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Saw

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Saw (2004)

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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:9

Rotten:22

Average Rating:4.8/10

Consensus: A twisted and gory horror film that's not for the squeamish.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong grisly violence and language

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:Oct 29, 2004 Wide

Box Office: $55,153,403

Synopsis: How far would you go to save your own life? Prepare yourself for a gut-wrenching trip into the heart of terror with SAW, Lions Gate Films’ gripping horror film starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover,... How far would you go to save your own life? Prepare yourself for a gut-wrenching trip into the heart of terror with SAW, Lions Gate Films’ gripping horror film starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter and Leigh Whannell. Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer is abducting morally wayward people and forcing them to play macabre games for their own survival. Faced with impossible choices, each victim must struggle to win back his/her life, or else die trying… A young man named Adam (LEIGH WHANNELL) wakes to find himself chained to a rusty pipe inside a decrepit subterranean chamber. Chained to the opposite side of the room is another bewildered captive, Dr. Lawrence Gordon (CARY ELWES). Between them is a dead man lying in a pool of blood, holding a .38 in his hand. Neither man knows why he has been abducted, but instructions left on a microcassette order Dr. Gordon to kill Adam within eight hours. If he fails to do so, then both men will die; Dr. Gordon’s wife, Alison (MONICA POTTER), and his daughter will also be killed. Recalling a recent murder investigation by a police detective named Tapp (DANNY GLOVER), Dr. Gordon realizes he and Adam are the next victims of a psychopathic genius known only as “Jigsaw.” With only a few hours left to spare, they must unravel the elaborate puzzle of their fate in the midst of mounting terror. The killer has provided them with only a few clues and two handsaws - too weak to break their steel shackles, but strong enough to cut through flesh and bone… Gritty and terrifying, SAW is a taut, squirm-inducing film packed with moments of indelible horror. Director James Wan expertly spins this intricate tale, creating a chilling landscape of dread where nothing is quite as it seems. An edge-of-your-seat ride bristling with emotional intensity, SAW will keep you guessing until the very end. Keep the lights on; you won't sleep easily tonight. [More]

Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Monica Potter, Danny Glover

Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Monica Potter, Danny Glover, Dina Meyer, Ken Leung, Shawnee Smith, Ned Bellamy

Director: James Wan

Director: James Wan
Screenwriter: Leigh Whannell
Producer: Mark Burg, Oren Koules
Composer: Charlie Clouser
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Release:

Feb 15, 2005

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Reviews for Saw

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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
03/31/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Saw has art-house ambitions, but it's nothing but a glorified snuff film. I despised this movie.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment 7 Comments
11/01/04
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

So over the top that even the recruited audience of non-critics at my screening began to howl.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
10/29/04
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
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A strenuously morbid assembly of deranged-genius- serial-killer movie conventions cribbed from just about every popular post-Hannibal Lecter movie imaginable.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
10/29/04
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
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The Internet film geeks are salivating over this one. But humans who live above ground, including horror fans, will find themselves only fitfully entertained and more consistently appalled.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/29/04
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
10/29/04
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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Terrifying at some moments and insinuatingly creepy at many others.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/29/04
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
San Francisco Chronicle
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Saw is a lesson in the redemptive power of a clever ending, how five minutes of inspiration can compensate for an hour and a half of mediocrity.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
10/29/04
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger
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There are a few cheap thrills, but not enough to make sitting through the senseless plot even remotely worthwhile.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment 5 Comments
10/29/04
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A gore movie with no teeth.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
10/29/04
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
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Its hellish extremes more oppressive than entertaining.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
10/29/04
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
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Inventive, but ultimately flawed, film.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
10/29/04
Leah McLaren
Leah McLaren
Globe and Mail
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Just another grisly puzzle with no agenda except to convince us that hell would look pretty good after spending almost two hours in this hole.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment 1 Comment
10/29/04
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
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An efficiently made thriller, cheerfully gruesome, and finally not quite worth the ordeal it puts us through.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 4 Comments
10/29/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Saw often resembles the ghastliest editions yet of Fear Factor and Survivor and features some of the grodiest direction this side of Project Greenlight.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/29/04
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

James Wan's sadistic, Halloween-ready gore fest suggests a reality television competition like Fear Factor, carried to the nth degree of cruelty.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/28/04
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
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Saw carelessly underscores its own shaky narrative at every turn with its mid-budget hokiness.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/28/04
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Saw is a marketing campaign in search of a movie.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/28/04
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
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What few moviegoers will like is the film's insistence on dwelling in the underbelly of taste.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
10/28/04
Bob Longino
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A grisly thriller that plays like a bargain-basement rehash of other, better movies.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
10/28/04
Gary Dowell
Gary Dowell
Dallas Morning News
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Latest News for Saw

October 15, 2009: See Saw with Alex, Day 1: Saw
Click. Stop. Movie's over. Just saw Saw and, you know what, I'm actually looking forward to these movies supposedly becoming terrible because Saw the first remains an involving,... More...

October 12, 2009: Get Ready to See Saw with Alex
If it's Halloween, then it must be time for a new Saw. And if it's a new Saw, then it must be time to start up another Rotten Tomatoes trademark watching series. Come, join me... More...

May 08, 2008: Saw Director Cutting into Hellraiser Franchise? Opens in new window
Even though the director of SAW II-IV claims to have nothing to do with the project, insiders tell us the Weinsteins WANT HIM on the project ASAP. More...

March 13, 2008: Charlie Sheen Getting Twisted in Next Film
When you see the words "Charlie Sheen" and "torture" in the same sentence, you probably assume you're reading about Sheen career achievements like Terminal Velocity or The... More...

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