I want to play a game... SAW Rewatch Begins

It's halloween, so it must be SAW. Today I started my annual SAW rewatch in preparation for SAW 3-D, supposedly the final in the series coming out in a couple weeks. Full review after the break.

Let me start off by saying i love the original SAW movie. I love the story behind it, that a couple of guys fresh out of film school had an idea, made a short, and got it picked up to be a movie, and it's gone on to become, i believe, the most successful horror franschise of all time. It's got so many now-iconic images, billy up there, the pig mask, the reverse bear trap, and the "Hello Zep" theme must be mentioned, such an awesome track, it's in my regular rotation. It was also the start of the 'Torture-Porn' subgenre.

I like the cast, i think Carey Ewles and Leigh Wannel do a great job carrying the movie. Danny Glover, always great as a cop, and Shawnee Smith and Tobin Bell both create memorable and fantastic parts, even if they're limited in this installment. Michael Emerson does a great job as Zep seemingly the villain of the movie, i loved him on LOST as well, and can't wait to see the new show him and Terry O'Quinn have coming up.

There's also some great actors in smaller parts, Ken Leung, who'll meet up with Zep on the island.

Dina Meyer, who got some more to do in the sequels, who you might remember from Starship Troopers.

Benito Martinez, better known to me as Aceveda from The Shield

My favorite trap in this one is the aforementioned reverse bear trap, not necessarily the best fitting metaphor for a drug problem, but definitely the most visually striking of the traps in this installment, bonus points to it for featuring the introduction of Billy the Puppet.

I really like the idea behind the jigsaw killer, especially as presented in this movie, that he was a man who tried to do good with his life, but is having it taken away from him because of a disease he can't do anything about, and seeing so many people out there wasting their lives, it just makes him snap and he has to do something about it, while this might not all hold true with the full backstory from the later movies, i think it's one of the more understandable motivations behind a movie killer. I like that there nothing supernatural about him, and that jigsaw always wants his 'test subjects' to have a chance. I also thought the twist was great, re-watching it you see there are subtle clues along the line, but you wouldn't think twice about them watching it the first time. The double reveal of Tobin getting up at the end of the game, and Zep being as much a victim of jigsaw as everyone else just blew my mind the first time through. I think i've gone on long enough here, time for the score.

SCORING:

Plot: 10/10

Effects: 10/10

Acting: 10/10

Music: 10/10

Entertainment Value: 10/10

Bonus Points

+5 for SAW Franchise

+5 for Awesome Twist

Overall 60/50

Definitely reccomend this one, if you like horror movies give it a watch, it shouldn't dissappoint

Happy Monkey!