Saw, a film review

Saw is a 2004 American horror movie Written by Leigh Whannell and directed by James Wan and is the first movie in the saw film series, which spans 9 movies (with a tenth on the way as of august 2022), and a short film, known as saw 0.5. The film introduces the premises of a serial killer who tries to ‘encourage’ (in his own, sadistic way) his victims to become better people and appreciate life, by forcing them into deadly scenarios and puzzles, and in some cases having them make choices that will permanently affect them for the rest of their lives, whether physically or physiologically. Saw was a low budget film that had a significant impact and is likely one of the most influential horror movies made in a long time, if ever. It introduces a brilliant new concept into a genre that had grown rife with slashers and scream knockoffs aimed at teenagers. Saw’s reputation proceeds it, and not always in a good way, as although it has an almost underwhelming amount of gore for the premises is portrays, it is often dismissed as senseless torture porn, even though it is no gorier than your average slasher film. This movie is primarily about the actions and the motives behind a sadistic serial killer and the games he plays with his victims. It also sets up the twisted storytelling and the ‘flashbacks-within-flashbacks' motif that introduces one of the most convoluted plot lines in horror. Saw had such a large impact on the horror genre, that it's amazing to think that this all started with just two people trapped in one grimy bathroom. The very first opening scene is of a set of keys floating in a tub of water, although a sudden movement of what turns out to be one of the two main characters dooms that key to the bathtub drain, which is an amazing detail that only actually becomes relevant toward the very end of the movie. The next few scenes introduce us to the two main characters: Adam Stanheight (Leigh Whannell), a young private investigator for hire who is noted by jigsaw to be ‘angry and apathetic, yet mostly pathetic’, and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), a man who is so consumed with his work that he neglects his wife and daughter (Allison and Diana) The two men are chained by their ankles at opposite ends of the grim bathroom, and in the middle? A corpse, surrounded by blood, and holding a tape recorder, the contents of which are designed to sow mistrust between the two men, as Lawrence is given very clear instructions to kill Adam for him to be able to escape with the lives of his wife and daughter, who are being held at gunpoint. Although the camera movement is relatively poor, this benefits the feel of the movie, giving it a shaky, grimy vibe that matches the tone of the setting and the circumstances incredibly well, cultivating suspense in the audience long before anything happens. The movie is not without its humor however, with Adam serving as a sort of comic relief archetype as he deals with the unfolding situation in front of him. He uses a sarcastic type of humor in order to mask any fear or nervousness, although it doesn’t work entirely. The movie very early on establishes not only the main bathroom plotline, but various other plotlines that all tie in with what's happening in the bathroom, as they explain who the jigsaw killer has managed to kill so far (and his one survivor), the flashbacks explaining how Lawrence was framed as jigsaw, and how the detective on the case was the man who hired Adam to stalk Lawrence, trying in vain to prove his guilt. The tension builds up over the six hours they have in order to complete their game, and Adam and Lawrence begin to form a trauma bond of sorts, working together in order to try and survive, from them trying to outwit their captor by faking Adams death (which Adam does poorly at its hilarious) to Adam bashing in the skull of the man they thought was their captor. Because surprise surprise, the guy who was holding Allison and Diana hostage was NOT jigsaw, instead he was an orderly at the hospital Lawrence worked at by the name of Zeb Hindle, and he was also a pawn in jigsaws games, his task being to hold them hostage and kill them if Lawrence doesn’t finish his game within the six-hour limit. Zeb’s motive through all of this was the promised antidote for the poison running through his veins. Of course, the poison is a null point in the end as Adam ends up caving his skull in with a toilet tank lid but that was his general motivation for keeping two people as hostages The fact that all this is happening leads to Adam and Lawrence developing a very close bond, (one that a lot of viewers claim is more romantic than platonic, something which has been hinted at by the film's producers time and time again) and the audience also develops attachment to these characters, which makes it more emotionally devastating to the viewer when Lawrence, under the impression that Allison and Diana may be dead/injured, slices his own foot off with the rusty hacksaw provided, and shoots his companion in the shoulder. As Lawrence moves to escape, he and Adam have one final heart to heart moment, in which Lawrence promises to go get Adam help, as Adam begs him not to leave him. Lawrence does leave to get help, but the biggest plot twist in the movie stops those plans in their tracks. With Zeb dead, and Lawrence escaping for help, the audience can assume that that’s where the movie will end, but the audience is given one last plot twist to keep them on their toes. Adam loots Zeb’s body, hoping for some form of help upon the body of the man who had been holding them hostage for the last several hours, only to discover a shocking secret. Zeb wasn’t Jigsaw. But the real jigsaw likes a front row seat to his games, and so the corpse that had been laying in the middle of the room the entire time stretches and begins to take off the special effects used to fake a shot to the head. Adam stares in abject horror, blood loss and shock clear as day on his face, as Jigsaw claims an obvious solution to his chains, only for Adam to realize the key went down the drain the moment he woke up. He never stood a chance. The odds had been against him from the very beginning, and as Jigsaw turns off the lights, he turns to Adam and gives him the most iconic quote from this entire franchise ‘game over’ The movie ends with Adam, alone in the bathroom, left to a fate unknown, screaming into the darkness. This movie was a pioneer in the shift away from the cheesy slasher movies that the horror genre was full of by 2004, and the sequels, whilst bloodier and gorier then the first, kept that convoluting storyline going, and is likely one of (if not the only) major horror series not to get a timeline reboot, as all 8 sequels so far, may take place at various points in the timeline, but they are all in the same timeline at all, which can’t be said for most of the major horror series. The acting may have been shaky at times (see Adams bad fake death scene, or Cary Elwes slipping into his English accent at various points) and the camera angles shaky and unsteady, but those flaws give the viewer a sense of claustrophobia, as if we are really trapped in that bathroom, watching these events unfold. The characters are written as human beings, people who have made mistakes but at the end of the day you still want them to survive, you relate and grow to care for them, and you hope they make it out, and the end of the movie takes those hopes and throws them down the drainpipe, just like Adams key right at the beginning. In conclusion, Saw was a pioneer for the next phase of horror movies, and its sequels only helped pave the way for movies that are something other than the formulaic ‘teen slasher flicks that were and still are prevalent. It introduced an intriguing concept, and then took it further, resulting in a movie that is still talked about today, even almost 20 years later. Saw is a movie I would recommend to anyone who likes horror, and maybe even to some who don’t, as the intriguing storyline and the well-written characters make for a story that is brilliant. The developing relationship between Lawrence and Adam makes the ending so much more heart wrenching, and the emmersiveness of the combined set and the cinematography make the viewer feel like they are one of jigsaws victims, sitting chained in a bathroom trying to figure out how to escape.