Gory excellence! With added plot and meaning, too.

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 2008)

This film was a major surprise to me. I looked at the DVD case, saw the severed foot and thought; 'right, looks like a pretty average gore film, lot's of blood and guts, just for the sake of it'. But, and I'll be the first to admit it, I couldn't have been more wrong. Yes it's over the top gore, but no, it is not by any means just blood and guts all over the place in a random fashion. This film has a plot, meaning and brilliant scripting.
'Saw' explores the genre in a completely different way, almost redefining the whole gore genre, and converting it from a once plot-less carnage, to a now meaningful blood-bath of excitement. The whole film relentlessly surprises with multiple plot changes, ultimately ending in a way which is completely not what you expected. (The murderer gets up and walks right out of the room - yeah, as if you really did expect that 'dead' guy to be jigsaw after all - because I'll tell you now, I didn't). The whole film is a feast for your brain, nothing about this film makes you feel guilty for watching it after, it doesn't suck the sense out of your brain and the brutality doesn't seem in your face; it seems normal and fits perfectly with the sub-texts of the film. 'Saw' doesn't just randomly spill it's guts out to you, it depicts desperation and makes you think twice about how you view your own life. It therefore presents morals that we hold to our own lives and presents an ideology represented by the murderer, 'jigsaw', that if we don't appreciate our lives enough to be fight for it, no matter what sick trap has been placed, than we should die. Flashbacks give us a slight insight into this murderer's thoughts, but it leaves it all very open, giving it a lot of potential to produce a very satisfactory series of films.
There are no immediately bad things about this film, although, it doesn't quite satisfy your taste buds, instead it seems more like a filler, getting you ready for the next set of 'Saw' films.
A highly recommended rent or purchase if you enjoy gory / horror / thriller films, but, if you don't, don't expect to suddenly be bowled over by 'Saw'. It may be good, but it's nothing inspiring, it just is a little more interesting than your run of the mill gore film. And, if you do buy into the 'Saw' franchise, expect to be renting the next 4 or 5 'Saw' films that have came out, along with it too.