See Saw

Rating: 8/10 (13 June 2014)

Of course you can't beat the original, so why can't they leave it alone, instead of adding a chain of sequels. Films like this, whether being Hostel, Wolf Creek, or even The Hitcher, that 86 road movie masterpiece, how more memorable, desired, or talked about, would those originals be. Here is just another brilliant premise that works beautifully on the screen. I haven't heard screams coming from an audience (this coming fro m a pack of girls) like this in years. Elwes and Whannel pull of great performances, where I consider Elwes one of those great character actors. Here these two strangers awaken in what Whannel, perfectly terms "a actual shithole", that being a dungy washroom, where their arms have been chained. They're separated at both ends of this capacious room. As fate would have it, they're here for a reason, to atone or suffer for their sins so to speak. Some brilliant and clever psycho, the introduction of another evil great, Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) The story flashes back a lot to establish how our two out of lucksters got here. Elwes, a doctor apparently neglects his family, and is doing a younger Asian inturn as well, where poor pathetic soul Whannel, has been paid to sneak pictures of em', where this history comes into play much later on. So meantime, we have our minds working up a lot of curiosity to why they're here. Inevitably one of the two has to make the big cut, using the saw they've been left with, and yes we have an unavoidable cringing scene, where some blood is shed. In flashback, we see some of Jigsaw's other victims, including a surviving one, (Shawnee Smith) who became a favorite in the next couple of pics, the sequel to this, having her settling a score with a cop, where she's actually thankful to Jigsaw. When viewing his reasons for becoming the monster he is, one can minorly sympathize. Saw is bloody two, and will have you wincing at some scenes, while you have the squeamish, just screaming. Too, as in flashbacks, concerning the victims, it's filmed in a lot of dungy green that works splendidly. Wan and writer Whannel have pulled off some special here, a real horror show, where Bell, though not really seen in this one, has been magnificent as the psycho Jigsaw, while bringing a human depth to him too. My Dad, a hard critic liked Saw, which I couldn't believe. He liked Seven too. If you really want to be scared and truly unnerved, like in nail biting territory, this is the horror pic for you.