Saw
Considering it basically “invented” the torture porn horror genre- albeit, one that didn’t really gain much traction beyond this franchise and “Hostel”- is it fair to compare James Wan’s “Saw” to “Halloween?” Certainly, John Carpenter’s film is better, but in terms of ground zero for a subgenre of horror, I feel like it tracks. This is the first time I’ve seen the 2004 film in the franchise in years, and it’s still sweaty, grimy and disgusting, but you can see the seeds laid for its introduction of Jigsaw as the new horror icon of the 21st Century. That it still succeeds as a thriller is a tribute to the ideas at the core of Leigh Whannell’s screenplay, and Wan’s understanding of how to tell this story for maximum effect; it’s not their fault that, like practically every other horror franchise, it was overrun by lesser sequels.
It took me until the impending release of, I believe, “Saw III” to finally get into watching this franchise, and one of the things that connected with me about it was how Jigsaw poses moral dilemmas to his victims, offering them salvation and a new chance at life, even if it means unimaginable, temporary pain. As the series went on, it got repetitive and more interested in imaginative gore effects and traps, but especially for those first three, you can see that there’s a level of intrigue with how people live their lives, and how they sometimes waste it, that makes Jigsaw one of the most interesting killers in horror. In this original film, the question resides in who Jigsaw is; by the end, the audacity of the reveal is one of the film’s strengths.
The film begins with two men locked in a grungy old bathroom. A dead man, drenched in blood, is in the room with them. As the scenario plays out, the men (played by Whannell and Cary Elwes) try to work out the situation they are in. Clues include a heart on a toilet, and tapes in their pants pockets; a tape recorder is held by the dead man, as well as a gun. The tapes reveal why they have been chosen, and Elwes’s Dr. Lawrence Gordon remembers something- this sounds like a killer he heard about, because he was suspected of being the killer.
If “Saw” were just about Dr. Gordon and Adam, Whannell’s character, it would be an insufferable bore, but the screenplay also makes it a police procedural about the hunt for Jigsaw. The cops are played by Danny Glover and Ken Leung, and there’s something very much inspired by “Se7en” in this part of the story. The twist, however, is that Jigsaw turns them into victims, as well, just not how we think it will go; Glover is so obsessed with Dr. Gordon as a suspect that he is suspended, but still watches his house, at a time where Gordon’s wife (Monica Potter) and daughter are held captive by someone. How is the hostage taker connected to Jigsaw? Does he shine further light on Jigsaw’s identity?
Wan’s approach to the story is intense and visceral, both in tone and visual language. Like I said earlier, this film is sweaty, grimy and disgusting (it’s also loud- nobody is really doing their best work in this film), and I think that was one of the things that turned people off to it, at first. That actually works to the film’s advantage, though, and Wan keeps things tense throughout. Probably the most intense scene, however, is the story of Amanda (Shawnee Smith), a victim of Jigsaw’s who survived; she gives the film an emotional anchor it doesn’t really have with any of the other characters. The way that plays out in future installments is what makes her such a vital piece of the puzzle here.
No franchise, especially in horror, really tops their original. Some get equal to them, but nobody really tops that first time a new horror icon appears. That’s definitely the case with “Saw”- as much as I like subsequent installments, none of them really capture the feel, and central thesis, of this film as successfully.
