Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another SAW review. The flick is close to release (well, a month and a half away...) and it seems like its screening everywhere. I saw it wwwaaayyyy back at the beginning of the year at the American Film Market and I agree that it's one hell of a horror flick. There's some acting that isn't top notch, but the pacing, atmosphere and scares are all tip of the top. If you don't want to know how 98% of the movie unfolds, don't read the below review. Super spoilers below. Just know that he really, really, really liked it. For the rest of you, I present scream_guy3!!!
If this makes it in use the name scream_guy3.
Attented a press screening in Toronto of Saw last wednesday. Wasn't inclined to write in until I saw (haha...get it) that you posted a review of the movie. That reviewer really hit the mark in that this movie kicks your ass. It does indeed keep you guessing who the killer is the entire time. Now on with the review. i'll just give the basic story points...no ending spoilers.
It opens to the sound of water bubbling. After the title dissapears an image slowly fades in. It's of a man underwater. A small pocket light is floating above him, and he suddenly wakes up. He's sitting in a bathtub, and as he gets up he pulls a small chain, which in effect drains all of the water in the tub. The room he is in is completely dark, and you can only see a vague outline of the character. You hear another voice coming from somewhere in the room. It's revealed to be Dr. Gordon, played by Cary Elwes. The two characters talk for a bit and then Dr. Gordon flicks on the lights. In the centre of the room is a dead body. There is a gun in his hand and he has apparently shot himself in the head. Now Dr. Gordon and the other guy (who is revealed to be Adam, played by Leigh Whannell) talk for a bit more, trying to figure out who could have put them where they are, and who the dead guy in the middle of the room is. Adam reaches in his pocket only to find a little tape. Dr. Gordon does the same. They now change their focus on the dead guy, who has a tape recorder in one hand, and a gun in the other. Adam is closest to the tape recorder and tries to reach for it, but cannot because him and Dr. Gordon are both chained to nearby pipe on seperate ends of the room. Adam removes his shirt and after a few attempts does indeed get the tape recorder. He puts his tape in and listens. The familiar voice from the trailer comes on, which is very menacing and works quite well. "Hello Adam. Let's play a little game." The tape then tells Adam that the X marks the spot. Now it's Dr. Gordon's turn to listen to his tape. He listens and the mystery voice tells him he must kill Adam before the clock reaches the 6, or his family will die. And also something about a heart.This is what jump starts the whole story now. They begin looking for the heart and find it on a toilet. Adam puts his hand in the disgusting sewage to find nothing at all. He removes the lid to find a bag with two saws. He throws the bag into the tub, and tried cutting off the chain. He passes the other saw to Dr. Gordon. But wait, Adam's saw breaks. They realize that this person does not want them to cut the chain, but their feet. They talk some more and Dr. Gordon thinks he knows who could have done this to them. The "Jigsaw Killer". Now it goes into flashback mode.
All of the deaths prior to the present situation are told through flashback, which at first I was a little dissapointed by. But it actually worked out quite well. You are then introduced to Danny Glover's character, Detective David Tapp. His performane is...kinda like 'Predator 2' Danny Glover. Anyway the detectives come across the victim that has killed himself by going through razor wire. The razors cut him so deep that some of his stomach acid was found on the floor. There is a tape in the room which has a message. The victim had a perfect life. He was healthy, had a good wife, and a good job. Even though he had all of this, he still attempted to take his life by putting a razor blade to his wrists. Now Mr. Jigsaw Killer doesn't like people who take their lives for granted, and now puts this man to the real test. If he wants to die, then he will just have to sit there and wait till his body is discovered. If he wants to live however, he has to make it through the razor wire in time before the door to the room is locked shut. Well, you all know what happens. He goes too fast and BAM!, corpse. One of the suspects ends up being Dr. Gordon himself, who at the moment is examining a patient who has a brain tumour. One of the orderlys walks in while he is talking about the patient to his fellow collegues. His name is Zep. They get in an argument and blah blah blah Zep leaves the room. Dr. Gordon is then called down to his office, where detectives Tapp and Sing (played by Ken Leung) are waiting. They question him with the standard "Where were you last night between the hours..." questions. They then ask him to follow them down to Police Headquarters.
It is here that we meet the next victim. She was a very bad drug abuser, and our sick little friend Jigsaw decides to make her appreciate life a little better. He puts on her what is described as a 'reverse bear trap' which would permenantly rip her jaw in half. As soon as she gets up, she has 60 seconds to find the key to unlock the device, or else goodbye jaw. The problem is the key is hidden in a dead man's stomach, who is laying on the other side of the room. As she is about to stab him, he slowly opens his eyes. It's too late though as she drives the knife into him several times. She fumbles through intestinal matter and finds the key, unlocks the trap, and throws it on the ground just in time. Dr. Gordon still won't admit anything, and the cops are keeping a close eye on him. At this point we are back in the room with Adam and Dr. Gordon. Time passes, and Dr. Gordon passes Adam his wallet to show him his family. Adam looks, only to find a picture of Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter tied up. On the verso of the picture is a statement, which reads something along the lines of "The X is in the dark". He doesn't show the picture to Dr. Gordon, however, but keeps it for himself. More flashback and detective Tapp is looking over one of the videos the killer left. He sees a familiar pattern, and remebers that it is from a mannequin factory downtown. So down him and detective Sing go. They arrive there to find the disturbing little puppet that is in all of the videos he leaves and also a man who is strapped to a device. Two drills on either side of his head that are slowly moving inward. The killer comes and is stopped by the two detectives. He gives them a choice. Save the life of the innocent man, or stop the killer. This gives him enough time to pull out a knife and cut Tapps throat. Sing then stops the device, and runs after the killer. As Jigsaw is running down a cooridoor, he is shot by Sing. Well, Sing thinks he shoots him, but our friend Jigsaw is only playing "pretend". Sing trips a wire which shoots off half a dozen shotguns straight on top of his head. Goodbye Sing. Jigsaw gets away, Tapp is bleeding, but not dead, and Sing, uh, is dead. Tapp gets kicked off the force and spends every waking hour of his life watching of Dr. Gordon, as he believes he is the killer.
Now we're back in the familiar room with Adam and Dr. Gordon. This is where things get interesting. Adam tells Gordon to shut off the lights. He does and they find the X. Dr. Gordon smashes through the already broken wall to find a box. Gordon asks Adam how he knew to shut off the lights, and at first Adam just says instinct. After a few attempts however, Dr. Gordon is able to get the truth out of him. He shows him the picture, but also hidden in the bag that contained the saws are dozens of other pictures of Dr. Gordon, which Adam took himself. As they look at the pictures, Adam find something interesting. There is a picture there that was taken the night before of Dr. Gordon's loft. But, wait, it's not Dr. Gordon who's looking out the window. Dr. Gordon inspects the picture, and it clicks in. He knows who the jigsaw killer is....
That's where I'll stop. I'm not going to spoil the last 20 minutes for you, as they are the best part of the movies. All I'll say is that limbs get cut off, twists upon twists occur, and some people just don't stay dead (hint hint). I also left out some key scenes, as to not allude to the very very twistfull ending. I will say this though, the most suspensful and scary part of the film is when Adam is in his apartment. The power is shut off, and he can hear noise coming from another room. The only way he can see is by the flash of his camera. Now THAT was suspensful.
The acting is not bad, the directing is pretty good, the cinematography is top-notch. The script is not bad. Overall a must-see, especially for the twist ending. As i was walking out all i could hear was "Wow what a good ending" and "I did NOT see that one coming" I may be building it up a little bit, but try and guess the killer. I think it's pretty safe to say that no one will ever guess who the killer is to this jigsaw of a tale.
scream_guy3
