Review of Saw II (2005) by Dann M — 20 Jan 2018

Gruesome and ultraviolent, Saw II takes the series into torture porn territory. This time criminal mastermind Jigsaw has trapped 8 people inside of a house and exposed them to a deadly nerve gas, and to get the antidote each of them must complete a task that's been specifically designed for them.

Starring Donnie Wahlberg, Shawnee Smith, and Tobin Bell, the casting is pretty good. However, the characters aren't that likable or sympathetic; which is probably intentional as Jigsaw has been rewritten as an antihero who's punishing wicked people for their wrongdoings.

Yet as gratuitous as the violence is, there's a strange morbid fascination to the traps. And, director Darren Lynn Bousman does a great job at building suspense. Though Saw II goes more for exploitation than horror, it still delivers plenty of frightening thrills.