REVIEW: Saw

Saw – 5/10
Ah, the film that started the most financially successful horror series of all time. The title refers to the premise revolving around the predicament of hacking off your own foot to save your life. As subsequent films forget this entirely and focus entirely on making the audiences feel sick and putting them through an endurance test of stomach churning vomit inducing scenes of human mutilation and drawn out sequences of torture, the original film is unbelievably tame and completely different to the mess that followed.
Adam and Dr Gordon awaken in a derelict bathroom, chained at the feet. Unaware of who their captor is, they decipher through cryptic clues as to how to escape their terrifying circumstances whilst it becomes apparent that the kidnapper has been behind some of the most baffling and violent murders that the police have had to deal with in the past year.
Saw is simply adequate. It is competently made and relatively tense for a low budget horror film. The performances are poor across the board, with the exception of Michael Emerson (Lost’s villain Ben). The twist is good and unexpected, accompanied by a celebratory victorious score, as if proudly showing off how clever it is. However, this does not override the hammy acting, plot holes and poor effects.
The most famous aspects of Saw are the traps. Here we are introduced to ‘reverse bear trap on the head’, ‘barb wire maze’ and of course, chained at the feet with only a hack saw to accompany one’s escape. Apart from the latter, these traps are all revealed through a series of S7en ripped off flashbacks. The low budget is apparent here as the traps are not overly lingered upon as they are in later films and the torture was not focused upon as a selling point. It is patronising to think that the Saw films have anything else beyond torture and gore, by showing the victims that life is worth living, they should stop wasting life and they have to provide they want to live by sacrificing a part or most of their body which is supposed to be symbolic of the crime. However, I fail to see the symbolic significance of losing your foot when your crime is adultery. Or a reverse bear trap on a heroin addict. That is ultimately my problem, the film pretends to be cleverer than it clearly is and pretends to preach the significance and importance of the violence when it is just an excuse for gore hounds.
The violence of course escalates per film, so if you wish to try them, it is better to start at the beginning to test yourself and your patience. There is more of a plot and more coherence in this film than others. Good news alert, Paranormal Activity beat Saw 6 at the Box Office, perhaps the end is nigh for the franchise? (I’m still guessing no, but one can hope)