SAW: Is this all it takes to become a cult film?

02-03-2005 01:10 | 5673 views  |  Kevin Gilvear  |  Show Backlinks

I've finally managed to sit down and watch SAW - a film that had me excited from the moment that the original theatrical trailer hit and all I can say is that the wait was definitely not worth it. SAW comes at a time when we're far too bogged down with awful PG-13 rated movies so in some respects it comes away clean (marginally), though it isn't a horror film in as many respects. Still, this little thriller is perhaps one of the dumbest movies I've seen during the past year. I couldn't have cared less about any of the characters and why they were put into their predicament; neither could I give a toss about "Jigsaw's" motives. I might have felt a little more lenient had the film had some sense of style about it, instead we're subjected to some of the most insipid direction to have graced our screens this year. Have you ever seen those "scary" heavy rock videos, the kind Slipknot and Marilyn Manson make? This is essentially what director James Wan has given us. Sorry but cranked up, shaky shots and jilted editing don't make a stylish or scary film, at least when you have no creativity. Adrian Lyne put these effects to better use 15 years ago with Jacob's Ladder. Adding insult to injury is a terrible script with poor performances coming from actors who can do so much better. The film has such a promising concept and the little puppet guy is kind of interesting but all the most effective bits are sparsely used and in the end wasted. I'm going to stop now because I'm mad.

SAW 2 is out soon, September in fact, they sure did get that one churned out quickly. Yea I'll see it I'm sure but I won’t hold my breath over it being any good.

Comments

#1 Posted: 02-03-2005 03:37
Squirrel God
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Report this post		Well, I loved it, but even I'm dubious about Saw 2. As far as I know, it has nothing to do with James Wan or Leigh Whannell. Seems to be just a film that Lions Gate have slapped the "Saw" logo onto to make some $$$. My curiosity will get the better of me though.
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#2 Posted: 02-03-2005 10:58
Hugh K.David
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Report this post		Interesting destruction of the film, Kevin. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I can see exactly where you are coming from. Interestingly enough, I did not have a problem relating enough to the characters to be interested in their fates, but when it comes to thrillers and horror flicks I'm far, far less interested in the villain having background or motivation - I want them to be a threat, nothing less. I don't need to understand them to recognise they are a threat - in fact, the less said and known about them the more effective a threat they are. I freely admit that the rest of the characters were relatively stock, but rather than have them run along the tramlines CSI or Law & Order would have had them do on TV, this took them in directions I was not convinced they would go with - I'm thinking in particular of Cary Elwes' arc. Also, it wouldn't have had the same atmosphere if the characters weren't as morally compromised as they appear to be in places - the way the motivations twist around each other is very much something not seen much anymore in standard-issue horror films, and SAW made a refreshing change of pace from them.

Still think Jacob's Ladder was hugely overrated though - thought it was when it was released and stilldo, but then I think that about Adrian Lyne's entire career. :D
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#3 Posted: 02-03-2005 15:54
tokyomonkey
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Report this post		I think the term 'cult' is being in ridiculously overused these days-surely it should refer to something which has gradually built up a following from word-of-mouth,rather than a film which is all of 6 months old and getting more than enough attention already.
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#4 Posted: 02-03-2005 15:54
davids
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Report this post		I thought that this was easily the best horror/thrillers of last year and probably of the last few years.
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#5 Posted: 02-03-2005 19:32
JimdiGriz
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Report this post		It was good but not good enough to buy - it justified the hype, just! Personally I find something like the Others scary - this wasn't very scary at all to be honest and nowhere near as good or as scary as something like the Shining (get the r1 if you haven't done so already - its longer and its better for it!)
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#6 Posted: 02-03-2005 19:52
Phil Q
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Report this post		I'd say one of the distinguishing features of a cult film is that it polarises audiences - so the very fact that you hated Saw shows that it may be well on its way to cult-ness, Kev!

And I agree with Hugh about Adrian Lyne and Jacob's Ladder.
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#7 Posted: 02-03-2005 20:18
stuartbannerman
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Report this post		Well i too finally got around to watching SAW, and i have to say that apart from a few very clever moments (the corpse in the room & and the premise of two men chained to pipes) this film was nothing more than a poor mans Se7en.
Ive been told by a fair few people that SAW was great, amazing, scariest film they have seen in years..etc..etc....Im not going to say it didnt creep me out. . but for me its yet another of those films that are once-watchers.........(dont you find that 90 percent of films nowadays are watch once and then dont bother with again.......shame!!!)
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#8 Posted: 02-03-2005 21:17
Batou

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Report this post		Can't say I'll ever bother seeing saw.

But I can't uinderstand some of the hostility here against Jacob's Ladder. I love that film.
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#9 Posted: 02-03-2005 21:21
badblokebob
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Report this post		I haven't seen Saw myself, but I have to say that I'm even more interested in seeing it after reading the variety of reactions it seems to have provoked.
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#10 Posted: 03-03-2005 10:20
Lex Luthor
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Report this post		I'm with tokyomonkey on what makes a cult film. SAW doth not a cult film make.
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#11 Posted: 03-03-2005 13:39
djnock
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Report this post		Wan and Whannell are working as producers on Saw 2. The director is a newbie though, so it could be decent or very, very shite.

D.J.
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DVD Times Contributor
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#12 Posted: 04-03-2005 17:39
stuartbannerman
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Report this post		Re:Jacobs Ladder. I saw this when it was first released and hated it....Not because i thought the film was crap, more because it baffled the hell out of me. But i keep meaning to go back and re-watch the film and give it a fair chance. . . . .Cult Film, in the same way a Blockbuster or a classic ...are titles that are used too easily nowadays....a Blockbuster used to mean a film that makes lots of money, rather than costs a lot of money............
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#13 Posted: 05-03-2005 00:11
K
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Report this post		The problem Hugh for me is that it felt like SAW was trying to make these characters sympathetic. By divulging too much time on the two main victims and dragging out scenes beyond their welcome it was as if it was trying too hard. I agree that any good horror needn't flesh out characters. I've just seen Switchblade Romance and it was bloody ace, it has all the right elements that SAW fails to provide. For me the good horror has died in the states for now but with Europe still taking risks I see no need to start worrying about the state of modern horror.

As for Jacob's Ladder, I think it's a great film but here I was using it more as an example of artistry that easily influenced later films and probably too many rock videos! Still, Stuart you should definetly revisit it, it does make sense.
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#14 Posted: 05-03-2005 06:21
Batou

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Report this post		I find Jacob's Ladder an incredibly sad and moving picture, with Clive Barker-esque nightmare elements. If the film baffled you though, I don't have an answer for that. I thought once the truth was revealed everything made sense.
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#15 Posted: 06-03-2005 01:30
bradavon
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Report this post		SAW: Is this all it takes to become a cult film?

LOL the last time I checked "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was thought of as a cult film. Enough said IMO.

I wasn't aware this was a cult film though, that's a new one on me.
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#16 Posted: 06-03-2005 22:44
TheDot
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Report this post		My understanding is that a cult film has to have a cult following

:confused:

A few months after its release and box office success- how can the be a cult film?
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#17 Posted: 09-03-2005 18:28
Hugh K.David
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Posts: 109

Report this post		Fair point K, I have utterly no dispute with your point of view on the film. I do think, however, that with the amount of film reviewing and actual criticism I have to read these days (professional research), there is an amazingly widespread trend of reviewers who seem to NEED sympathetic characters in order to be able to assess a film, whereas my basic point is that's irrelevant to whether a film is any good or not - you don't have to be a Renaissance Italian to appreciate the Mona Lisa.

However, I've had Switchblade Romance talked up to me so much (the director of www.deadbydawn.co.uk rates it as the best horror film of recent years, which is why she hosted the UK premiere last year) I've bought it sight unseen. I look forward to seeing it now, given your comparison. :)
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