#50: Saw
Release Date: October 29th, 2004
Format: Streaming (Max)
Written by: Leigh Whannell
Directed by: James Wan
2.5 Stars
There is a lot to be said about Saw. This was the first time I’d seen it, but I am aware firsthand of the effect this movie had on the horror genre and on audiences.
When this movie opened, I was in college and had just started working part-time at a video store. 2004 was a transitional year for movie home media, as it was pretty much the last gasp of VHS and even the diehards were jumping ship to the much superior quality of DVD, which was at least cost-equivalent and oftentimes cheaper than VHS.
It’s not an understatement when I say that Saw captured the DVD wave at its crest as well as any movie ever. It had a great cover - a severed hand and foot on a white background with Saw’s iconic font - that inspired incredible word-of-mouth.
Lots of, “Have you seen Saw?” - especially with middle and high school students who were intrigued by the brutality implied on its cover. For whatever reason, I was never caught up in the intrigue of Saw. If I had to guess why I was probably at a time in my life where I was more intrigued to explore movies of the past than I was interested in whatever was hot on the rental shelves. I wanted to watch Mean Streets, not Saw.
So it took me 20 years to finally watch it. What do I think? I wish I would have watched it 20 years ago. I would have liked it more.
This movie has a young person’s energy. The writer, Leigh Whannell, and the director, James Wan, were in their early 20s when they made the movie, and it shows. When I was in my early 20s I was also in love with early David Fincher, especially Se7en, which influences Saw significantly, both in style and in story.
Whannell’s script tries to shock and awe (yes, that is a George Bush reference) with an interesting frame story, jump cuts, flashbacks, and red herrings throughout. This is a young writer going for it. He also writes to shock for shock’s sake - and he often succeeds. And James Wan incorporates all of the flashy, chaotic edits that were en vogue in the early-2000s. As you watch Saw, you’re ultra-aware that you’re watching a movie from 2004, and not always in a good way.
But I’m not here to roast a hugely successful low budget movie by two young, independent filmmakers. They created an iconic horror movie that made 100 million dollars at the box office, and ushered in an era of “gore core” films that also went on to be successful in their own right (Cabin Fever, Hostel, etc. and reboots of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes). And they both went on to make the Insidious franchise, so they clearly have a voice that connects with horror fans.
But I imagine they both look back on Saw the way people look back on old photos of themselves. There is probably a mixture of fondness and slight embarrassment. “Man, look how young we were, and how bad are those haircuts?”
