Saw

You know the drill, you’re standing at your local video shop/cinema and when looking at the covers or posters you see the taglines that adorn a lot them: In the tradition of Se7en & Silence of the lambs and so on. I can’t remember the amount of times I have seen a movie with that tagline only to be disappointed by the pale imitations they turn out to be of the afore mentioned films. So you could imagine my dismay to see such words splattered across the cover of this DVD. There has to be more like myself out there who loathe this sort of advertising accompanying a film's release?

Don't look at me I didn't do it

I went in pretty much cold, avoiding the hype surrounding it after only having seen a snippet of an interview with the Aussie writer/director/actor team James Wan & Leigh Whannell; impressing me with their quick rise to fame after being snapped up by Hollywood on the strength of their screenplay alone. They were given just a week of pre-production, 18 days of principle photography and a measly $1,200,000 US Budget to turn this film into a reality.

"This is the most fun I've had without lubricant! "

The film opens with two men, strangers to each other, who've found themselves chained by the leg to the plumbing in a decrepit bathroom with no recollection as to how they got there or why. There is also a dead body that lies between them with a gun in one hand, and a tape recorder in the other. For the first 15 minutes of the film the viewer is left just as confused as the two men, Dr Gordon (Cary Elwes) & Adam (Leigh Whannell), as to why and what the hell they are doing there. A nice effect which sets up the uncomfortable premise of the film.

Damn! How can I get this onto my Ipod?

It seems a serial killer that goes by the handle of Jigsaw has selected them to be his next victims who, like his filmic predecessors, demonstrates a tendency to set up elaborate scenarios in which to dispense of his victims. Jigsaw is not your usual garden variety type serial killer in that he has never killed anyone personally, instead he places the onus back onto the victims by getting them to off themselves or each other, as is the case here, but not without a little assistance of course.

The task: the Doc must kill Adam by a certain time or the Doc's family is no more. As the story unfolds it appears that all is not what it seems with Adam, and perhaps it wasn't by chance that the two have ended up where they are.

There is also the burnt out Detective David Tapp played by Danny "I'm Too Old For This Sh*t" Glover who has been on the case of Jigsaw and will stop at nothing to nab this psycho after losing his partner in a bungled arrest attempt. As Jigsaw’s deadline fast approaches, the film turns into a race against time building the tension because you really just don’t know who is good or bad and whether or not the Doc will kill Adam to save his family. Everyone seems to have some sort of hidden agenda leaving the viewer guessing to the very last minute just who really is the Jigsaw?

This is Big Brother...

For a film with such a tiny budget by today's standard the image is excellent. Presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 16:9 enhancement; Saw looks and feels very dirty. Which is precisely the intent and suits the mood of the film perfectly. Granted it is not as dark or washed out as Se7en was, but it isn't too far behind. Having said that the overall detail is excellent with no obvious Mpeg artefacts affecting the transfer. Blacks are very deep with only a hint of noise visible from film grain. The colour is washed out but still vivid and devoid of any bleed.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound along with a Surround Encoded Dolby Digital 2.0 track. For this review I listened to both and found them both to be an excellent demonstration in sound design. The better example being the discrete 5.1 track obviously. For a film that spends a good deal of it's time in dingy toilet the sound stage comes alive and puts you smack bang in the middle with the two leads.

Smile for the little birdy

There is some nice split channel surround activity, a stand out example is of the pipes along the wall of the set being flushed with water that gives you the impression of water being swirled around from front to back along the pipes. The subwoofer gets a decent workout too, providing a steady rumble to heighten the tension and reinforce some of the effects and score. Unfortunately the local version of the DVD hasn't received the remixed Dolby Digital EX or DTS-ES 6.1 track that can be found on the Region 1 disc from Lions Gate. EX decoding does enhance the local release but it's not nearly as precise as the EX encoded track and the DTS is a much more dynamic & aggressive listening experience.

The extras for Saw are pretty lean unfortunately. The only real highlight is the Audio Commentary by Leigh Whannel (Writer/Actor) And James Wan (Director) who are apologetic about their commentary skills, this being their first. The two bounce off each other quite well sharing plenty of stories about the shoot, the pair sound like they're good mates & have a good working relationship also. Next up is an all to brief making of Sawed Off: Inside Sneak Peek At The Making of Saw which is way too short to be of any significance consisting of interviews and behind the scenes footage. A Music Video for 'Bite The Hand That Bleeds You' by Fear Factory is here in all it's gory unrated glory! Fear factory are an intense Industrial Metal band that have been around for a number of years with various line-ups.

There is also a behind the scenes piece Making Of The Unrated Video by said Fear Factory. And rounding out the collection is a Poster Gallery of the movies artwork for you guessed it, posters! As well as trailers for Hitch, Spanglish, & Eulogy. Oddly the trailer for the feature itself isn't represented here.

Phantom of the opera this isn't!

Saw is a welcome entrant into the serial killer thriller genre. The two young Aussies responsible for this effort are filmmakers to definitely look out for in the future. Given the success of this film a sequel is in the works due for release in October this year, however Leigh Whannel is only sharing a writing credit on this outing and James Wan the director of the first has passed on the sequel.

A commendable transfer has been provided but we are sadly missing the Dolby & DTS 6.1 tracks that are available on the Region 1 DVD. Not to mention the ace packaging that houses the disc as it's one of the best efforts I've seen in a long time.

A slim collection of extras is a bit of a letdown, which smacks of a Collectors Edition re-release prior to the sequel hitting the cinemas this year I'm guessing. Overall Saw is a great film and an essential purchase if you're fan of the genre.