Well, I finally submitted. I went up to the video store to rent a movie, only to remember that I can't rent R-rated/unrated movies yet. So, I went home and tried my best to find a movie. While looking through my catalog of movies, I came across a movie that I've been trying my hardest not to watch since its release in 2004. For one reason or another, I came up with excuse after excuse for why I shouldn't watch Saw. Well, I gave up on that because I really wanted to watch a horror movie last night. Here's what I thought of it.
SAW (2004) * out of ****
Dir. James Wan, Written by Leigh Wannell
Well, I'm sure almost everyone who would read this has already seen Saw. Which means I'm too late. Upon its release in 2004, Saw was panned by critics, but it was welcomed and praised by horror fans as being original and scary and the future of horror movies. I will admit, this movie was original, but as for scary, that's a whole different story. This isn't in the same league as psychological thrillers as my personal favorite, The Silence Of The Lambs, nor is it even playing the same game. Allow me to elaborate.
For those who haven't seen this movie, I'll give a brief rundown. The movie opens with the image of a man named Adam waking up in a bathtub in a hellish nightmare of a bathroom. His foot is chained to a pipe, there is a corpse in the middle of the floor, and he is accompanied by a man- also chained to a pipe- named Larry. From here, we learn that the two are a part of a sick game that is being played by a sadistic man called Jigsaw. The object of the game is different for the two men, as it is for every other person that Jigsaw has gotten his hands on. Jigsaw sees people who don't appreciate their lives, so he puts them through a series of gruesome and gut-wrenching tests. The object of these games is to give the victim a newfound appreciation for life. As the movie progresses through 105 min. runtime, the audience is subjected to all sorts of disturbing images and grisly violence on the highest level.
I'd like to think that I'm just being really too harsh on the film, but, sadly, that's not the truth. Unfortunately, the things that the film relies on to keep its audience interested just don't work, at least not for me. For instance, the film boasts a really interesting twist at the end that would probably blow some people's minds, at least those who enjoyed the movie in its entirety. But I really couldn't have cared less.
WEAKNESSES
The script was awful from the first line to the last sound of the soul-shattering screams that roll through the credits. The acting was almost equally terrible, even from screen favorite Danny Glover. In a movie this grisly and horrifying, you'd really count on the acting to help portray the emotion that goes along with being trapped in a room, chained to a ploe. Without that, a lot of the effect is lost, and that really kills the film. Instead of using the acting to portray the disturbing feel of the movie, they use raw colors and creepy sounds. Sadly, this doesn't work all that well, but instead distracts the viewer from the travesty on screen.
STRENGTHS
Well, as I stated earlier, this film doesn't really have too many strengths, spare the direction and the cinematography. The scenes were really well set. They helped add some of the horrible feeling that the acting didn't do. The direction and cinematography were probably the only thing keeping me from turning off the movie after ten minutes. Those are really the only two things that kept this movie working.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All in all, I can honestly say I really hated this movie on many, many levels. As a self-labeled "splatter punk" (that word is not used in the right context, but I use it to describe the wave of teenagers who love watching gorey horror movies), I was offended. The only thing that managed to scare me about this movie was that people paid money to see this movie. And paid to enjoy it. And got the studios to pay to get three sequels made. I kind of felt like I was a part of Jigsaw's sick game. Jigsaw preys on people who have an obvious character flaw- drug addiction, voyeurism, workaholism. Perhaps my character flaw was my love for film. I felt like I was being forced to make it through the movie without killing myself before the end, and, if I failed, someone would kill my family, or a slow-acting poison would destroy the earth. Not a good feeling. This movie wasn't after good feelings, but it could have tried a little- scratch that, a lot- harder to get a feeling of terror. It could have been something much more than it was, but instead, it opted to fill its runtime with as much senseless gore and trauma as it could. I really, really hope that this is NOT the future of horror.
* An absolute travesty
** Average
*** A pretty good movie
**** Great
***** Masterpiece
Monday, August 6, 2007
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