Decent follow up

Rating: 6/10 (13 May 2006)

Gory as hell and proud of it, Saw seemingly came out of nowhere to grab cinema goers by the throat, shake them violently and vomit blood into their faces. Thanks to it's success a sequel was inevitable but when it followed the original in less than a year and still turned out to be a decent follow up that in places surpasses it's older brother was about as expected as the Spanish inquisition. And as the tagline boasts the level of depravity reaches all new levels.
Setting the tone instantly, the first five minutes sees Jigsaw's latest victim having to make the decision between having his head splattered in a giant metal trap or carve his own eye out in order to retrieve the key to open it. True to the hype's promises the claret is gushing in seconds and when the cops arrive to investigate this rather unpleasant demise, the story properly kicks into gear. Bursting into a warehouse, the police led by detective Eric Matthews (Donnie "New Kid On the Block" Wahlberg) corner Jigsaw in his den and all seems to be neatly wrapped up. Before you can say "Gee, that was a very brief and concise short film" however the villain plays his ace in the hole; he has eight people locked up in a house riddled with traps who are slowly dying from breathing in air tinged with a tissue destroying virus and one of them is Matthew's delinquent teenage son.
What follows plays out in two separate strands - Jigsaw plays his game of cat and mouse with the police while the eight victims of his scheme try to escape the house and meet all sorts of nasty ends along the way. Revealing too much more would give away too many of the twists and turns the plot takes along the way, but rest assured fans of the original will find plenty to relish in here. Spiked baseball bats, bladed hand traps, booby-trapped ovens and a pit filled with thousands upon thousands of used needles ramp the level of unpleasantness right up and there are none of the irritating flashbacks to disrupts proceedings like in the first film.
It's not perfect of course. Grim and depraved it may be but 'Seven' it most certainly isn't and once again, every little twist has to be painstakingly explained but as far as squirm-in-your-seat film making goes, it's certainly effective. Jigsaw himself also has a far more active role this time round and makes a decidedly menacing presence but it is the link to the prequel that really seals the deal, a final act revelation so delightfully messed up it'll be with you for days.