{"id":9010,"date":"2017-08-29T05:41:05","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T05:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.9deuce.tv\/blogs\/?p=9010"},"modified":"2020-10-27T08:27:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T12:27:51","slug":"saw-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.9deuce.tv\/blogs\/saw-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"Saw (2004)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m doing a podcast with Chris on the Saw franchise.\u00a0 I thought that I could easily just go back to my blogs as a nice refresher and get caught up.\u00a0 Nope, I did a horrific, half-assed job on all of them.\u00a0 Since I have to rewatch these films now so I am not a complete imbecile, I may as well do better blogs while I am at it.\u00a0 I originally wrote the blogs for Parts 1-7 in October of 2013 and Jigsaw in 2017.\u00a0 Clearly, I\u2019ve grown so much as a writer, because I got fatter.\u00a0 Hopefully, I can do better than I originally did.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before we start the film, we have to acknowledge the talent involved in this film.\u00a0 The movie was directed by James Wan who went on to direct Dead Silence, The Conjuring 1 & 2, Insidious 1 & 2, Aquaman 1 & 2, Death Sentence with Kevin Bacon, and Furious 7.\u00a0 The dude knows how to make good horror\u2026.and Insidious.\u00a0 You\u2019d probably say that Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon, and Leigh Whannell as Adam, are the 2 leads.\u00a0 The supporting cast includes the great Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon franchise), Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers), Shawnee Smith (The Stand), Michael Emerson (Person of Interest and Lost), Monica Potter (Nic Cage\u2019s wife in Con Air), and of course, Tobin Bell as John Kramer.\u00a0 That\u2019s a pretty loaded cast for a horror film.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, I admit that I am clearly a bit biased in my opinion on this film.\u00a0 After all, I have a tattoo of the Jigsaw puppet\/Billy.\u00a0 The funny thing is that I thought that this film was pretty average the first time that I saw it.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure what all the hype was.\u00a0 It was just another bunch of bullshit with a twist ending and some familiar faces.\u00a0 Meh.\u00a0 Then I watched it again with my mom, and it was better.\u00a0 It got better every time that I would show it to a friend, and I finally \u201cgot it\u201d.\u00a0 There are plenty of layers here, plenty of clues throughout.\u00a0 And for fans of the franchise, this really laid the foundation for understanding the time shifts in the story.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot to love here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Start Film<\/span><\/p>\n

The first thing that you see is something floating in the water and as Adam wakes up, we see whatever it was going down the drain.\u00a0 Could have been a key, could have been a necklace, could have been Adam\u2019s dignity.\u00a0 Adam is talking, wondering if he\u2019s dead, and that\u2019s then we meet Dr. Lawrence Gordon.\u00a0 Gordon turns on the light and we see an older man in the middle of the floor with a gun and a pool of blood around his head.\u00a0 Both Adam and Gordon are chained to the wall, but they are in opposite sides of the room.\u00a0 This looks like an old utility room or locker room.\u00a0 Neither guy remembers how or why they got there.\u00a0 Adam is worried that someone has taken his kidneys and sold them on eBay.\u00a0 Adam learns that Lawrence Gordon is a surgeon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon notices a brand new clock in their room,\u00a0 Obviously, somebody wants them to have a sense of time.\u00a0 Gordon can\u2019t open the big ass door.\u00a0 Adam finds an envelope in his pocket with a microcassette.\u00a0 Gordon also has an envelope.\u00a0 Both men have tapes that say \u201cPLAY ME\u201d. Gordon also has a key and a bullet in his.\u00a0 The key obviously doesn\u2019t undo the shackles.\u00a0 Adam now realizes that the dead man in the room has a tape recorder in his hand.\u00a0 So now Adam quintessentially goes fishing with his shirt, but to no avail.\u00a0 Adam ties the tub stopper to his shirt.\u00a0 Gordon is impatient.\u00a0 I call bullshit that he was able to get the recorder on that few attempts.\u00a0 Adam plays his tape and the voice is awesome.\u00a0 The voice calls Adam a voyeur.\u00a0 Gordon asks Adam for the recorder, which is stupid and Adam calls Gordon out on it.\u00a0 Gordon\u2019s tape has the same voice on it.\u00a0 Usually, Gordon has to give bad news about a death, but today, his goal is to actually kill Adam.\u00a0 He has until 6 on the clock to do it, and it is current 10:36 per the clock.\u00a0 The voice also talks about the man in the room.\u00a0 When there\u2019s that much poison in your blood, there\u2019s nothing left to do but to poison yourself.\u00a0 The voice then gives a sickly cough. There are ways to win this all around them.\u00a0 X marks the spot for the treasure.\u00a0 If he doesn\u2019t kill Adam by 6, then Alison and Diana (wife and daughter) will die and Gordon will be left in this room to rot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet the game begin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon asks for the recorder.\u00a0 Gordon listens to the recording and hears a whisper that says \u201cFollow your heart\u201d.\u00a0 No bitch, it\u2019s \u201cFollow your nose\u201d, per Tucan Sam.\u00a0 They find the heart on a toilet and Adam is digging through the sludge in the toilet.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 He then checks the toilet tank and there is a bag.\u00a0 Inside the bag are 2 hacksaws.\u00a0 Adam starts sawing and tosses Gordon one.\u00a0 Adam sneakily tosses the bag into the tub where he woke up.\u00a0 The saws aren\u2019t cutting the chains.\u00a0 But Adam broke a piece of the mirror.\u00a0 Gordon says that \u201cHe\u201d doesn\u2019t want them to cut through the chain but rather their foot.\u00a0 Gordon has an idea of who it may be because he at one point was considered a suspect.\u00a0 It\u2019s flashback time suckas.\u00a0 Sit back, grab some Sour Patch Kids and enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

We get Detective Tapp (Danny Glover), Detective Sing, and Kerry (Dina Meyer).\u00a0 I assume that she is also a detective.\u00a0 They find a dead 46-year-old man who has bled out and tried crawling through a room of razor wire.\u00a0 There is another recorder and this is a message for Paul and it was about him running razors across his wrists.\u00a0 Foolish move, sir.\u00a0 If Paul wanted to die, he could just sit there, but if he wanted to live, he\u2019d have to cut himself and make it through the room.\u00a0 He had almost 2 hours to achieve this, and then the door sealed shut.\u00a0 Ohhh, a piece of his skin was carved off that looked like a jigsaw piece.\u00a0 I almost got a tattoo of a jigsaw piece once.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next up is a flashback about Mark, who supposedly had a sickness, ooh ah ah ah ahhhh.\u00a0 Mark has been poisoned.\u00a0 The antidote is inside a safe.\u00a0 The code to the safe is written on the wall.\u00a0 All the walls are covered in numbers.\u00a0 Oh yeah, one problem.\u00a0 Mark\u2019s only source of light is a candle and Mark is covered in a very flammable substance.\u00a0 Good times.\u00a0 The floor is also covered in broken glass.\u00a0 Mark burns to death.\u00a0 Kerry claims that Jigsaw watches the people play the game.\u00a0 But he left a penlight hanging around.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spoiler alert time.\u00a0 Now we\u2019re at the hospital with Gordon talking about a patient\u2019s frontal global tumor.\u00a0 He is teaching younger doctors.\u00a0 There is an orderly named Zep that interrupts and tells the group that the patient\u2019s name is John.\u00a0 We quickly see a glimpse of the patient.\u00a0 We see an old man who looks awfully familiar and he appears to be resting.\u00a0 He has a drawing on his tray table.\u00a0 If you look closely and pause it, the image drawn is that of a reverse bear trap.\u00a0 You know where this is going.\u00a0 Dr. Gordon has to leave but one of the girls is certainly eyeballing him.\u00a0 I wonder\u2026\u2026 Anyway, Gordon meets Tapp and Sing.\u00a0 They ask him where he was between 11 and 1 the previous night.\u00a0 They want him to go for some questioning.\u00a0 Gordon asks what it\u2019s all about and they show him the penlight.\u00a0 Gordon admits to seeing a woman that night while talking to his lawyer.\u00a0 This was 5 months ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They checked his alibi, it held up.\u00a0 No shit. They ask him to stay around and listen to the next victim, Amanda, and see if it triggers anything in his memory.\u00a0 Amanda is played by Shawnee Smith.\u00a0 What is funny is that the dude who plays Adam was a co-creator of the film and when asked who he\u2019d like for this role, he suggested Shawnee because he used to have a crush on her. #MeToo because of her role in The Stand.\u00a0 Back to the film.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amanda is the only victim that survived.\u00a0 Tapp asks her to describe her situation.\u00a0 She woke up with a trap on her head and can\u2019t talk, and tastes blood and metal.\u00a0 She sees a video with the puppet talking to her.\u00a0 The puppet wants to play a game.\u00a0 We see what happens when the timer goes off, it causes the lower jaw to be ripped off.\u00a0 There is a key to open the device in the stomach of her dead cellmate.\u00a0 \u201cLive or die, make your choice\u201d.\u00a0 The music got obnoxiously loud there, which I certainly didn\u2019t appreciate.\u00a0 It was too corny and the visual style reeked of early 2000\u2019s horror. She gets out of the chair and that starts the timer.\u00a0 The music is so obnoxious.\u00a0 True story, Shawnee was sick, had a 104 fever, supposedly, during filming.\u00a0 She sees the body and lifts up the man\u2019s shirt and he has a question mark drawn on his chest.\u00a0 She finds a knife.\u00a0 The man wakes up but says nothing.\u00a0 She goes to town on him.\u00a0 He had been injected with an opioid overdose.\u00a0 She goes through his guts, gets the key, and manages to get the trap off with 2 seconds to spare.\u00a0 Good for her.\u00a0 Then the Puppet comes riding into the room on a tricycle and says \u201cCongratulations, you are still alive.\u00a0 Most people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not you.\u00a0 Not anymore.\u201d Tapp says that Mandy is a drug addict, I prefer calling her Amanda, thank you very much.\u00a0 He asks if she thinks that is why he picked her.\u00a0 He asks if she is grateful, she says that he helped her.\u00a0 See, mother fucker is a god damn hero.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When people see my tattoo, they make assumptions.\u00a0 I get it.\u00a0 I love these films, and I love the design of the puppet.\u00a0 It\u2019s all awesome to me.\u00a0 But what people fail to realize is the true reason for the tattoo.\u00a0 Being a person who has been dealing with depression for over 25 years at this point, sometimes it helps to have a little reminder to be grateful for the life that you have, even if it isn\u2019t going as you\u2019d like, it\u2019s still something to be grateful for.\u00a0 I also really enjoy Peanut M&M\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back to the present situation.\u00a0 Adam asks how he can be sure it isn\u2019t Gordon behind it.\u00a0 Adam threatens to cut Gordon with the mirror shard, but he realizes it\u2019s actually a 2-way mirror.\u00a0 Somebody is talking to the screen as he watches Adam and Gordon.\u00a0 \u201cThis is the most fun I\u2019ve had without lubricant\u201d, Adam quips.\u00a0 Gordon recognizes how perfect this set up is, and wants to look for the X.\u00a0 Adam antagonizes Gordon about his wife and daughter.\u00a0 Gordon thinks back to the last thing that he said to his daughter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Flashback to Diana waking up at night, acting all weird. Hey, there\u2019s Monica Potter.\u00a0 Annnnd tell me how, how do I live without you?\u00a0 I want to know\u2026. Man, I love Con Air.\u00a0 Anyway, a man was talking to Diana in her room and she was super calm about the whole situation.\u00a0 She wants her daddy to get rid of the scary man.\u00a0 Gordon is typing away like crazy and he needs to finish what he\u2019s writing.\u00a0 I get it, sir.\u00a0 Bitches always interrupting ya when you trying to do work.\u00a0 Gordon gets a beeper message and he\u2019s gotta go to work…or so he says.\u00a0 Diana is worried that daddy is gonna leave her and mommy.\u00a0 Still don\u2019t believe that she was talking to a scary man?\u00a0 Now Alison rides his ass.\u00a0 She\u2019s a peach.\u00a0 Like Princess Peach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon shows Adam a picture of Diana. He tosses Adam his wallet.\u00a0 Adam wonders if he has a picture of his wife and Gordon says it\u2019s behind the picture of Diana. Wellllll shiiiit, instead there\u2019s a picture with Alison and Diana tied up and their mouths taped and a message from Jigsaw about X\u00a0 can be seen with your eyes shut.\u00a0 Adam tells Gordon that the photo wasn\u2019t there, and Adam steals the Jigsaw picture and tosses back the wallet.\u00a0 Flashback to Alison still being all bitchy.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason why there is a dinosaur named after Alison.\u00a0 In Diana\u2019s room, she hears a voice saying goodnight little girl, and she screams and Diana and Alison get tied up.\u00a0 Who is behind it though?\u00a0 The man uses a stethoscope on Diana and then brings out a gun just to hear how much faster the heartbeats are.\u00a0 Diana is annoying.\u00a0 He looks out the window and Tapp is seeing this shit.\u00a0 That guy looks familiar.\u00a0 Tapp is talking al seductively to himself and he has gone psycho in his home. He has been hunting the Jigsaw killer.\u00a0 Tapp believes that he should have never let Gordon go.<\/span><\/p>\n

We see when Tapp drops Gordon off after the questioning.\u00a0 Tapp was kind of a dick to Gordon.\u00a0 Tapp is now watching a video of the puppet talking to Amanda.\u00a0 Tapp is becoming obsessive it appears.\u00a0 Sing says that the guys are going to the local grill, but Tapp ain\u2019t having it.\u00a0 Glover doesn\u2019t get enough credit for his performance in this.\u00a0 Tapp notices something in the video, some graffiti.\u00a0 They know where that territory is and they can also hear an alarm.\u00a0 They pinpoint where it is, Sing asks if they enough for a warrant Tapp is like, who said anything about a warrant?\u00a0 So him and Sing to this place, at night.\u00a0 They go inside and find all sorts of fun shit.\u00a0 They end up in a caged storage room of sorts.\u00a0 There\u2019s a diorama showing Adam and Gordon.\u00a0 A bunch of things are covered by red sheets and blankets.\u00a0 They uncover the puppet.\u00a0 Then a man makes a sound, and he was covered and gagged.\u00a0 Sing wants to take the shot as someone is coming up the elevator.\u00a0 Tapp says to hide and see who it is.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There he is, in a black and red robe.\u00a0 He tells the guy that he will serve a bigger purpose.\u00a0 Cops pop out, tell him to freeze.\u00a0 Instead, he quickly starts the next trap.\u00a0 In 20 seconds, this dude will die.\u00a0 There are 2 spikes slowly gliding toward this man\u2019s neck.\u00a0 I think his name is Jeff.\u00a0 Sing has to find the right key from a box with a large keyring.\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Tapp still won\u2019t shoot and \u201cJigsaw\u201d asks what\u2019s more important, arresting him or saving someone\u2019s life.\u00a0 Jigsaw admits to being sick.\u00a0 Sing has to shoot the trap.\u00a0 This gets Tapp\u2019s attention and Jigsaw has a blade up his sleeve and slices Tapp\u2019s throat.\u00a0 That always gets me.\u00a0 Sing is a terrible shot.\u00a0 Jigsaw can run away like a champ.\u00a0 Sing pursues Jigsaw while Tapp looks like hell.\u00a0 Sing is too aggressive in his pursuit and the music is trash.\u00a0 Sing actually shoots Jigsaw.\u00a0 Tapp is trying to make his way downstairs.\u00a0 Sing sees the huge cobweb in front of him but fails to notice the tripwire that just triggered 5 or 6 shotty\u2019s and blew off Sing\u2019s head.\u00a0 And Jigsaw gets up and leaves. And this is why Tapp is obsessive, he wants to close this case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Okay, the guy watching Gordon and Adam is Zep.\u00a0 Adam is secretly looking at the picture and Gordon is trying to find the X.\u00a0 Adam tells Gordon to turn off the lights and there\u2019s the X behind Gordon.\u00a0 Gordon breaks through the wall to find a box.\u00a0 Of course, there\u2019s a box.\u00a0 The box is locked, so they now use the first key.\u00a0 Inside the box, we find\u2026..a flip phone, a cigarette, a lighter, and a note.\u00a0 Adam is begging for the cigarette.\u00a0 The note says that Gordon doesn\u2019t need a gun to kill Adam and references poison.\u00a0 As I\u2019m watching this, all I can think of is the line in the Simpsons \u201cSmokers are jokers.\u201d\u00a0 I think Ralph Wiggum said that gem.\u00a0 Gordon tries to call the police, but the phone is only for receiving calls.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The previous night, Gordon was walking to his car while in a parking garage and was sure someone else was there with him.\u00a0 There was a flash, during the flashback.\u00a0 Gordon tries to make a call but to no avail.\u00a0 The back doors have opened and two people in red robes and hairy pig masks attack Gordon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon asks Adam how he knew to turn off the lights.\u00a0 Adam claims it was instincts.\u00a0 Gordon calls him a terrible liar.\u00a0 Adam gets all defensive.\u00a0 This is fucking adorable.\u00a0 Adam gets sick of Gordon\u2019s shit and tosses him the picture.\u00a0 Gordon has a meltdown, as one would expect.\u00a0 Now Gordon is thinking about the cigarette and the poison in the blood.\u00a0 He dips the end of the cigarette in the dead man\u2019s blood.\u00a0 \u00a0 Gordon turns off the light.\u00a0 He whispers to Adam to play along with him.\u00a0 Zep is still observing.\u00a0 Gordon tosses Adam a non-poisoned cigarette.\u00a0 Adam lights up.\u00a0 Then Adam acts like he is choking and doing the worst overacted fake death ever.\u00a0 Gordon then yells that he killed Adam and wants to find his family.\u00a0 Well, Adam then got shocked.\u00a0 Hahaha, brilliant.\u00a0 Gordon is livid. He grabs the saw and tries the chain again.\u00a0 Believe it or not, it still doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 Adam suddenly remembers how he got there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adam came home one night and he is a photographer.\u00a0 He has been taking pictures of Gordon.\u00a0 That explains the Flash, or does it?\u00a0 Adam falls asleep while waiting for the pictures to do their thing and the red light won\u2019t work now.\u00a0 There\u2019s a sound in his apartment.\u00a0 Now, he has a flashlight that doesn\u2019t work and a camera.\u00a0 Naturally, he grabs the camera and uses the flash.\u00a0 He\u2019s looking for the person.\u00a0 Seriously, shoulda brought that damn light, plus you keep giving away your position.\u00a0 Make them come to you.\u00a0 He is startled by the puppet in a chair laughing.\u00a0 Hahaha, fantastic.\u00a0 He still hears someone in there.\u00a0 Now he has a baseball bat at least. \u00a0 He flashes the light and a red-robed minion attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon gets a call on the flip phone, and it\u2019s Diana. She\u2019s crying and told him that the bad man from her room is there.\u00a0 Alison gets on the phone and asks if Adam is there.\u00a0 She says \u201cDon\u2019t believe Adam\u2019s lies and that he knew all about Lawrence before today.\u00a0 Is this Momento with the whole \u201cdon\u2019t believe his lies\u201d business?\u00a0 Lawrence freaks out and Adam asks if they\u2019re okay.\u00a0 Lawrence says that he was told not to believe Adam.\u00a0 Leigh is a good actor, I will give him that.\u00a0 Adam calls Gordon out on his shit.\u00a0 Adam reveals that he was the one who took the picture in the parking lot.\u00a0 Oh wow, Adam pulls out the bag that he saved and it has all the pictures that he took of Gordon.\u00a0 Adam gets paid to spy on rich guys who are cheating.\u00a0 I call bullshit that he is never heard by Gordon.\u00a0 Gordon is in the room with the pretty girl from earlier that was eyeballing him.\u00a0 He is upset that she didn\u2019t page him at the right time.\u00a0 He apologizes to her and is about to leave and then there\u2019s a phone call for Gordon.\u00a0 Her name is Carla.\u00a0 The person says that they know what he\u2019s doing.\u00a0 This freaks out Gordon and he goes to leave.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon asked who was paying him, and Adam says it was some guy named Bob.\u00a0 Adam reveals that it was a tall black guy with a scar around his neck that hired Adam.\u00a0 Tapp was discharged and was obsessed with Gordon.\u00a0 Gordon is acting all holier than thou.\u00a0 They get all pissy at each other.\u00a0 Gordon gets all whiny about how he had the perfect life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alison gets an opportunity to talk and tells Diana to be strong or brave or some garbage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Adam asks if there was someone else at Gordon\u2019s house aside from his wife and daughter.\u00a0 There he is, it\u2019s Zep.\u00a0 Gordon is enraged.\u00a0 Adam notes that they are officially out of time.\u00a0 We see Zep looking at the monitor and getting the gun ready.\u00a0 The girls act like they\u2019re still tied up.\u00a0 Zep tells the girls that Gordon\u2019s time is up.\u00a0 Zep makes Alison call Gordon to let him know that he failed.\u00a0 Alison calls and then says \u201cYou failed\u201d and then attacks Zep and gets his gun.\u00a0 John Doe has the upper hand.\u00a0 She tells him to give her the phone.\u00a0 God, she is doing everything wrong.\u00a0 She is way too close to him while also using the phone.\u00a0 \u00a0 Diana distracts, Zep makes his move, and the gun goes off twice.\u00a0 Gordon can only hear the commotion.\u00a0 Tapp goes into motion.\u00a0 \u00a0 Diana is so stupid and obnoxious.\u00a0 Tapp is shooting at Zep, Zep is shooting at Tapp.\u00a0 The girls are running away.\u00a0 Tapp goes for the tackle.\u00a0 Gordon goes for the crying.\u00a0 Glass vase breaks over Tapp\u2019s head.\u00a0 Zep is still looking for the girls.\u00a0 You gotta take Tapp out, fool!\u00a0 He says that he has to take her husband out now.\u00a0 Tapp is up.\u00a0 The chase is on.\u00a0 Gordon is\u2026.still crying.\u00a0 Oh, he just got shocked badly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tapp and Zep are driving really fast and Adam is yelling at Gordon to get up, so he throws shit at him.\u00a0 Gordon wakes up.\u00a0 \u201cFuck this shit!\u2019 screams Gordon.\u00a0 Zep gets to the place first and Tapp is following.\u00a0 Zep\u2019s leg is hurt though.\u00a0 \u00a0 Zep is climbing down a ladder.\u00a0 The phone is ringing and Gordon can\u2019t grab it.\u00a0 Tapp is still giving chase.\u00a0 A bunch of gunshots miss.\u00a0 Gordon is losing his shit.\u00a0 This is a great movie to watch at 4 AM.\u00a0 \u00a0 Lawrence is taking off his shirt and tying it around his foot.\u00a0 He picks up the hacksaw and goes to town and saws on his foot.\u00a0 Tapp tackles Zep.\u00a0 Lawrence is still SAW-ing.\u00a0 Adam is in utter disbelief.\u00a0 Zep shoots Tapp.\u00a0 Lawrence now crawls for the phone.\u00a0 Tapp appears to be dead.\u00a0 Gordon grabs the gun from the dead man and loads the single bullet.\u00a0 He is sickly white and says that he is sorry but he needs to do this for his family.\u00a0 He shoots Adam.\u00a0 They really did a great job on the makeup for Gordon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zep opens up the door and Gordon threatens to kill him and picks up the gun with no bullets and tries to fire at him.\u00a0 Zep says that Gordon was too late.\u00a0 Adam sweeps the leg, so to speak.\u00a0 Zep fires two shots.\u00a0 They miss.\u00a0 Adam destroys Zep with the top of the toilet tank.\u00a0 Gordon is gonna leave and get help.\u00a0 Adam doesn\u2019t want him to leave, but otherwise, Gordon will bleed to death.\u00a0 Both guys are just in shit shape.\u00a0 Adam looks for a key on Zep.\u00a0 He finds his wallet.\u00a0 No key there.\u00a0 He finds a recorder on Zep.\u00a0 This is the message to Zep.\u00a0 Zep had to make a choice.\u00a0 He was poisoned and to get the antidote, he was to kill Alison and Diana.\u00a0 Those were the rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the dead guy gets up and shaking off the lactic acid.\u00a0 He peels off the rubber shit on his head that made him look terrible.\u00a0 John Kramer reveals that the key to that chain was in the bathtub, which is the very first thing that we saw.\u00a0 Adam goes to shoot John and John presses a button and zaps Adam.\u00a0 John turns off the light and walks out.\u00a0 \u201cGame over!\u201d and he slams the door closed as Adam screams.<\/span><\/p>\n

End film<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus, that last 20 minutes or so is at such a ridiculously high pace.\u00a0 Then you have the big reveal that Zep was also playing his own game, which was more than satisfying enough.\u00a0 Then John stands up and holy balls.\u00a0 Fucking great stuff right there.\u00a0 If you are one of those people who claim that you knew the ending without any spoilers, please don\u2019t tell me your lies.\u00a0 While it is entirely possible to predict some aspects, I don\u2019t believe that back in 2004 that you fucking watched it and called that exact ending.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe your lies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about the elephant that was in the room for a substantial amount of time.\u00a0 How the hell was Lawrence going to pull himself up that ladder given how weak he was and then crawl that long ass corridor in hopes of just making it outside?\u00a0 I say that it is physically impossible for a man in his shape and condition to escape that situation.\u00a0 But\u2026..well, this won\u2019t be the last time that I talk about this.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a standalone film, this is really good.\u00a0 It has a lot of things going for it.\u00a0 All of the main characters are pretty awful people in some form or another.\u00a0 The storytelling techniques were good, even if it was mostly flashbacks, it felt a bit different than your typical film.\u00a0 The acting was really good.\u00a0 Gordon had some moments that were a tad over the top, but that adds charm in hindsight, but yes, you can nitpick that if you like.\u00a0 The gore really wasn\u2019t too bad.\u00a0 It\u2019s tame compared to what would be coming the following year.\u00a0 I do wish we had a bit more backstory on Zep, but they didn\u2019t need it cut out all of the empty calories, so to speak.\u00a0 That\u2019s okay.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most people see this film as a one-trick pony.\u00a0 That\u2019s simply not true.\u00a0 This is the horror Usual Suspects, which also had a ton of layers and great storytelling happening.\u00a0 Just because there\u2019s a big reveal at the end doesn\u2019t change how good or great the rest of the film is.\u00a0 Also, if you call this torture porn, you have no real understanding of horror.\u00a0 It\u2019s that simple.\u00a0 What torture really took place?\u00a0 Where\u2019s the porn?\u00a0 Oh, it doesn\u2019t exist.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Something that does hold this film back a little is the occasional outlandish bit of soundtrack that really took me out of the moment rather than incite a panic.\u00a0 But, the big reveal music, the classic Saw franchise song, that fucking thing is a masterpiece.\u00a0 It works on all levels.\u00a0 I get pumped every time I hear it.\u00a0 Another gripe that I already addressed was some of the cinematography that simply plagued that time in horror history.\u00a0 The techniques weren\u2019t used much here, but they were unnecessary, nonetheless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, this film did so much in establishing an identity for itself.\u00a0 This was the start of a great franchise\u2026.or was it?\u00a0 If you know the franchise, while this started things off, one could argue that part 2 was more important to this series making progress.\u00a0 You couldn\u2019t keep making films with this pace and tell great stories.\u00a0 This was a good one and done.\u00a0 Now you take the mythical properties and apply them to other stories and interweave a delightful tapestry.<\/span><\/p>\n

So the all-important question at the end is what do I give this for a final rating.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing to think that I may have at most given this a 6.0 the first time I saw it.\u00a0 With time and analysis, I have obviously raised that score a little bit.\u00a0 There aren\u2019t many holes here.\u00a0 Everything is good to great.\u00a0 I give this a 7.8.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Rating – 7.8 And I should note that “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong is playing as I edit this blog.\u00a0 It just feels right.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:<\/p>\n