Silence of the Lambs + Mythbusters = Win

Rating: Null/10 (11 October 2015)

Horror films like this may be old hat today, but I think we should dedicate a moment of silence to honor what may have been the first of its kind. OK, enough silence, let's get back to blood curdling screams.
"Saw" distinguished itself from the usual 90s-00s horror tosh by taking a pseudo intellectual approach as in classics like "Silence of the Lambs" or "The Cell" where the killer is not just a mindless hockey goalie on a bad day with power tools. The killer has a distinct, logical, stylish modus operandi that will appeal to people who know the meaning of the word "modus operandi". If you don't, or if you don't care, there's still plenty of suspense, action and blood & guts (literally) to keep you entertained from start to finish.
"Saw" is the story of a serial killer who is highly intelligent, highly resourceful (some of the diabolical devices he builds could be featured on Mythbusters), and most interestingly the killer is driven by a twisted sense of morality. This brings to mind the mother of all serial-killer-morality tales "Seven" which Saw undoubtedly drew inspiration from. While I don't think "Saw" is in league with "Seven", it does a great job of keeping up, and I think it's worth a watch.
Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon") playing the obsessed cop on a manhunt and Cary Elwes (I'll always remember him from "The Princess Bride") playing the intelligent victim, raise the bar with their excellent, characteristic performances. And while the story may have 1 or 2 loopholes, you can handily overlook them in light of these two iconic actors and a story that unravels suspensefully at every turn.
I did want to mention one thing for the squeamish (as well as those of you who crave the squeam), "Saw" isn't as over-the-top disgusting as I had been told. Yes, there's a ton of blood and a few hurl worthy scenes of bad things happening to body parts, but for the most part it's somewhat tame by today's standards. I actually like that, because it's a film I can recommend to my mom. The lack of nudity/sex and the interesting morality angle furthermore might make it a family-safe film. If your family happens to live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. But you catch my drift.