Film Reviews

Saw

• Rating:
• Director: James Wan
• Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Ken Leung, Michael Emerson, Makenzie Vega, Tobin Bell, Dina Meyer, Shawnee Smith.
• Details: US/ 98 mins/ (18's).

A nasty little thriller for all of the right reasons, Saw centres on two men, Adam and Larry (Whannell and Elwes), who wake up chained to the walls of an underground bathroom. Unable to remember how they got there or what they are being detained for, the men are left a series of grisly clues in the toilets, indicating what might be going on. Elsewhere, a couple of cops - Glover and Leung - are desperate to track down a serial killer. On the surface, originality may not be Saw's strong suit (there are definite echoes of the Canadian thriller Cube and to a lesser extent, Se7en), but the raw brutality of the director, coupled with his screenwriter's candour when it comes to the grotesque, makes Saw a reasonably effective proposition. Yes, credibility is stretched far too thin - why does every serial killer have to make a laboured statement with murder in the movies? - while the narrative is unnecessarily fractured but for the most part, Saw, ahem, cuts nicely to the chase. But then again, I am a sucker for horror flicks.

Review by Garreth Murphy