, I have caught myself a chance to watch it, and the uncut one for that matter.
What SAW gave me was amazing breadth of tension. Yes, I've never felt so much tension mixed in with extremely well-thought-out cleverness. Here we have starting off with 2 guys who are confined in a skanky secure and dank bathroom, with their feet cuffed up, by some maniac who's given them their ultimatum; to kill each other and be set free if done so. They are given a variety of options and clues to help themselves free, though they all turn out to lead to the extreme of measures taken, no matter how hard they try to outwit this sick mastermind. A myriad of other individuals are plunged into this terrifying game that is being set up, and they are also enforcing their own methods to be set free of their ultimatum.
What happens towards the end is gradual breakdown. And not just the tidy measures, but extremes are enacted in their breakdown. You wouldn't expect it at all, but the moments are gripping. Frantic pacing and extremely clever screenplay are the trademark of a film of this caliber. It's a serious recommend to those like me who hate horror movies, and instead go see it for the brain-jogging it puts the viewer in. Even gore fans won't be disappointed by this. Let's just hope the sequel (err-hum!! sequels....) that will soon come out will not be disappointing at all.
This non-murderous mastermind has a way of grabbing you by the leash and fastening it to steel, and not letting you go until the very last threshold where the credits start rolling..........Go see it.