Saw's 10th anniversary: fondly remembered...but should it be? by cameron biddle
Ten years ago, director James Wan released Saw on October 29th 2004. While the film received rather mixed reviews from critics (currently holding a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes), fans absolutely loved. It currently holds an 84% approval rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and made over 103 million dollars at the box office worldwide, a very impressive accomplishment for an independent film. This year on Halloween, several theaters re-released the film on the big screen for its ten year anniversary. It seems to be fondly remembered among horror movie fans…but should it be? Since I’ve never actually seen the movie, I decided to go get the full experience and watch it on the big screen to see if I was missing out on anything.
Photographer Adam Stanheight (The film’s writer Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) wake up chained to opposite sides of a bathroom, with a dead body in the middle of the room. They each have a cassette tape on them, with Adam’s telling him that he will die if he doesn’t escape from the bathroom, and Gordon’s telling him that he has to kill Adam before 6 o’clock, or else he will kill Gordon’s wife Allison (Monica Potter) and his daughter Diana (Mackenzie Berk). Gordon then realizes that he and Adam are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer, an infamous serial killer who puts people he feels don’t value life in a “game” where they are forced to go through extreme pain in order to survive. With time running out, Adam and Lawrence work to find a way to escape Jigsaw’s demonic game.
The two main actors in this movie are Elwes and Whannell, as they are on screen the most out of any actor. Elwes is absolutely great for this movie. He can give off some very convincing scenes of anger and desperation to save his family. On the other hand, however, Whanell is really bad. His character is incredibly whiney and obnoxious, which is made worse considering what situation he is in, and he still acts that way. The film is well written, so I think Whannell should stick to just writing movies instead of acting in them.
Another thing that irritates me about the film is the camera work. Wan uses a style referred to as “hit-and-run editing”. This is a style that uses lots of quick cuts, and speeds up scenes for no reason whatsoever. It’s basically done so the audience doesn’t stop paying attention or lose focus on the film. This style is absolutely obnoxious, and just makes the film irritating to watch at times.
Something I noticed about this movie is that the film’s plot doesn’t revolve around the traps and torture scenes. Later in the series (more specifically starting with Saw III), the film’s formula is always people in the traps trying to find a way out of the game that Jigsaw has put them in. This one focuses more on the Adam and Gordon, who are spending the entire movie in one big trap, and flashbacks to the police investigation of Jigsaw. I personally like this plot better than the later film’s because there’s more of an actual story, as opposed to the sequels, which seem to use excessive amounts of gore just to use it.
In regards to how scary the movie is…it isn’t that scary. Sure there’s a jump scare occasionally, some graphic violence, and the creepy Billy puppet (If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about), there isn’t much outside of that. The ending however, is great. It ties so much of the movie together. I don’t want to spoil it for you (ten-year spoiler alert!), but it’s absolutely great.
So, is Saw, the film that is commonly considered one of the greatest horrors of the 2000’s, really that good? Well, on one hand, there’s a strong plot, great sets and atmosphere, and some good acting performances. But on the other, there’s really annoying camera work and some truly bad characters. Overall, I’d say the film is pretty good. It’s certainly not this horror masterpiece that some people see it as, but it’s definitely still worth watching if you’re a horror fan. So go find a copy of Saw and enjoy. I know it isn’t really the season for horror movies, but you know what they say; if it’s Christmas, it must be Saw!...Ok maybe they don’t say that, but you should still see it.
Photographer Adam Stanheight (The film’s writer Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) wake up chained to opposite sides of a bathroom, with a dead body in the middle of the room. They each have a cassette tape on them, with Adam’s telling him that he will die if he doesn’t escape from the bathroom, and Gordon’s telling him that he has to kill Adam before 6 o’clock, or else he will kill Gordon’s wife Allison (Monica Potter) and his daughter Diana (Mackenzie Berk). Gordon then realizes that he and Adam are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer, an infamous serial killer who puts people he feels don’t value life in a “game” where they are forced to go through extreme pain in order to survive. With time running out, Adam and Lawrence work to find a way to escape Jigsaw’s demonic game.
The two main actors in this movie are Elwes and Whannell, as they are on screen the most out of any actor. Elwes is absolutely great for this movie. He can give off some very convincing scenes of anger and desperation to save his family. On the other hand, however, Whanell is really bad. His character is incredibly whiney and obnoxious, which is made worse considering what situation he is in, and he still acts that way. The film is well written, so I think Whannell should stick to just writing movies instead of acting in them.
Another thing that irritates me about the film is the camera work. Wan uses a style referred to as “hit-and-run editing”. This is a style that uses lots of quick cuts, and speeds up scenes for no reason whatsoever. It’s basically done so the audience doesn’t stop paying attention or lose focus on the film. This style is absolutely obnoxious, and just makes the film irritating to watch at times.
Something I noticed about this movie is that the film’s plot doesn’t revolve around the traps and torture scenes. Later in the series (more specifically starting with Saw III), the film’s formula is always people in the traps trying to find a way out of the game that Jigsaw has put them in. This one focuses more on the Adam and Gordon, who are spending the entire movie in one big trap, and flashbacks to the police investigation of Jigsaw. I personally like this plot better than the later film’s because there’s more of an actual story, as opposed to the sequels, which seem to use excessive amounts of gore just to use it.
In regards to how scary the movie is…it isn’t that scary. Sure there’s a jump scare occasionally, some graphic violence, and the creepy Billy puppet (If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about), there isn’t much outside of that. The ending however, is great. It ties so much of the movie together. I don’t want to spoil it for you (ten-year spoiler alert!), but it’s absolutely great.
So, is Saw, the film that is commonly considered one of the greatest horrors of the 2000’s, really that good? Well, on one hand, there’s a strong plot, great sets and atmosphere, and some good acting performances. But on the other, there’s really annoying camera work and some truly bad characters. Overall, I’d say the film is pretty good. It’s certainly not this horror masterpiece that some people see it as, but it’s definitely still worth watching if you’re a horror fan. So go find a copy of Saw and enjoy. I know it isn’t really the season for horror movies, but you know what they say; if it’s Christmas, it must be Saw!...Ok maybe they don’t say that, but you should still see it.