Something to make even the most jaded horror fan squirm

Rating: 6/10 (10 December 2016)

Youthful director James Wan must have watched David Fincher's SEVEN about ten or twelve times to get the inspiration for this grotty, unpleasant and deeply unsettling horror film, which is definitely aimed at a teenage crowd. The plot itself is outlandish – if not outrageous – as a serial killer goes around murdering people in variously unpleasant ways. Another inspiration for the film are the films of Dario Argento, with a scene from SUSPIRIA – in which a woman is trapped in a room full of razor wire – repeated with the only change being in the gender of the victim.
Basically this is a film which focuses on sadism, with the plot just getting in the way. Every cliché in the book is on show here, with lots of scenes where you just want to tell the dumb detectives to shoot the killer and get on with it. The ending has two or three twists and is quite clever, in a contrived kind of way. The movie looks pale and washed out and watching it is definitely a depressing experience.
The good part of the film is a two-hander set in a run-down bathroom. If they had excluded the rest of the contrived police investigation and unpleasant murders (including THE BLOB's Shawnee Smith as a victim who nearly loses her jaw!) it would have made for a much tighter, more exciting film. Cary Elwes is fine, but kudos to Leigh Whannell who delivers the most intense performance in the film. Danny Glover also pops up as a tired detective and you have to ask whether he's getting "too old for this"! Still, as gruesome serial killer thrillers go, SAW delivers the goods, with something here to make even the most jaded horror fan squirm.