Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Saw (2004)

11/03/2019

Saw (2004) - Wan and Whannell's landmark horror beast

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Horror Movie of the Year

A terrified woman wearing a contraption that doesn't appear benign around her head, encompassed in darkness, and the curt title in screaming red color makes up this striking poster for James Wan's Saw

Two men wake up in a large, dilapidated bathroom, accompanied by a corpse. They are chained but learn through clues that the one responsible for their situation want them to fight each other. - But there is more to it than meets the eye in this sadistic puzzle...

Saw is written by writer/star Leigh Whannell (Insidious (2010)), with great Malaysian director James Wan (Furious 7 (2015)) contributing story elements.
An outstanding, brutal horror, Saw was also a game-changer for the modern horror genre. Despite the common conception, Saw actually doesn't have enough gore to qualify as a gore movie; but it did inspire a wave of other torture-filled gore movies that tried to copy its rapid-fire, flickering editing style. That style isn't my cup of tea, but Wan and editor Kevin Greutert (The Strangers (2008)) get the technique - along with many of the other ploys of Saw, - to work in their own right here in a plot that's rich on horror ideas and enthusiasm about the genre.
As the two central men in the bathroom, Cary Elwes (Indiscretion (2016)) is nearly unrecognizable, and Whannell is intense.
The lies run thick in Saw, and the film doesn't inspire feelings of great human warmth, but as horror it is excellent. The reveal in the film's end is fantastic, and the theme from Charlie Clouser's (The Collection (2012)) score is exemplary and helps elevate the entire film. Saw is a solid horror-thriller ride.

Related posts:

James Wan:  Aquaman (2018) - Wan delivers a majorly satisfying, gung ho action-adventure splash
The Conjuring 2 (2016) - Wan's sequel is a long horror treat with terrifying periods
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess
The Conjuring (2013) - Best horror film in 7 years
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Insidious (2010) - Wan's thrilling, scary ghost horror
Saw III (2006) - Good performances in Bousman's grisly third trappings (story contributor)

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Listen to Clouser's phenomenal theme Hello Zep from the film in this video

Cost: 1.2 mil. $
Box office: 103.9 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 86.58 times its cost)
[Saw premiered 19 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 103 minutes. Inspired by Pi (1998) and The Blair Witch Project (1999), Wan and Whannell set out after completing film school in Australia to make a low-budget feature primarily set in a single location. Not securing finance in Australia, they traveled to Los Angeles and shot a 7-minute short for 5k $ around the 'jaw trap scene' from the script, with Whannell in the part wearing the trap, which helped hook talents and financiers to the movie. The two went ahead with a little independent company who promised creative control and 25 % of the net profits. Shooting took place in Los Angeles for 18 days from September - October 2003. Some of the film's style, incorporating still images for instance, was developed to cover for shortage of footage and other issues due to the short shoot and low budget. Lionsgate's initial plan to release the film direct-to-video was altered after great screening responses, and the film was edited from an NC-17 rating to get an R. It opened #3, behind holdover hit The Grudge and fellow new release Ray to an 18.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#4) and grossed 56 mil. $, including a 800k $ gross from a domestic 10th anniversary re-release (53.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 12.6 mil. $ (12.1 %) and Italy with 6.4 mil. $ (6.2 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to 3 notches harder than this one. The film made in excess of 89.1 mil. $ on domestic home video sales and rentals. It spurred a franchise of 7 sequels (2005-2017) and an 8th, a reboot, in the making currently for a 2020 release date. - All of the films have been wildly commercially successful, with only Saw VI (2009) making less than the first film (68.2 mil. $). Wan returned with Dead Silence (2007). Elwes returned in American Crime (2004, video) and theatrically in Ella Enchanted (2004); Danny Glover (Toxin (2015)) in The Cookout (2004); and Monica Potter (Parenthood (2010-15)) in 4 TV credits before her theatrical return in Lower Learning (2008). Saw is rotten at 49 % with a 5.53/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)

11/03/2019

Saw (2004) - Wan and Whannell's landmark horror beast

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (16-24)

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