Saw movie review - Aussieboyreviews
IS SAW AS GRISLY AS THE TITLE AND CRITICS SUGGEST IT IS?
Saw is a smart and gripping horror movie, but is also a definite gore movie. The film is directed by James Wan, about two men falling victims to the killer known as the Jigsaw killer. It’s best for older teens, due to violent material.
Storyline
Two strangers awaken to find themselves trapped in a room and chained, with no memories of how they got there and tasked to kill the other or die themselves. These two are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer.
Movie Images
Movie details
Director: James Wan
Cast: Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Dina Meyer, Tobin Bell
Writer: Leigh Whannell
Release Date (Australia): 2 December 2004
Runtime: 103 minutes/1h 43m
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Language: English
CONTENT GUIDE (WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)
The film contains thematic content such as torture and threat including two men being trapped and chained in a room by a sadistic killer, a woman and her child being kidnapped and held at gunpoint and a man implicitly cutting off his foot with a hacksaw.
The film contains depictions of gory injury detail during scenes of bloody violence in which people are stabbed, shot and attacked with weapons.
The film features aggressive use of the word “f**k”.
The film includes references to a woman being a drug addict.
None.
The film contains a verbal reference to a “gang bang” and includes a sexualised use of the word “f**k”.
mpaa rating
R (for strong grisly violence and language)
Aussie boy's thoughts
It’s something every twist-movie fan deserves and should receive, but it’s the thing we see such a lack of in most horror movies: smart characters and intelligent decisions. James Wan’s Saw is a true movie you’d expect to locate in anything you’d classify as an entry in “gore” genre, not just the mysterious horror, since it’s basically torture porn, but the entire concept is original and the final moments are effortlessly rattling.
Director James Wan executes this twisted concept in such an impactful context that, from the instance the two main characters awake in the bathroom setting with their feet chained, you feel like you’re with them. Most of the film lands in that single room, but other than when something exciting is happening in Jigsaw’s lair or there’s threat placed on certain characters in other whereabouts, some of Saw’s other areas can often throw away your interest until the bathroom comes back. Overall, it’s definitely distracting.
Saw is also a horror movie with, despite foolishly wasting or using time wisely, a perfect runtime. The runtime comes from exceptional writer and actor Leigh Whannell’s excellent writing for the characters, not making them too dumb that they end up taking too long to find solutions or take 10 minutes before being killed off. The characters make good decisions and are given great performances by Whannell and Elwes.
Thank you for reading this page and for more Aussie Boy reviews, visit Aussieboyreviews.com.