Wince your way through this claustrophobic, conscientious and cleverly constructed horror trend-setter.
In the early 2000s, horror had begun to fall into a state of repetition, with tent pole companies churning out homogeneous husks of movies, in the form of remakes, such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and Thir13en Ghosts (2001). At the time, the genre as a whole had also started to tumble down the sequel hole with re-hashings of cult movies, with Scream 3 (2000) and the lifeless Freddy vs. Jason (2003). With the genre in such a poor state of affairs, it seems there was a need for horror to kick aside the corpses of those overdone franchises, and find its feet with a new strand of terror.
When 2004 came around, James Wan and Leigh Whannell founded this strand, in the form of a new branch of horror: torture. This visceral sub-genre was brought to life in the notorious 2004 grisly, gore-fest Saw.
Saw follows- or, rather stays with- pitiful protagonists, Adam and Dr. Lawrence (played by Leigh Whannell and Cary Elwes), as they wake up in a grimy room, chained by the foot to pipes at opposite ends of this glorified toilet. Neither of them recall why they’re there, who put them there, or where ‘there’ even is. A dead body, clutching a tape recorder, in the centre of the room gives them their first cryptically corrupt clue, and with the press of a button, they’re introduced to the moral mind-game madness, that this jaded figure has set before them.
According to the film’s Director, James Wan, the idea for Saw evolved through a sheer lack of funds. This restricted them to only having one room to shoot in, and then begged the question: ‘Why are they stuck in this room?’ From this dosh deficiency spawned a clever conundrum, which made a whole generation of cinema-goers scream in their seats. These budget boundaries were clearly a blessing in disguise, but as we’ve seen from Wan’s more recent work, with The Conjuring and Insidious films, he can also do a lot with some significant funding, to support his cinematic ventures.
A large piece of the puzzle that is the mysteriously malevolent messiah, Jigsaw, is the moral lessons which he inflicts on those who he deems “ungrateful”. Once you discover the dark origins, and even darker choices which each of Jigsaw’s victims are hiding, we can see how Wan and Whannell carefully planned each character’s tragic trajectory. With every character treading the impossibly thin line between good and evil, the script really is a testament to the duo’s writing and character development accomplishments.
Easily the biggest draw to Saw are the traps. Those cruelly creative contraptions, which are strangely satisfying to see a victim escape from, are truly the heart of the film, and really reinforce the sadistic nature of their maker. Whether it be the ‘Reverse Bear Trap’ or just being chained to a wall, quick cuts, and time-lapse montages ensure the frustrations and fears of each poor soul, locked into these deadly devices, are felt in full by audiences as they watch through the cracks in their fingers. Unfortunately, as the Saw franchise has progressed (or regressed, in my opinion), the traps have become more fun than fatal; with each machine becoming so surreal, to the extent that fear is extracted from the scenario, due to its lack of grounded reality.
The film as a whole is a claustrophobic’s nightmare. The majority of the picture is spent with the same dirty, white tiles as a backdrop, making us feel like we’re trapped within these four walls with them; partially employing a trapped trauma similar to that which is so excellently executed in Rodrigo Cortés’ Buried. For the benefit of the audience’s attention, we do vacate the ravaged room, in order to view flashbacks of previous victims, or to get a view into the outside world, through the Detectives, as they attempt to catch Jigsaw. David A. Armstrong’s fittingly forlorn cinematography, plays into the film’s gloomy themes, as the dull lighting shows the people in the outer world, may be just as trapped and hopeless, as those hooked up to Jigsaw’s traps.
Leigh Whannell (the film’s Writer, protagonist, and resident multitasker), gives a perfectly pathetic performance, as Adam, a man who Jigsaw deems to not be living his life to the fullest. We see him squirm, sweat, swear and shout, as he skittishly tries to find a way out of that tiled death trap. Chained up alongside him is Cary Elwes’ Doctor Lawrence Gordon, who for once gives a rather gritty and convincing character, as opposed to the caricatured crusaders we are used to from his other work in Robin Hood: Men in Tights and The Princess Bride. Outside of the torture chamber, we see acclaimed actor, Danny Glover, as the daring Detective who is intent on finding Jigsaw through previous victims. Glover gives a pessimistic performance, which accurately fits the rest of the film like a blood stained glove.
Without giving anything away, the film’s conclusion and accompanying plot twist, is genuinely unique and unexpected, and can even stand up against the work of the ‘King of Twists’ himself, M. Night Shyamalan.
Saw was a violent revolution for a genre that had grown homogeneous and predictable, after a seemingly endless trickle of routine reboots and sluggish sequels. Although its successors did pretty much everything apart from succeed, the humble beginnings of this household horror name, is where some of the best aspects of its genre can be found. It may be a bit of a stretch to label James Wan as an auteur at this stage, but within his genre, he’s not far off. Cynical cinematography, contemptible contraptions, and powerfully pitiful performances. It’s safe to say that all of these crooked, cinematic chunks can only be found in one film; and to quote the cheesy advert that used to run every Halloween “It must be Saw!”
Grade: B
Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover
Director: James Wan
Written By Adam Harcourt.
The Talking Picture 