Review: Saw

If you're a horror fan, and are not yet familiar with Saw and its sequels, I just don't know what I can do for you. Well, maybe there's something. We can look at each of the films, based on their own merits, beginning with the first.

Saw opens with a jolt - a young man, waking, submerged in water. Soon, we see that this man is not alone. In an opposite corner sits a stranger, and the young man, Adam (Leigh Whannell), discovers that they are both chained. Worse yet, in the center of the room is a dead man, his blood pooling around him. In one hand is a mini-cassette recorder, in the other hand is a gun, presumably what led to the lake of blood around the corpse's head.
On the other side of the room is Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), an oncologist whose family, we learn, is being held by a serial killer. Thanks to cassettes left for each of them, we discover that Adam and Gordon are part of a sadistic game that has been played before in several variations. Their version of the game is this: Gordon must kill Adam within six hours, or his family dies. Gordon and Adam struggle to work together to find the man behind their imprisonment, but are often beset by secrets which emerge between them.

Outside the room, a former policeman, Detective Tapp (Danny Glover), is struggling to find the Jigsaw killer, too. He has plenty of time to investigate, now on leave from his department after a close encounter with the killer left Tapp scarred and his partner dead. The faintest stirrings of madness and obsession surround Tapp, and we quickly realize that his methods may not be the most ethical.

As the game plays out, viewers are shown previous participants in the killer's twisted game, only one of whom survives. Amanda (Shawnee Smith) goes so far as to say that she is grateful to the killer for her newfound appreciation of life. Not so for the others who were not so speedy or careful to make it out of the killer's labyrinthine constructs. Beneath it all are secrets that are revealed consistently throughout the film which illuminate more of Gordon and Adam's life as they attempt to escape with their lives, if not all necessary limbs, before time expires.

The original Saw has the benefit of novelty. The setup and execution, including some flashy tricks from director James Wan (Dead Silence, Death Sentence) and some nifty twists by writer Leigh Whannell (Saw 2, Saw 3), keep the viewer off-balance. There are some typical jump gags, like a figure illuminated by a camera's flashbulb, a la Rear Window, but the root of the horror comes from the basic premise. What if someone found your greatest weakness, and exploited it in the most sadistic and potentially lethal way imaginable? That idea simply works. It's a creepy notion, and the flourescent-lit cage that Gordon and Adam find themselves in is the perfect place to allow that terror to play out.

Unfortunately, Elwes in the lead role is waaaaay over-the-top here, especially opposite Whannell who finds a nice balance between melodrama and realism. Likewise, Glover's performance is distracting, and the gravelly voice he adopts after his accident is frequently almost too low to hear.
But those aren't the real stars, are they? It's the Jigsaw killer and his traps, and those are striking. Especially terrifying is the reverse bear trap that secures Amanda, though another involving a man who recently attempted suicide gave me pause, as well. There is a voyeuristic element to this film, one addressed cleverly in Adam's character, a photographer who snaps shots of men diddling their secretaries. It's that sense of perverse fascination that makes Saw what it is. This is a film that transcends its own flaws to become that iconic story - the characters' flaws will be their undoing, and we, as the audience, will watch that punishment.

As a movie, Saw is pretty good, with some red herrings thrown in to keep the audience guessing about the identity of the real killer. Even the final twist, which asks for quite a leap of faith, worked for me on this viewing. Still, some of the performances do drag down the film, and moving outside the garishly-lit prison leads to the weaker scenes of the film. Inside that trap, however, the movie is a compelling one, and provides some visceral chills that make Saw a must-see for horror fans who are willing to trade some weak acting for some creative violence.