Saw

31 Days of Spookoween: DAY NINETEEN

Film #19: Saw (2003)

Review: James Wan's early short is a wonderful, if extremely brief and simplistic, horror story. While mildly amateurish in spots (clearly, Wan was still learning quite a bit as a filmmaker when he made this, and the same can be said about any earlier work from any director), "Saw"'s overall effect is highly successful. It is a genuinely scary treat for fans of more disturbing, harsh horror (although, despite the "Saw" movies now being known for their abundance of "torture porn", the gore/blood in this film is extremely minimal; most of the disturbance is more psychological, which is always great to see), and it's short enough to be viewed by almost anyone, no matter how busy their schedule may seem.

One word popped out of my mouth when i reached the credits (after the "woaaahhh") ...."Amazing". this is one of the very few thriller movies that have actually got my heart pumping and it's guaranteed to do the same to you. Even if you've been known not to react very emotionally to movies in the past (I definitely haven't until now), you'll find yourself to be holding your head at various times and yelling at the characters at others. Unlike other times i watched movies, i didn't stop watching this one when the credits appeared, partially because of the song (Bite the hand that bleeds by Fear Factory) which fits one of my favorite genres of music (industrial metal), but most importantly i personally thought that the makers of the movie were complete geniuses. I'm sure you've heard this in a lot of movie reviews but i sincerely and literally mean it when i say "You must watch this". Incredible movie i promise you'll enjoy it.

This is the short film director James Wan made which led to the movie, and subsequent endless series, Saw. Unlike most films of 10min length this one actually works quite well. It obviously doesn't have time to exactly do very much but it introduces the central idea of the franchise of a man in a deadly trap, forced to do something completely awful to escape from it and ends with the super creepy doll on a tricycle wheeling its way into the room at the end. So, pretty simple stuff, yet, as is the way with Wan, its well delivered and would have been pretty memorable if you just saw this without having seen the movies. Definitely worth 10mins of your time.

This is a feature on the second disc on the Uncut edition of "SAW". James Wan and Leigh Whannell wanted to have something to show the American Studios so they quickly made this. This is basically just the "Reverse Bear Trap" except Leigh Whannell is playing the roll of Amanda. I believe this is pretty good for a nine minute short which later lead to the release of the actual movie "SAW". The interrogation scene in this short I believe is much better than the interrogation scene that make it to the final cut. In this you actually get to see how jigsaw captured David (Leigh Whannell). As you can see I am running out of things to say about this so I will just finish with this: This is a great extra on the second DVD of the Uncut version of SAW.

The short film, SAW, shows very clever filmmaking in the horror genre. There hasn't been anything clever like this short film for years.

David, an orderly of a hospital, has been kidnapped and faces his ultimate test. He must survive by killing another man that holds the key to his freedom. He wakes up, having a rusty contraption strapped to his face. Then, a mysterious puppet on the TV says if he doesn't remove the trap off his face in sixty seconds, his jaw will be ripped open.

Once this short gets green-lit into a major motion picture, this exact scene has been tweaked up and was used in the first SAW film. It's heart-pounding and fun to watch! I recommend this short film to not just to SAW fans, but to curious folks that want to take step into the world of horror. Great short film!