[Saw is] spoiled by its own insatiable desire for envelope-pushing flair; it’s wider-scoped when it should be intimate, splashy instead of subtle, icky but not scary.
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10/29/04
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Saw (2004)
47
%
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Reviews Counted:158
Fresh:74
Rotten:84
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: A twisted and gory horror film that's not for the squeamish.
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,... [More]
Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Monica Potter, Danny Glover
Director: James Wan
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Reviews for Saw
Though it has its share of unsettling moments, it's not nearly as scary as it wants to be.
10/29/04
Saw's serial killing is classically grotesque, with emphasis on bodily abuses, in that low-budget-make-a-splash sort of way.
10/29/04
Even veteran horror fans that treat slice-and-dice crime dramas like this as emotional theme park rides are likely to feel unsettled at first.
10/29/04
Il a beau être imparfait, les amateurs de morbidité ne voudront pas manquer Décadence/Saw.
10/29/04
Saw doesn't cut it. Any movie that makes you giggle when you should be freaking-out scared has missed the mark - less would have been more.
10/29/04
The gripping, bloodcurdling Saw is the best serial-killer thriller since Bill Paxton's Frailty.
10/29/04
I take it as proof that Saw is half a parody of serial-killer movies... that Elwes goes stark raving bonkers off-the-deep-end awful in the film’s final moments.
10/29/04
Fans of industrial music finally have a mainstream movie release that represents their zeitgeist
10/28/04
I can't quite work up the nerve to fully recommend it (that ending is really awful) but I do appreciate the energy and skill that it has been made with.
10/28/04
Saw is laughable, but it's worth laughing at.
10/28/04
Proves that a film can be intellectually stimulating and as freaky as your cat on acid.
10/28/04
Elwes is simply jaw-dropping -- a hysterical tornado of overemoting who puts William Shatner at his hammiest to shame.
10/28/04
... the most extreme entry yet in the bleak and dusky splinter of American thrillers about criminal geniuses with messianic egos and sadistic torments...
10/28/04
Why don't serial killers just kill people anymore?
10/28/04
Too many twists, turns, false solutions, implausibilities and impossibilities.
10/28/04
Tyro director James Wan...is obviously a huge David Fincher fan as "Saw" ransacks both "Se7en" and "The Game" albeit in bargain basement fashion
10/28/04
James Wan's sadistic, Halloween-ready gore fest suggests a reality television competition like Fear Factor, carried to the nth degree of cruelty.
10/28/04
Top CriticThough crudely drawn, clumsily acted and 20 minutes too long, Saw is just ingenious enough to hold your interest.
10/28/04
Saw carelessly underscores its own shaky narrative at every turn with its mid-budget hokiness.
10/28/04
Top CriticLatest 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? 
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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