A surprisingly inventive idea well executed

Rating: 8/10 (15 September 2009)

There is a serial killer out there. His name is Jigsaw, and he is possibly the most deadly and cunning primate descendant since Hannibal Lector.
This is how he kills. He abducts his chosen victims, dumps them in the bowels of his lair, and he sets a trap upon them. This trap could be a cage full of stretched barbed wire, or it could be an explosive helmet strapped to one's head. After setting the trap, he starts the countdown, then sits back and watches his victims try to escape before time runs out and he leaves them to die. In trying to escape, the victims subsequently kill themselves in gruesome ways. Jigsaw there fore does not get a drop of blood on his hands. It is all a game, and horror fans will love it. Well, they already do.
The film is engaging from the beginning, because there is no introduction to the story. The curtain rises on an event which has already begun. In a rusty old bathroom, two men Dr. Lawrence Gordon and Adam Faulker wake up to find them ankle chained to the piping. They have no idea where they are and why, but they soon figure out that they have been kidnapped. The body of a dead man has been dumped in the room, and in his hand is a cassette player on which to play the instructional cassette which their kidnapper has left them. The instructions are for Dr. Gordon. He has until 6:00 to kill Adam, or his wife and child will get it. Gordon must think fast to outsmart the killer who is watching them ready to spill Innocent blood.
Someone recently asked me why these films appeal to so many. Even as a horror fan, I don't find slasher films appealing unless they offer something a step above the lobotomy level. Saw offers this and more. Is it disturbing? yes, but it has good energy and creativity.
If you haven't seen it yet, you should. But brace yourself