The plot follows as is: two men, both strangers, wake up in a shitty (literally) bathroom in god knows where, chained to pipes and have no idea how they got there. Between them is a dead body in a pool of blood which looks as if it has properly blown its head off. They discover, with clues strategically placed around the room, that they are now entangled in a deadly game of life and death by a wicked puppet master, the way out? Kill the other victim before time runs out and the game is over, or-- well, you have to see the movie to find out what the second option is.

They discover they're being taunted, and teased, and tormented by a serial killer named Jigsaw, an almost demonic entity who captures people who take life for granted and abuse it and really makes fight for it through puzzles and tests, and he makes no exceptions and takes no mercy. "Saw" is quite possibly the horror film I've been waiting for for years. "Saw" is horror incarnate. Sick, twisted, disgusting, tense, gory, shocking, and claustrophobic, this is truly one of the best horror movies in years; of course I sat through six horror trailers that looked as if they had potential, but alas, I was focused on this.

This does not start off with comforting the audience and easing them into the story, it opens in which one of the men named Adam (Leigh Wahnell) emerges from a bathtub of water screaming and meets Dr. Lawrence Gordon who is basically in the same boat. Playing like a "Sunset Boulevard" meets "Se7en" we see the story of both men and what led
up to their capture and why they're there. Leigh Whannell writer and co-star creates a horrifying story that relies more on psychological tension between the two main actors aside from the usual slasher fare. Low budget but far from low-tech, "Saw" is everything I hoped for and more. Set like a play in one setting, a very ratty bathroom, the two try to discover what the hell is going on, as do the audience.

Meanwhile, ex-officer David Tapp is on the hunt for the killer, eagerly suspecting Lawrence Gordon, and begins investigating him. There are some truly disorienting sequences,
especially those of the torture the killer Jigsaw inflicts on his victims and he never lets us off the hook much like Argento whose characters always experience gruesome, beyond disgusting deaths. "Saw" is a study in pure and utter madness and horror not by monsters, but from inner monsters of torture, torment, and sin; again I go to "Se7en" because both
killers derive themselves on its victims killing each other and both have a method to their madness.

We witness three men attempting to find the jigsaw killer to no end in sight. Officer Tapp is on the hunt for the killer for personal reasons, Adam is the inadvertent victim tangled in his web, and the doctor is front and center in the horror. Leigh Whannell is great here and plays off well with Cary Elwes who adds his usual likability with every role he gives and is a great character in the logical area of the situation as Leigh is the more pervasive and panicky role. The film is murky and effectively tense.

The method of Jigsaw's communication with his victims is creative including his puppetry, and of course there is the final ten minutes which is not only one of the most shocking endings in a horror film, but also wraps things up with a pretty bow. Director James Wan and Leigh Whannell know horror and they just amp it the hell up here three fold with a lot of violence, gore and sick humor. Monica Potter pulls off a good performance here as the desperate wife of Elwes' character, and Whannell and Elwes have a great chemistry together and pull off some mounting tension that builds with every passing minute. "Saw" is it, baby, and I loved it.

Why, oh why is Danny Glover even in this movie? He looks bored and exhausted here which is amazing because he barely has a part here. He comes in and out of the story and is driven to find Jigsaw, but he has no back story to make us root for him. And I just have to say, Detective David Tapp (Glover) is quite possibly one of the worst officers I've ever seen in the movie. This guy does not know his hand from his ass here, and dear lord is he useless. No character, just a cliché, and he's possibly one of the most incompetent police officer characters I've seen in years. I was shocked at how Jigsaw bitched this guy up and down, and then his actions are so far-fetched and utterly annoying, he doesn't make one sensible move here, and it was painful to watch. The acting is hammy here, especially by Elwes who doesn't convince us he's in torment until the final moments of the film. What up Cary? What up? Why is it you can pull off good performances, but for here you're acting was borderline amateur? That's just wrong, man. His tears, his screams, and his final moments listening to his wife on the phone? Yikes, what low rate acting.

Hammy acting, and there's really no need for Glover's character, being the worst most incompetent detective I've seen in film, however "Saw" has it all. Gore, violence, an excellent script, and top notch tension all put together with a whopper of an ending.

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