Hey folks, Harry here... I really can't wait to see SAW, ever since I very first read the descriptions of it in advance of Sundance this year... The trailers, posters and pics that have gotten out rule, and frankly it looks disturbing as hell. Watch out for some spoilers here, but damn if this doesn't sound great...

Harry,

I had the pleasure of seeing 'Saw' last night in San Diego. After the Lions Gate panel earlier Friday the studio gave out passes for a midnight screening, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

First, some non-spoilers:

1. DO NOT READ/WATCH ANYTHING BEFORE SEEING!! We all know that the movie has 'fucked up' stuff (hey: it's in the trailer). I beg of all of you, know that Saw has some good stuff, but go in as clueless as possible. Also, this movie is not really a horror movie. It has horrific scenes, but I'd say it's more of a 'thriller.'

2. PLEASE DON'T BUY ALL THE HYPE! Don't expect this to be the 'next Se7en,' or whatever other great horror/thriller people are comparing it to. I think that I was expecting Saw to be the Texas Chainsaw Massacre of the decade, and I was a tad let down. Not to say this isn't a good movie, but don't think this is the end-all be-all of the genre.

3. There are a lot of great ideas in this movie. I really liked a lot of the things in the film (don't want to give away anything, thus breaking #1), and stylistically I think the director has some promise.

4. Thing that didn't work: acting. Wow; the acting in this is just plain bad at times. I'd almost say that all of the leads weren't believable a lot of the time. I'd point the finger at the director, since we all know that at least Cary Elwels can act (arguably, so can Danny Glover). While the director showed style potential, he has to direct actors better. I know that this is a young director, and the film is good enough to show that he has potential.

5. PLEASE, stick with this movie until the very end. Early in this movie I thought I knew what was going on, and I was pissed that the movie/writing could be that lame. Oh me of little faith. While the movie has some flaws, the ending is not one of them. Keep an open mind until the very end, and you should be good.

Ok, for those of you spoiler happy folks who can't wait until September 17 to see Saw

****** SPOILER ******

OK; if you're like me, you saw both the trailers out there, read reviews, read interviews, etc. you know what Saw is about. Basically there's a sick bastard out there who set's up people's demise to 'teach them a lesson.' (i.e. the guy in the current trailer who's in the cage full of razor wire is a 'perfectly healthy guy who cut his arm with a razor.' Is it because he really wants to kill himself, or does he want attention?). The 'set pieces' of the murder scenes show amazing imagination. Stylistically a lot of those scenes are played out with the static cuts w/industrial music. While this kind of stuff seems to be over done now-a-days, I think it worked here, and didn't seem like a gimmick.

What is a MASSIVE gimmick is that doll/puppet. There is absolutely no point in it what so ever, except it looks cool (and scary: Lion's Gate has the doll at their booth, and it looked freaky in person). Every time the showed it in the movie and it "talked" to the victims, people laughed out loud. It's freaky in the trailers, but kind of dumb on screen, and tended to take me out of the 'moment' when it was on. At the Lion's Gate presentation at Comic-Con, one of the guys mentioned that the writer/director were working on a movie that might have something to do with more killer dolls, or something. I hope that it works out better in that one, because it really didn't do much in Saw.

Another thing that bothered me was the acting, pretty much all around. Danny Glover was pretty bad as the cop who goes mad tracking down the killer after his partner is killed. Cary E. is mediocre a lot of the time as a doctor formerly suspected of the killings (due to a light pen of his left at one of the crime scenes), and Leigh Whannell (also the writer) is kind of amateur playing a victim set up with Cary E's doctor (the details have been described elsewhere, but for those of you not wanting to look it up Cary and Leigh are chained up in a 'shit hole' of a bathroom. There is a dead man who apparently died of a self inflicted bullet wound, instructions for both the chained up victims, and the clock ticking. The movie is mostly flash backs as the Cary and Leigh try to piece together what's going on). You can tell that Adam (Leigh Wannell) wrote the movie, because that character has all of the cool/comic relief lines. He wasn't that bad, though, honestly, and his amateurish performance worked for the character and the situation.

So the mystery goes on, red herrings are thrown in as to who the killer is (is it the mad cop? a hospital employee from Cary's work? One of the chained victims themselves? Someone different?), and the film goes on. Cary's doctor (Larry) is ordered to kill Adam, or his wife and child will die. Adam is freaking out the whole time trying to figure out what goes on, and Larry is trying to stay calm and rationalize everything as the two piece together the events.

The non-linear plot really worked for me: it didn't feel like a plot contrivance. The music was OK (again, it works, although I think the credit music kind of sucks), and the camera work was good (sometimes the jerky hand-held we all are almost sick of, and sometimes real stylish shots). The hand held camera stuff really worked well stylistically, overall the technical aspect of the movie was solid. I will definitely keep an eye out for the director/writer's next project.

And then there's the end. Now, I'm a HUGE believer in an ending making or breaking the film. About twenty minutes or so into Saw, I had a good idea of who the killer was, and I was setting myself up to be disappointed: it all seemed SO lame. I was thinking that this movie had some good ideas, but poor overall execution with the story. But when the ending hit, it hit like a ton of bricks. I literally said "no fuckin' way" as it was happening, and the ending turned Saw from what I thought was an 'OK' movie, to a real good movie. I will go out and see this movie again, just to see if the ending holds up on a second viewing. I don't want to spoil it, but please stick with this one 'till the end, as the ending's good.

So overall, I would recommend Saw. It's a solid thriller, with some great gore and horror. I wish the acting was stronger, as I think that would make Saw one of the best thriller/horror movies I'd seen in awhile, but it was OK. Even with mediocre acting the movie was real good. It's no second coming of Se7en (the acting in Saw couldn't hold a candle to the acting in Se7en), but it's a real strong movie, and a sign of a very promising career for director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell. --

Dig Dug