Review of Saw (2003) by Shawn E — 29 Dec 2012

A failure on every conceivable level. There is nothing remotely thrilling or terrifying about this poorly shot/edited, mind-numbingly boring 'horror' flick. Weak, laughable performances and underwhelming twists only increase this film's amateur 'made-for-TV' nature and one wonders how it managed to find its way to the big screen, let alone spawn such a long-running franchise.

The idea behind 'Saw' is a promising one - A sadistic serial killer kidnaps individuals and places them in death traps that force them to confront their darkest natures and choose whether or not they will save themselves at the expense of another's life or at the expense of their own well being. Seems interesting enough, yet somehow first-time screenwriter Leigh Whannell and first-time director James Wan manage to drain every conceivable creative possibility from this premise and turn it into a by-the-numbers horror flick that is neither smart enough to work as a psychological thriller nor scary enough to work as a generic horror flick. It seems to fall into every possible cliche imaginable, complete with subplots and side characters that have no actual bearing on the story and a main story that is vastly uninteresting.

Even the twists are contrived and uninspired. And speaking of uninspired, how about those performances, eh? Sure, these poor people aren't aided by the truly horrendous dialogue they're spouting, but, good Lord, Cary Elwes sawing off his foot (Oh, come on, this doesn't even count as a spoiler. Everyone knows about this scene by now) may have made me laugh more than anything he did in Robin Hood Men in Tights.

Needless to say, I'm rather glad I've managed to avoid this silly franchise for so long, and I don't intend to delve any deeper into its depths.