Saw (2004) ***1/2

Rating: 9/10 (26 October 2009)

The one that started it all! I'll never forget how impressed I was with the novel concept of this horror film when I first discovered it via a risky DVD rental: a man dying of cancer decides to play elaborate games of potential death on people who foolishly do not appreciate the value of life and take their health for granted. In this opener of what was destined to become a hugely popular franchise, two young men awake inside an unknown dilapidated building, each one helplessly chained, and find themselves the targets in a crazy game of survival by the unique serial killer nicknamed "Jigsaw". Danny Glover (LETHAL WEAPON) co-stars as the detective following the case. Despite the gruesome nature, and thumbing my nose at those viewers too sensitive to watch such a film and realize it's only a movie, this is one of the freshest horror movies to come along in the 21st century, exceptionally written and executed by the young team of Leigh Whannell (who plays one of the doomed prisoners) and James Wan (who directed). ***1/2 out of ****