The premise is intriguing. “Saw” opens with two strangers awakening to find themselves chained to pipes on opposite sides of what seems to be some kind of decrepit industrial bathroom. Neither remembers how they got there or who did this to them. Between them lies another total stranger, face down in a pool of blood. In one hand is the gun he apparently blew his own brains out with, in the other is a tape recorder. The tension mounts. This could get good – and it does, to a point.
The strangers introduce themselves to each other. We meet Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), a wealthy married man with a young daughter and a desire for women outside his marriage. We’re also introduced to Adam (Leigh Whannell), a photographer who’s kind of a loner. We’ve got to figure out what these two have in common, and how they have somehow left their peaceful lives behind and stepped into the world of a crazed serial killer. Actually, ‘killer’ isn’t quite the right term. The psycho behind the crimes doesn’t directly commit murder. He leaves his victims in situations where they must follow orders left on cassette tapes which, in some cases, instruct the victim to either kill or be killed. Failing to follow through on the order brings immediate death. Like I said, it’s an interesting premise.
Kudos go to the filmmakers who have devised some of the most disturbing ways to die we’ve seen in a serial killer type of movie. A guy who slit his wrists and lived has to crawl through razor wire before a door slams shut and he’s sliced to death. In a scene that’s sure to stay with you for days, an addict has to slice open the belly of another victim to get a key and remove a ‘reverse bear trap’ locked around her head. And so on. If it’s blood, guts and gore you want, “Saw” delivers in bucket loads. But if it’s a plausible storyline, then forget it. There are so many plot holes, the film ends up making absolutely no sense.
We all realize characters in horror movies never act reasonably, but the guys in “Saw” do things no one would ever in a million years do. A prime example: at the beginning of the movie the two trapped victims are given a clue telling them to follow the heart (or something of the sort). So there’s a heart drawn on the tank portion of a toilet and what does Adam do? Instead of lifting up the lid of the tank, he puts his arm down inside a – to put it as gently as possible – grotesquely overused toilet bowl and feels around. Of course the item he’s searching for is in the tank part of the toilet. I hate it when characters do things that stupid in a horror movie, even if it’s just for laughs. That ridiculousness of the scene yanked me out of the movie before I even had a chance to get interested in the characters. But that could have been overlooked if it was the solitary example of an implausible action. Unfortunately, it’s followed by more than a half-dozen other scenes or bits of dialogue that are just as illogical.
Even if you discount the plot holes and still want to see “Saw” because you’re just dying for a chance to get all freaked out by the grizzly torture scenes, there’s one huge hurdle even the most ardent horror fan might have a hard time getting past. The acting is absolutely horrifying. I’m so sorry to say this because I loved Cary Elwes in “The Princess Bride,” “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” and “The Cat’s Meow,” but watching Elwes in “Saw” is a form of torture for the audience. You may scream and wince more from the pain of witnessing poor Elwes overact his way through the film than you will from all the bloody scenes in “Saw” added together. Danny Glover, Monica Potter, and the rest of the supporting cast are okay, but Elwes just about kills the film. Even newcomer Leigh Whannell seems slightly more at ease in front of the camera than does the veteran actor Elwes.
What could have been a pure fright-fest turned out to be a semi-decent movie marred by bad acting and impossible plot twists. “Saw” is at its best when it's at its goriest. There are plenty of spine-tingling moments but, unfortunately, the film disappoints more than it delivers.
GRADE: C
"Saw" was directed by James Wan and is rated R for strong grisly violence and language.
