Saw

by Rick Curnutte

Richard A. Curnutte, Jr. is the Editor of The Film Journal. He has studied English and Film at Ohio University and The Ohio State University. He is a founding member of the Central Ohio Film Critics Association and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.

Somewhere, in the libraries of film schools across America, there must be a book that specifies that all serial killer movies must be modeled after the grimy, over-saturated look and feel of David Fincher's masterful Se7en. What this book apparently does not tell aspiring auteurs is that their films should also feature unique and interesting takes on said formula. Formulas generally only work if done properly. Saw, sadly (and, predictably) fails on all accounts.

First-time feature filmmaker James Wan has delivered one of the most overwrought, half-baked, shamelessly exploitive entries into this disastrously underutilized genre.

The Jigsaw Killer (or something like that) is a depraved maniac (of course) who has never actually committed a murder. Rather, he concocts ways for his victims to kill themselves. Could be interesting, if there was any kind of beguiling subtext to the killer's motives (remember how rational John Doe was in Se7en?). Instead, in the film's final act, his motives are revealed to be almost impotent, incidental. The fallacy of this idea is that, by making the killer's modus operandi so intricate and methodical, the film's revelation is the pinnacle of anti-climactic.

Wan's execution of Saw has been seen before, in any number of horror films made in recent years: low light, oversaturation, darkly colorful filters and gels, rain, dirt, grime...there's nothing new here artistically and when that is in service of a threadbare narrative, the results are disastrous.

Then, there is the overtly problematic central performance by Cary Elwes, easily one of the least talented actors currently trying to pull himself off as a dynamic character actor. Elwes is painfully effected and woefully vacuous as a doctor at the center of the Jigsaw Killer's story and his eventual ultimate victim.

There might have been a good film here. If someone decides to make a serial killer film that is atypical, I will welcome it with open arms.