2. Saw II
It isn’t easy to make a sequel to a film that was so thoroughly leveraged on both the singularity of its premise and shocking payoff, but inside of a tight 90 minutes Saw II cements what would become the series’ blueprint.
Saw II really is the sweet spot for the series creatively – the traps are thoughtfully nasty but not silly, compensating for budgetary limitations with the universally relatable horror of, say, the needle pit that Amanda is thrown into. It’s the most nauseating trap in the movie and yet almost completely bloodless. And while the series hadn’t yet tipped its tonal hand towards dark comedy, Xavier (Franky G) having to slice a chunk out of his own neck because he won’t co-operate with anyone is left-field hilarious.
With a $4 million budget, it looks considerably better than the $1.2 million original, and though it still has a functional TV-like aesthetic, Bousman’s energetic filmmaking keeps it interesting enough (and, knowingly, includes an homage to the original’s infamous low-budget car chase).
This is far more conceptually convoluted than the first Saw, but achieves a steady unfurling of reveals rather than – as became problematic in many of the other sequels – simply leaving us waiting for the Charlie Clouser-scored climactic montage. It’s a fun ride to take here, impressively delivering not one but two twists worthy of the original, again relying on sleight-of-hand but in a totally different way.
At this point in the series a timeline-shift was still a genuine surprise, and though Amanda being an apprentice is fundamentally ridiculous, it works more than it doesn’t; it’s certainly the only apprentice twist of the series that really persuades.
It helps immeasurably that the performances are strong across the main cast and a lot less hammy than those of Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell in the original. Donnie Wahlberg is believably world-weary as Detective Matthews, while Tobin Bell’s larger part as Kramer lives up to the hype (complete with killer lines like, “Oh yes, there will be blood”), and Shawnee Smith brings real dimension to Amanda’s evolution (again implausible though it is).
Saw II deepens the series’ mythology without desperately over-extending itself. This is a polished and confident sequel which, while lacking the original’s scrappy freshness, is an impressively worthy follow-up. In fact, it’s one of the better second entries from any big-hitter horror franchise.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
1. Saw
When Saw premiered to an unsuspecting Sundance audience back in January 2004, nobody could’ve anticipated the indefatigable pop-culture phenom it would give birth to.
James Wan’s directorial debut originated the series’ fast-dependable touchstones – the arbitrary plot twist, iconic Charlie Clouser theme, Billy puppet, and presence of stalwart baddie Tobin Bell – but revisiting the film today underlines its disarming purity.
Wan’s Saw unapologetically wears its low budget on its sleeve, admittedly to sometimes risible ends. The roving, TV-esque camerawork – including that laughably cheap “car chase” filmed in someone’s garage with a pack of dry ice and a few key lights – MTV-style editing, and obvious ADR may have aged poorly, but it’s easy to respect Wan’s attempt to out-grot his most obvious influence, David Fincher’s Se7en, on a shoestring budget.
This feels far more believably gross than its glossier sequels, focusing less on heightened gore and torture porn in favour of a more confined mystery-thriller plot. The script is admittedly programmatic to the point that it just screams “first screenplay!,” particularly the contrived “Jigsaw never killed anyone” moralising which would become more patently absurd with each new film.
And yet, the film is held aloft by the tantalising bones of its screenplay, slow-bleeding an engrossing mystery to a transfixed audience. Clever use of misdirection, an ambitious narrative structure, and some killer dialogue (“He wants us to cut through our feet” / “The sewer lines run under this neighbourhood too”) lend the film a scuzzy, pulpy atmosphere lacking in many of the sequels.
Performances, again, are a flailing mixed bag; Cary Elwes can’t seem to hold an American accent to save his life, and writer Leigh Whannell playing Adam was presumably more of a budgetary decision than one based on acting ability. Faring far better are Danny Glover as the broken down, simmering Detective Tapp, and Shawnee Smith as the traumatised Jigsaw survivor Amanda.
Saw surely lacks polish and wears all of its 17 years on its sleeve when viewed today, but it’s still an extraordinarily impressive achievement given the budget. In 2021, the infamous foot-cutting scene remains effectively traumatic, though Saw will of course be forever best remembered for its era-defining twist, encased within a gloriously scored-and-edited final montage.
The original Saw may be rough round the edges, but that unvarnished quality has a sure charm that its more cynical successors lack. And of course, who can forget that big reveal?
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
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Shaun Munro – Follow me on Twitter for more film rambling.
