Released Date: 18 November 2004

Synopsis:

A murderous wacko amuses himself by pitting complete strangers against each other in life-and-death situations.

Movie Review:

Aussie newcomers James Wan and Leigh Whannell have created a conventional thriller that swirls the horror movie with a serial killer suspense genre debut feature, "Saw". Shot in just 18 days with minimal location and star (Leigh Whannell happens to be the character – Adam), it’s quite an impressive start in the industry with such a concept since the debut of independent films like "Blair Witch project" and "Dead End". While the movie is hardly flawless, the script manages to create a mysterious conceptual basis from which we slowly begin to see the truth emerge.

The show starts off with 2 guys, Lawrence and Adam, waking up to find themselves in a vacant grimy bathroom, chained to the pipes on opposite sides of the room with a dead body in the center. Neither can remember how they got there and so starts the riddled revelation of their captive in hope for an escape. But of course the mastermind behind this devious plan will not make it any easier. Much to its seemingly simple concept, it’s the back-story and flashbacks that defies the conventional way of storytelling thus making the story exceptionally involving. Although the non-linear plotline concept has been done many times before, here it's still intricate enough to be captivating. Much of its premises owes to it's twisted life-teaching experience for the unappreciative, one can’t help but have references to similar genres like "Seven", "Silence of the Lambs" and "Cube". With its dark, gritty and nightmarish setting, it's a real treat that they took the effort to create a suppressive atmosphere to back-up the screenplay.

Alas all good things are always met up with certain disappointments, such as in this case, its acting element. Elwes (Dr Lawrence) is embarrassing as he tries to play an educated doctor with the characterization that seems inspired by a daytime soap. Whannell (Adam), who has had minimal acting experience, gets by until he has to deliver a dramatic line of dialogue. Then he loses all believability and seems like he’s presenting a play for drama class. It’s a shame that the script doesn’t linger on either of the actor’s performances. Wan knows how to deliver intensity, but he can’t squeeze a performance out of any of his actors. Instead it moves from scene to scene throwing punch after punch. There’s little time to consider the quality of the acting when there’s plenty of plot unfolding.

Personally, I suspect that James Wan has fallen prey to trendy horror movie sequences. With his speedy editing of swirling camera movements, coupled with loud industrial music which at times kills several tense moments, I can’t help myself but think of a recent dud like "House of 1,000 Corpses".

Saw would have been an “A” grade thriller/horror in my book despite the mentioned flaws if only they had finished the film off differently. I don’t want to spoil the ending for everyone but instead of revealing the truth, they should have gone with a cliff-hanger ending and making the audience wants more. Not showing who’s behind the mask always works for me.

Overall, for first timers, Wan and Whannell, they should be proud of the movie they’ve created. While it’s nowhere near perfect, the elements of a good thriller are all there. The real strength of "Saw" comes from its fantastic script with intense plotline which compensates for the absence of strong acting. No doubt, both Wan and Whannell would have a fantastic film careers behind the camera, and this is definitely a good start.

Movie Rating: B+