20 Years Anniversary Review Of Saw

Horror franchises have been around for a very long time in Hollywood and it seems some of them will never end as long as there is an audience for each film. To be able to keep a franchise alive you need a character that especially made a powerful impact on the audience. A perfect example of one horror franchise that still continue to this day is the horror franchise known as Dracula. I have seen the 1931 film verison of Dracula, a film adaptation of Bram Stoker´s classic book Dracula and even if this is not my favourite film in this horror franchise i think is well made and especially a wonderful acting performance from legendary actor Bela Lugosi. I personally feel that the Dracula legacy really got respect when legendary actor Christoper Lee stepped into the role as Cound Dracula in the 1958 horror film Dracula. A must see if you especially love vampire films and Christopher Lee portayed Dracula in 10 different films, where 7 of them was for the classic British company Hammer Film Productions. If i have to choose a Dracula film that i personally feel is one of my all time favourites i would have to choose the 1992 horror film Bram Stoker´s Dracula from legendary director Francis Ford Coppola. This film have everything you could wish for, especially if you are a big Dracula fan like myself. There are of course other Dracula films we could talk about but let us more forward to more modern times and talk about a franchise that started back in 2004. High School Musical might be your first guess even though that film was released in 2006? Hopefully not because we are actually talking about the horror film known as Saw from director James Wan. I still remember the very first time i witnessed Saw in cinema in the city of Gothenburgh and it was quite a different experience from any other horror film at that time. It was a huge hit worldwide and of course we got a lot of sequels over the years. I have seen every film in this franchise and i can honestly say i am a big fan. Since this year is a 20 years anniversary of the very first Saw film i decided that this would do a 20 years anniversary review of Saw and see if i still appreciate it or if i have changed my mind over the years. Is this still a very solid horror film or have this film aged more and lost some of the cinema magic along the way?

Adam ( Leigh Whannell ), a photographer, awakens in a dilapidated bathtub with his ankle chained to a pipe. Across the room is oncologist Dr. Lawrence Gordon ( Cary Elwes ), and between them is the corpse of an apparent victim holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. Both men find a tape in their pockts, and Adam retrieves the recorder. Each tape is recorded with an unknown voice of a man named Jigsaw ( Tobin Bell ). They must follow the rules of their tapes, or Adam will be killed or Dr. Gordon´s wife will be murdered. The game is about to begin.

When a horror film released 20 years ago works better than most horror films released in modern days you know this is no ordinary release. Saw is not only more original than most horror films in the last 20 years it also have a very interesting concept. How would you react if you were trapped knowing you could die unless you follow the rules and play the game correctly? It may not sound original when you read this but once you see how complicated each game is and what you have to do to survive you soon realise this is far more tricky than you ever would have imagined. Each trap is constructed very detailed and the level of creativity in each room can clearly be seen. I especially appreciate the creepy doll Billy who looks like Nikki Sixx after a hidden cocaine birthday party gone terribly wrong. And that unique doll design match perfectly to the character and is exactly what this film needed to give a strong powerful impact of pure evil. The character of Jigsaw ( played by legendary actor Tobin Bell ) is also a strong reason why this film is so effective. Even if we don´t get to see the character of Jigsaw all the time we do get to hear his voice and Tobin Bell does a fantastic job delivering a voice that you will never forget. The police investigation run by Detective David Tapp ( played by legendary actor Danny Glover ) works really well with the plot and i have to say since i have seen plenty of police investigations in many films, in Saw they really do this on a much more effective level than most ordinary police films. Danny Glover does what he knows best and that is to portrait a police officer that have gone through more than most people could handle. Legendary actor Cary Elwes proves as always that he is one of his generation´s finest actors and deliver his character Dr. Lawrence Gordon in a stylish and exquisite way. The horror scenes in general are very effective and you can tell director James Wan have a vision how to use many different infuences of horror and combine it together to make Saw feel unique and far more intelligent than most big studio horror releases. Im not surprised at all why the Saw franchise have survived as long as it have in the horror community and Saw proved how you start a franchise in the best possible way. Not only a future horror classic but a film that may show future generations why you don´t need a big budget to make quality horror. Saw is definetely a must watch especially on physical media, unless you prefer watching streaming.

Rating: DDDD