Genres

Visitors Review

Chris Woodward 2012-05-20 17:52:36

Manhunt Inspired?

I want to add that very few people have commented on this film'ssimilarity to the Rock Star game Manhunt. This goes beyond the gruesometheme of victims being trapped in macabre puzzles while a hiddenDirector offers clues to their survival (or not) while watching them onhis screens. It goes right down to the individual characters.Anyone who has played Manhunt will instantly recognise the pig men andnarrator upon watching Saw. Me and my friend were thinking this wasjust a coincidence until the appearance of the sinister clown puppet ona tricycle. When we saw that we just turned to each other and said"This is so Manhunt!". We even sat through the end credits to check forany reference to the game to confirm our suspicions but could findnone.This doesn't take away from the film though as it has its own storyline that leads to a very different ending to the game. Now matter howmuch you played the game the film will still shock you to the end.

Uri Lessing 2012-05-20 06:35:37

If the film had contained more scenes of intensity and less action, gore, twists and shocks, maybe it could have been a classic of the genre.

vicnom 2012-05-19 00:33:00

one best thriller\horror out there

If your looking for an edge of the seat thriller this is the movie towatch.This movie has everything, if your looking for suspense its gotit, if your looking for a twisted ironic mouth dropping climax its gotit, or if your just in the mood to watch a really good movie SAW is theone you want to see.This movie will leave you on your tippy toes and begging to see thesequel.This movie will leave you dead in your tracks. There is nothingmore that i can say other than "WATCH THIS MOVIE"!! So next time you goto blockbuster rent this movie.OR ELSE!

ashleymisako 2012-05-18 18:08:20

Horrible movie. Just horrible.

This movie was terrible. Who would think Westley would grow up to besuch a horrible actor? This movie was boring, unsuspenseful, and Drab!It saddens me that IMDb folk would give this piece of utter BS a 7.6.What happened to IMDb? and the movie fans??? Because, this was not ahorror movie in Any respect. I was told the movie had an "awesome"ending and was very disappointed. I was hoping for gore or anythingeven slightly suspenseful would have been nice, but nothing? This moviehad a very long story line with nothing even remotely interesting inaround or about it... I am required to write more about this movie thenI even remember. Let's see, it starts out slow and ends slow. The plotis slightly okay, the script is not so great, the acting is the faultof the director, and the direction is terrible! The only thing that waseven remotely scary was the strange puppet thing that was used in themovie, and that wasn't even explained in any sense. I beg you not towaste your time watching this. If you do have a couple of drinks firstmaybe that would help it?

V.A. Musetto 2012-05-18 02:27:18

There are a few cheap thrills, but not enough to make sitting through the senseless plot even remotely worthwhile.

Aaron Mauldin 2012-05-17 16:43:39

Better than average horror flick, but could have been much better...

This was a pretty decent movie (compared to others in the genre) butthe plot holes, flawed logic, and small annoyances really keep it frombeing great.The best thing I can say about "Saw" is that it will definitelysurprise and shock you. There are some great plot twists, even for themost cynical film buffs. It is engrossing and has a tendency to trapyou in the claustrophobic terror along with its characters. In mostways, it delivers what you are expecting and wanting after seeing thetrailers.The worst thing I can say about "Saw" is that it falls short of itspotential. The fright and excitement dies down when the plot goes limpa few times. The characters lose your attention when the script goesweak at points. If you focus on these aspects too much it will onlyfrustrate you and take away your enjoyment of an otherwise good movie.The saddest thing about these shortcomings is that with a littleironing out "Saw" could have been a really great movie instead ofmerely good. However, for something that was written by two newscreenwriters and shot in 18 days, it is commendable.Better than average? Yes. Worth seeing? Yes. Fun? Hell yes.Enjoy.

desparado11 2012-05-16 18:03:31

Deciding to see it

If you want to be shocked, and see a lot of gore this is for you. Ifyou want to see some twists and turns that don't simply come from pastthrillers, go see it. If you want a tightly wound movie, don't go.Finally, if you want to see another Seven , don't bother.First of all it is not a film noir. The detectives are not the maincharacters. Secondly, the acting is somewhat disappointing. DannyGlover's character is initially a lot like Freeman's in Seven so Iwon't blame him. Overall, though the movie was worth seeing if you likethe genre (more of a suspense thriller than a horror). You will comeout thinking, "Okay, at least it tried to be different." I wish Wandidn't bother with those insanely fast edited sequences between scenes,and it would have been much improved with a better score. But I'm happyhe did take risks.Don't go into the movie with great expectations, and you may bepleasantly surprised (at least as pleasant as a film such as thisallows). Of all the movies out right now, I think it might just beworth it (although I have yet to see Ray).

antoniotierno 2012-05-16 10:15:26

terrifying

What is certainly peculiar here is the mechanism of telling facts. Theviewer, at least is what I felt, finds himself trapped in watching thisdeadly competition; the director reveals clues, surprises anddeliciously twisted moments. The general feeling is of something ratherrevolting, coz some nauseating scenes give a very strong visceralimpact; on the whole I would say that its stronger point is theoriginality. Not a serial killer movie, but a game created for theseunlucky victims on a basis impossible to predict for the audience.Apart from Danny Glover and Monica Potter, other actors are quiteunknown but they didn't play so bad.

Rich Cline 2012-05-10 20:56:43

This disturbing and violent movie gleefully plays with our minds as it twists and turns through its tricky, menacing plot.

TheMovieMorgue 2012-05-10 08:01:05

A superb opening, and an amazing twist ending - but in between it's all pretty low-key

"How Much Blood Would You Shed To Stay Alive?"Well, what can I say? I finally got around to watching "Saw" the othernight, as I'm planning on watching the entire franchise over the nextfew weeks, but at the end of watching the highly acclaimed and widelypraised first film, I was bitterly disappointed. Straight away, I wasled into believing that the film was going to be amazing. With it'ssuperb opening where two men wake up to find themselves in a derelictand filthy bathroom chained to pipes with no memory of how they gotthere, the stage was set for a claustrophobic and shocking film. One ofthe men, Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) recognises the setting ofthis trap they are in and realises that they must be the latest victimsof the "Jigsaw Killer", whose killings Gordon was suspected for only afew months ago. Leigh Whannell (also one of the writers of the script)plays the other man, Adam, a photographer. The pair realise that theyare going to have to work together - and stop giving out to each otherif they hope to get out of this alive. But when they both find smallrecordings from 'Jigsaw' and also two saws, 'Jigsaw' tells the men thatthey must cut their foot off in order to escape the chains, and crawlto the dead body in the middle of the floor and retrieve the gun andshoot the other man in order to escape. Things get worse when Gordon istold that his wife and daughter are also being held captive, and if hewants to save them, he must mutilate himself and kill Adam.I was hooked straight away, but then the film began to go down-hill.The claustrophobic atmosphere is ruined by flashbacks attempting tofill in some back ground on the 'Jigsaw' killer, and also to provide uswith some gory scenes. And there's another thing, the film isn't asviolent or as gory as it's made out to be. There's only really two gorymoments, and that's when a man is attempting to crawl through barbedwire in a flashback and when one of the men finally decides to saw hisfoot off. I was very surprised to see Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon") inthis. He's part of the events taking place outside of the room, andalso appears in the flashbacks, as the cop who becomes obsessed withthe case of the 'Jigsaw' killer. What's interesting about this serialkiller, is that he technically isn't a murderer, because he puts hisvictims into situations where they essentially murder themselves byeither not killing someone else or mutilating themselves or others. Thefilm obviously took a lot of influence from the 1995 film "Se7en".We're led to believe that 'Jigsaw' is injured, so he has a man doingthe work for him for the moment - Michael Emerson (Ben Linus from"Lost") who he has injected with poison in order to make himco-operate. 'Jigsaw' is usually represented by a puppet that movesaround via a bicycle. I hope that James Wan wasn't seriously expectingus to be scared by this, because in the moments when he wheels onscreen, I started laughing uncontrollably. It's comical looking! The acting is absolutely horrendous, with the exception of Cary Elwes("Glory") who did pull off some excellent scenes of genuine fear anddesperation. I'll never forget the look on his face in one scene whenhe realises that his little girl in in danger - that was superb acting.Danny Glover has never looked so out of place - and what happened tohim? In the scene where him and his partner have Jigsaw surrounded,they don't shoot him, and instead, let him get away and slash one oftheir throats. Had this been his "Lethal Weapon" days Jigsaw would havebeen dead on the floor. Leigh Whannell really should have stayed behindthe camera because he was diabolical. The ending, which I won't spoils,was very creative and unexpected. I really loved it! It's just a shameabout the rest of the film. Had the movie remained in the bathroom allthrough with just the two men, it would have been so much better. Maybea few flashbacks could have been put in, but they really were usedexcessively and they ruined the atmosphere in favour of showing us somemore sadism. The rest of the franchise will probably be awful (I thinkI have about six more of these to watch now), but I'll watch themnonetheless with an open mind. Maybe I might be lucky and it could beone of the rare occasions when you find a sequel that surpasses thefirst movie.

cinco comeco 2012-05-02 22:24:36

Wonderfully unique story, lacking gore and action though

This movie is probably the most unique horror movie I have ever seen.It very cleverly tricks you to think that there is a killer, but hereally isn't exactly killing people. I, though, thought this moviecould have been much, much better. There were many boring scenes, itlacked gore and action. When I first heard of Saw, I heard it was agut-busting gorefest. There is very little gore in this movie, I do notmean that I want a gorefest, I just want some. In my opinion, I thinkthis movie could have been a wonderful movie, the flashbacks got a bitannoying and I was tired of anticipating gory action sequences.Overall, this is a good movie to watch for those of you who don't liketoo much gore. Everyone's like "How can you say there isn't much gore?Aguy cuts off his own leg!" Well, it doesn't show the leg as he iscutting which is just disturbing, not gory. It is sortof disturbing.The end was excellent though, it had drawn me in to want to see thenext one, which is very unique. I give this movie a 3/5

supcuzz 2012-05-02 17:39:23

Sawful.

God I really wanted this movie to be good. I looked forward to seeingSAW for months thinking that it just might be the catalyst to springthe dying horror genre back on track. What a colossal letdown. Firstoff the filmmakers completely squandered a golden opportunity bypeppering their movie with flashy MTV style editing and a ridiculousover the top headache inducing soundtrack. God I hate that! Didn'tanyone learn anything from Kubrick's THE SHINING. These two aspects ofthe film, which every American horror director is apparently addictedto nowadays, time and time again snuffed out any flicker of hope forintensity or genuine malaise. It was like clockwork. Just when youstarted to feel the slightest bit uneasy... wham, they throw you intothe middle of a mosh-pit at a Nine Inch Nails concert and completelyruin the tone. There was absolutely no subtlety in SAW whatsoever. Asfor the plot. I didn't go into SAW expecting to be blown away by theplot in fact I was hoping to basically see two guys chained to pipes ina bathroom for 90 minutes trying to deal with their unthinkablesituation. That premise alone, without all of the terrible flashbackscenes and outrageous non-sensical plot devices to aid in the greatUSUAL SUSPECTS style revelation at the end, could have been infinitelyintense and terror inducing. It could have been as gut wrenching asanything in Texas CHAINSAW or FUNNY GAMES, which is what I was sodesperately hoping for. Instead what we got was an absolutelyunnecessary rehash of a SEVEN storyline that was neither provoking norengaging. Now to the acting. I don't need much in the way of acting tokeep me satisfied in a horror movie, but let me say this: I feltembarrassed for Elwes and Glover. It was the kind of instinctualfeeling one gets when a public speaker stutters badly or can't remembertheir words. You want to help them but you can't. These two guys weredreadful. And it is 100% true that the audience was laughing at themand rightfully so. To put it bluntly, SAW was the biggest letdown I'vehad at the movies in a long, long time. Last year I looked forward toseeing HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. As unsatisfying as that movie was atleast it stuck to it's guns and didn't try to be something that itwasn't. The filmmakers behind SAW should have stuck to their guns. ButElwes and Glover still might have ruined it then too.

DisgorgedMenstrualSludge 2012-05-01 18:45:28

Good brutal flick

Two men, Adam and Lawrence, wake up chained in a warehouse bathroom.They have no previous memory of how they got there or who brought themthere. There is a dead body laying just out of reach of the two with agun in one hand and a tape recorder in the other. They manage to gethold of the tape recorder and play it. A man's voice on the tape tellsLawrence that his family will die unless he kills Adam by six o clock.There are then flashbacks to previous murders and police investigationson a killer known as the Jigsaw killer. Then when six o clock sneaks upon the two men, they are forced to act quick. I am going to stop thereso not to give away a great surprise ending. First of all, let me justsay that this is one of the best horror movies I have seen on thebig-screen in a long time. This had decent and believable acting, fastpaced plot, a few jolts, brutal, and some memorable killings. If youwant to see one of the best horror movies of 2004, check this one out.

bmoredlj 2012-05-01 06:45:54

From what I SAW, undeserving of hype.

Now there's three "Saws" with a fourth on the way...I don't really seewhy. I just saw the first saw, and I can imagine why a small companylike LGF wants to make as many saws as they can, they make lots ofmoney. However, this film is not very good. In fact, I consider itquite ungood, though not abysmal. Here are a few reasons in LIST form:LOL! Firstly, the acting WAS fairly abysmal...A sub-par performance by CaryElwes...not even up to par with his performances in "The Crush","Twister", or even "The Cat Returns", which were respectableperformances. When he truly hams it up, you'll know where, and hisvoice will change completely. I will say as little as possible aboutthe other guy, the Leigh kid, who doesn't belong in a high school playlet alone a friggin motion picture. I understand he's the director'sbuddy or whatever but he's not an actor...I've seen actors; actors ACT.He's more of a bartender. Keanu Reeves should school' dis young-in onthis fine art.Secondly, the cinematography was full and i mean CHOCK full offancy-pants camera-shaking'n'baking, spinning', flashing, bass booms,camera shutter sounds, hand-held, reversed WHOOSHES, more flashes, andall that other silly camera stuff all these new silly movies that aretrying to be scary are chock full of. It's all a bunch of fluff, likean guitarist with three dozen pedals at his feet to do all the work forhim; meant to convince the unsuspecting cinema-goer that he's watchingsomething of substance or artiness, when that's far from the case. Justhold the cameras still for a sec and think b4 you shoot.Thirdly, The movie tries to be non-linear, with layered story lines,jumping to and from the past at odd times, making half of everyone'slines preludes for silly montages, flashing by random scenessummarizing the film at 30 frames a second, forced foreshadowing -revealing you "surprises" a Labrador retriever figured out as soon asthe blatant hints were first dropped...It's all VERY clever, but it alladds up to a big muddled mess.Last and most upsetting: I read on the rating label "STRONG GRISLYVIOLENCE (SGV)"....hmmm. The first half of the movie is nearly frigginDEVOID of that SGV altogether (I thought horror movies are supposed tohave lots of SGV! Is SGV in the first half not artsy enough??) I'm nottotally desensitized to blood and gore, but an average episode ofDEADWOOD had more gore than this movie, and that's just sad andinexcusable when the label promises SGV. From the way it was edited,the director/cameraman/editor seemed to be getting queasy while I justsat there saying: "Okay, we're an hour and a half into the movie,WHERE'S THE FRIGGIN SGV?!" I'm sorry, but if your movie is called SAW,and if advocate groups are going to protest it for its violence orwhatever, it should CONTAIN violence, not just unmaimed peopledescribing it.Pant...pant...sorry, Don't mean to be longwinded...I just forgot; it'sstupid to use all caps to represent yelling. I just hope saw 2 or 3 arebetter than this. 'Cause from what i SAW they'd better RETOOL (LOL)their whole friggin operation...

John Lindsey 2012-04-30 05:24:47

Awesome new horror classic.

Somewhere in a dirty and uncleaned bathroom area, two men named "DoctorLawrence Gordon" ( Cary Elwes) and " Adam" ( Leigh Whannel) are trappedas a cold blooded maniac named "Jigsaw" who captures his victims andmakes them do deadly life-and-death games in order to survive. HoweverDr. Gordon's family is in danger as he must be done as he's told byJigsaw and play the sadistic game of survival or else die.A dark, unique and violent horror crime thriller with excellent actingby Danny Glover ( whom plays a cop who is on the verge to find Jigsaw),Monica Potter, Michael Emerson and others, good direction by James Wanand well written. This is an edge of your seat gory thrill ride not forthe faint hearted but for those brave enough to enjoy this movie,there's also plenty of twists and turns including that scary puppetthat Jigsaw uses on some of his victims when he tortures them, a highlyrecommended movie if your into horror and crime flicks.Also recommended: "Nightmare on Elm Street", "Pin", " May", " Se7en","Manhunter", "Silence of the Lambs", "Red Dragon", "Hannibal", "Magic"( 1978), " Dolls", " Deep Red", " Tenebre", "Psycho ( 1960)", "HighTension", " Re-Animator", "High Tension", " Saw 2", " Freddy Vs.Jason", " The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series & Remake", " BattleRoyale", " Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", " The Bone Collector", "Maniac ( 1980)", " Last House on The Left", " House on The Edge of thePark", "The Cell", "Kiss The Girls", " End of Days", " Scream 1 & 2", "Urban Legend", "Final Destination 1 & 2", " Ichi The Killer", "MenBehind The Sun", " Phenomena", "Cube", "Hostel", "Tourist Trap", "WolfCreek", "Love Object", " L.A. Confidential", " The Game", " Halloween 1& 2", " Friday The 13th series", " Intruder", "Perfect Blue", " HighCrimes", " Puppet Master".

turntable_master35 2012-04-29 09:46:01

Fantastically Made Psycho Thriller

Upon hearing the title of this film, I originally thought "anotherunnecessary slasher that won't do any good at the box-office or withthe critics". Then I saw the ratings (5 stars, brilliant, thrillingetc...) and I thought that I should judge for myself. The verdict:fantastic! This low budget and quickly shot film has done very goodcompared to other modern thrillers. A complicated plot that has managedto make sense, an absence of plot holes and a twist ending that wouldleave you cold make this film a must see. However there is a largequantity of blood involved, so hematophobiacs beware. To anyone who issearching to find the ultimate, edge of your seat or under it thrillerof the 21st century, hear me out: Buy it. It's well worth it.

havetheyfoundacureyet 2012-04-29 08:01:38

How far will you go?

If you haven't seen this movie yet, go see it. The U.S. release date isOct. 29th, what a great Halloween horror flick. I was lucky enough tocatch an early screening and I must say this is the greatest horrorfilm since 'House of 1000 Corpses'. There are copious amounts of blood,so its R rating isn't for the weak stomached or the younger crowd. Butthe blood wasn't the highlight of the movie for me, the raw humanemotion is.What bodily harm would you do to yourself to save your own life? Save aloved one? Where do you draw the line? This movie just tore me tomental pieces, I was panting, shifting in my seat and nervous. Ipersonally can't wait for it to come out on DVD, so I can watch theuncut NC-17 version.The best horror movie I've seen all year. 5 out of 5 stars. Go see it.

dragon2000 2012-04-28 10:19:16

The original, and ultimately...the best?

The original, and ultimately...the best? One of those films which atfirst may not been thought of as a 'classic' but may well be seen as itin the future...Twists, turns, great plot. Good acting by all involved. May beconsidered a little 'gory' by some, but be warned worse is to come inthe sequels!Finally, if you are even thinking about going to see SAW 2,3,4 etcetc...you *must* see this original - quite simply, its just not thesame without it!The only other thing I would say is that the SAW series is reallysuited to viewing in the Cinema. It just doesn't seem to make the sameimpact on your TV at home.

Chitan Adrian 2012-04-26 01:57:09

Best thriller ever...

Best thriller ever! No thriller can compare with this one. Everythinglinks in the end in a beautiful conspiracy to learn man to appreciatewhat they have. The "killer" (he never killed anyone with his barehands or a gun from his hands) puts the victims in very delicatesituations. The victims are not "angels", they all are guilty ofvarious sins. The killer kidnaps them and when they wake up they findthemselves in a adrenaline rushing situation. They all get a tape thattells them their faith. This is the most important choice in theirentire life. Whether to live another few hours or to live forever(untill their time is up), because in comparison with the few hours incaptivity they have, any second outside is an eternity. The missionsthey have to complete are very hard and they change your perspective oneverything about life. The propose is to make you appreciate what youalready have (family, life,...). The killer himself is a dieing man. He has cancer and he is very tiredof the people unappreciative for what they have, always running likehypnotized creatures after more and more, always complaining aboutsomething in their life. The killer wakes them up with a very cold andlife threatening shower. The killer's plans are perfect. No one wasable to catch him or to see his face (no one still alive). He makes amistake but he is to well prepared for everything. The actors are amazing giving that psycho feeling to the movie. Thefilm ends beautifully. Until the end you don't know who the killer is,but you have a man with a gun ready to shot everyone, so you thinkthat's the killer. But in the end you realize that everyone is a puppetfor the real mastermind. See this movie! It's worth it. Ohhhh...and please be found of what youhave...Wake up!

laurielotso 2012-04-25 18:10:12

Great Psychological Thriller

I am a horror/thriller movie connoisseur as is the person I went withand we both absolutely loved Saw. After watching scary movies since achild I became used to seeing people die in all different manners andalways look for a new killing style. This movie provides that plusthere is tension which is what I like too. So if you like who dunnitthrillers, this is the movie for you. If you want to enjoy the moviemore, don't try to guess the killer as you'll be wrong and that's notspoiling it. I thought I figured it out, but was wrong, although theperson I saw it with guessed it. Look for weight gain in Cary Elwes (Ididn't know anybody else). Those who didn't like this are probably theones who loved Blair Witch project which was actually the worst movieever made.