Oh yes, there was blood...

Rating: 8/10 (29 October 2005)

First off, wow. It is not too often that I find myself sitting in a theater saying "Oh my god" to myself. If and when it does occur, it is always for one of two reasons; I am either extremely upset with the movie I am watching and am anxious to leave, or I am completely blown away. In the case of Saw II the latter is true. I was finding myself amazed at all the aspects of the film every couple of minutes. The camera-work, editing, acting, script... all were equally wonderful.
In some ways, Saw II picks up right where it's predecessor left off, and in some ways acts as a prequel to the original. The story not only tells us of the 7 people inside the house, all victims (if it fair to call them that) of serial killer (if it is fair to call him that) John aka "Jigsaw", but also explains the reasons for Jigsaw's sick, sadistic behavior.
As with the original, the only part of the movie I disliked was the car chase scenes. Both movies seemed to be showing driving scenes as a sort of homage to David Lynch's Lost Highway, but in neither movie is the tribute pulled off with much to praise. This aside, Saw II is actually almost better than last years Saw. The devices used are much more grisly, the acting (on everyone's part) is a little better and the story is far superior to it's predecessor. The last 30 minutes of the film reveal so many twists and revelations I found myself in a constant state of awe. Saw II is without a doubt, one of the best sequels I have ever seen and, in all honesty, one of the best horror movies I've seen in quite some time.