Journal, Diary, & Blogging / Saw- A Disappointment
“You must see Saw”, exclaims some cheesy tabloid on the poster of the 2004 Horror film.
Don’t take their word for it. The film Saw left me feeling kind of empty- the ending didn’t quite make sense to me- and I couldn’t face the prospect of sitting through the whole thing again to figure it out. The main reason for my passivity was that the filmmakers seemed more interested in shocking us with the violence than actually telling a story. They were more driven by the need to make us cringe rather than think- this cringing resulting from either graphic depictions of visceral dismemberment or bad acting.
Director James Wan didn’t quite pull off the infusion of moral conflict in the way that David Fincher did in Se7en- both are films in which the victims of the grizzly murders are, in some way, guilty themselves and due a punishment.
However, Se7en is not the only film that leapt to mind after watching Saw.
Towards Saw’s climax, Gordon (Carey Elwes) realises it’s not the chain that his captor wants him to cut through with the hacksaw- it’s his own ankle.
To factors suspended my disbelief at this point. The first is realism. Gordon has just blunted the hacksaw’s teeth on the chain. The chances of this tool then being used to cut through flesh and bone of ankle thickness, without the blade snapping, is nonexistent. This doesn’t matter though, as he would have passed out and probably bled to death after he cut the femoral artery in the ankle- long before he had a chance to cut himself free.
There is a second factor preventing my immersion in the fictional film world of Saw. As well as the seminal thriller Se7en, Saw was blatantly inspired by the climax of classic Mel Gibson movie Mad Max.
Max, after accosting road hoodlum who murdered his wife and child, chains the perpetrator to the grill of his own car. He then places the bomb in the driver’s seat and offers the guilty man a hacksaw- similar to that featured in the movie Saw.
Max explains the bomb will detonate before he could cut through the steel. So he’d better get to work on his ankle, Max assures him, if he wants to live. Max assures him that dismembering himself and escaping can be done within the available time. Suffice to say, the car explodes with the perpetrator still inside.
In conclusion, do not bother watching the Saw films. If you want decent horror that is frightening, and makes sense, try Ring and Dark Water (of course, I mean the Japanese originals by the world’s scariest director, Hideo Nataka) or Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now.
Now that is benchmark horror.
You need to log in to urbis or create an urbis account to review this writing.
Reviews
Sort Reviews by Newest | Oldest | Highest Quality | Lowest Quality | Newest Comments |
Mad Max…A blast from the past and I have to say was a pretty good movie. The Saw series seems so disturbing (I have to admit I can’t bring myself to actually watch one) I think it is a sad sign of our times the way so many people really like the movie. As a suggestion for a follow up blog or an post script for this one, would be the social aspect of these realistic slasher movies and their apparent appeal to so many people. No one seems to appreciate the subtle suspense of an Alfred Hitchcock anymore.
- add/view comments (0)
Your blog was clear. you made good arguments as to why you don’t think SAW is a good movie and why others are better in your opinion and better to watch for a more horrific effect. You didn’t push your opinion but let others make an informed choice as a result. I won’t watch SAW for the mere fact taht I hate horror ; but again that is just my humble opinion.
I think this is an excellent review and i can tell you why. I like how you compare it to the movie Se7en. You show the reader that Se7en had some moral conflict where Saw is lacking in a plot and and is more concerned with shock value. You also give examples of how the movies differ and even throw in an example of ankle cutting from Mad Max to help prove your point. I like getting nicely written reviews. If i must make a suggestion that might make this batter, i might ask that you expound on more movies like saw and how they are lacking in believability. Kudos for how you wrapped up the ending by suggesting better flims to watch.
Good job, write more. I enjoyed this. Sandi
I have seen saw and yeah it might not be the best but the point that I saw in it was how many ways can you torture a person and are they really dumb enough to do it. I think that if you do something bad and you don’t get cought for it by authorities you should be grateful however there is always a someone watching that might not agree with what you do. I don’t think they will be as eloborate as trying to kill but crazy enough to kidnapp them and make them blow up
Hey Matt,
Nice blog. Easy style and conversational tone while staying focused and providing some decent arguments to support your premise. The only bump I saw was when relating the mad Max scene you wrote:
“Max explains …... wants to live.”
The words are all there but the punctuation tripped me up. Suggestion:
“Max explains … the steel, so he’d better … his ankle (Max assures him) if he wants to live.”
Just a thought. I didn’t like Saw either.
Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Review item
Add to faves
GENERAL
REVIEW QUEUE
Ratings & Rankings
