HallowScream - Saw (2004)

    Hey guys, Chuck here. If you ask anyone who was around during the 2000's about the most popular horror movie franchise of that decade, the answer would most likely be Saw. Beginning with a short film made by director James Wan in 2003, Saw quickly grew in popularity after film studio Lionsgate films acquired the feature film rights to the franchise, alongside production company Twisted Pictures. My own interest in the franchise kicked into gear around 2008, just between the releases of Saw IV and Saw V. Heck I even went to a movie theater that showcased the tenth anniversary re-release of the original Saw, and I got excited when it was announced that an eighth entry, Jigsaw, was set for release in 2017, and a ninth entry, Spiral, is now on the way for release in spring of 2021. So, today for HallowScream, let's take a look at the modern horror classic that started it all: Saw. 

    The movie opens up in a grimy bathroom, where two men, Adam Stanheight and Dr. Lawrence Gordon, are chained up to pipes across the room from each other, with a dead man in between them. After trying to figure out what's going on, they discover tapes recorded for each of them, with a player in the hand of the dead man. The first tape instructs Adam to find a way out, while the second tape instructs Lawrence to kill Adam by 6:00 or else his wife and daughter would die. After finding a pair of saws, the two try to cut the chains to no avail. After he realizes that the saw were meant to cut through their feet, Lawrence tells Adam of the story of the mysterious "Jigsaw Killer." Lawrence details about three prior incidents: the first involved Paul, who failed to escape from a razor wire cage in time; the second was Mark, who was unable to unlock a safe with the antidote for the poison he was injected with before the candle ignited the flammable substance he was dripping in; the third was Amanda Young, who managed to free herself from a device designed to rip her jaws completely open (the device has been referred to by fans as both the "Reverse Bear Trap" and the "Jaw Splitter"). Back in the present, Adam discovers that the mirror is a two-way mirror, and shatters it to reveal a camera recording them. After a flashback that shows Lawrence and his family, Adam discovers a picture in Lawrences wallet that gives him a hint to finding the "x" in the room. Turning off the lights, they see that the "x" was painted on the wall by glow-in-the-dark paint. In the box hidden by the paited spot on the wall is a note, a cell phone made to recieve calls, and two cigarettes. 

    As the movie goes on, we learn that Lawrence's wife and daughter, Alison and Diana, are being held by a mysterious man, who is watching the video feed of Adam and Lawrence. Meanwhile, the Gordons' apartment is being watched by former police detective David Tapp, who was investigating the Jigsaw case alongside Detectives Steve Sing and Allison Kerry. Unfortunately, Sing was killed during a raid on a possible hideout for Jigsaw, and Tapp, convinced of Lawrence's involvement, continues to harass and follow him around. After a phone call from his family, Lawrence learns that Adam knows more than he's letting on. After demanding to know who he is, Adam reveals that he's a photographer who gets paid to photograph people in their everyday lives, especially rich men who sneak off to cheap hotels to cheat on their wives, as Lawrence was planning to do on the night both men were taken. Lawrence, after leaving his apartment, went to meet med student Carla, who he'd planned to sleep with that night but decided against it. After examining more of Adam's pictures, Lawrence learns of the involvement of an orderly at the hospital Lawrence works at: Zep Hindle. It turns out that Zep is holding Lawrence's family hostage, and after gun shots in the Gordon apartment alerts him, Tapp, who'd been paying Adam to follow Lawrence around, heads over to the apartment, chases Zep to where the bathroom trap was located, but dies while fighting off Zep. Lawrence, meanwhile, saws off his own foot, grabs the revolver from the hand of the dead man in the middle of the room, and shoots Adam in the shoulder. Zep enters the room, and tells Lawrence that he's too late. Adam then wakes up and bludgeons Zep to death. Lawrence crawls out of the room to find help of some kind, while Adam finds a tape for Zep, indicating that he was just another Jigsaw victim. Zep's tape reveals that he had been poisoned, and in order to get the antidote from Jigsaw, he had to follow strict directions to kill Alison and Diana should Lawrence fail. Suddenly, the dead man stands up, revealing himself to be the true Jigsaw Killer: John Kramer, who was once a patient of Lawrence, who exits the room, turns off the lights, and slams the door shut after saying two words: "Game over." 

    The acting in Saw, while not top notch, is still really good. Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes, Michael Emerson, Monica Potter, Danny Glover, Shawnee Smith, Dina Meyer, Steven Yeun, Tobin Bell, and the rest of the cast all did a phenomenal job with this first film. What makes Saw so brilliant, however, is the psychological nature of a what-if scenario where the only means of survival is to do something terrible to yourself. While some may not feel that type of scenario really had franchise potential, and the sequels got weaker as they continued onward, this first one is still a staple of Halloween. While it's not for everyone, it's definitely a favorite of mine. Director James Wan, in his directorial debut, showcased why he's one of the modern masters of horror with this film. So, the original Saw gets a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time.