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Saw (2004)

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Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 165
Fresh: 79 | Rotten: 86

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

Average Rating: 4.9/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 23

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

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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 766,585

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Movie Info

The directorial debut from filmmaker James Wan, this psychological thriller comes from the first screenplay by actor Leigh Whannell, who also stars. Whannell plays Adam, one of two men chained up in a mysterious chamber. The other, Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes), like Adam, has no idea how either of them got there. Neither of them are led to feel optimistic by the man lying between them dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Together, Adam and Dr. Gordon attempt to piece together what has happened to

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Horror

Directed By: James Wan

Written By: Leigh Whannell

In Theaters: Oct 29, 2004 Wide

On DVD: Feb 15, 2005

Box Office:$55.2M

Lions Gate Films

[Its] sadism is topped only by its absurdity.

November 15, 2011 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

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

November 1, 2004 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper

| Comments (18)

Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

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

October 29, 2004 Full Review Source: USA Today

| Comment

Mike Clark

USA Today

Top Critic

A strenuously morbid assembly of deranged-genius- serial-killer movie conventions cribbed from just about every popular post-Hannibal Lecter movie imaginable.

October 29, 2004 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Geoff Pevere

Toronto Star

Top Critic

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.

October 29, 2004 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment (1)

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Top Critic

An ingenious machine for inducing terror, rage, and paralyzing unease.

October 29, 2004 Full Review Source: Slate

| Comment

David Edelstein

Slate

Top Critic

Inventive and diverting entertainment for fans of moody horror mysteries. And the end is cool. Say no more.

November 15, 2011 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

More grisly than scary; not for kids.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comments (12)

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

The horror genre takes a new direction using extreme violence to support a surprisingly evocative story of redemptive torture.

October 31, 2009 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy

| Comment

Wesley Lovell

Oscar Guy

Gore, violence, an excellent script, and top notch tension all put together with a whopper of an ending.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed

| Comment

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Having lifted itself up so high in some ways, it's a shame that, in the end, the film sinks down to the level of just being another dumb horror movie.

January 20, 2009 Full Review Source: ESplatter

| Comments (5)

Steve Biodrowski

ESplatter

It's a brutal, vicious, well done psychological thriller that will leave you disturbed for days.

November 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Hollywood.com

| Comment

Stacie Hougland

Hollywood.com

The inconsistencies and incongruities mar the overall result, but it's a fierce enough premise to excite some investors to believe this team can do better and perhaps even bloodier.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile

| Comment

Urban Cinefile Critics

Urban Cinefile

The setup is gripping, and the suspense intense, but the third act -- the payoff for sitting through such harrowing material -- is a major misfire.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review

| Comment

Mark Halverson

Sacramento News & Review

we all need more Glover in our lives

July 5, 2008 Comment (1)

Stefan Birgir Stefansson

sbs.is

Effectively ugly.

December 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound

| Comment (1)

Joe Lozito

Big Picture Big Sound

There is such a storm of terrible dialogue in Saw as to legitimately draw comparisons to none less than Ed Wood.

September 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy

| Comments (4)

Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

Saw gets by on its mood of industrial dread.

August 18, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

Able to hold interest most of the way through, unraveling back stories that feel as if they might lead to something. But then the ending arrives.

April 20, 2006 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies

| Comment

Jeffrey Chen

Window to the Movies

As good an all-out, non-camp horror movie as we've had lately.

April 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment (1)

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

Without question this is (pardon the bad pun) the long awaited missing piece of the puzzle for Saw fans everywhere.

February 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Dread Central

| Comment

Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton

Dread Central

Blood splatter antics take over and make it a tough watch for the queasy and those who still consider themselves sane.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comments (7)

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Saw

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not a fan of the gore fest horror films that this movie started generating but this was a decent movie. The twist to me was slightly unrealistic as how could a man alive lay there that long and not move once or show breathing . . .

June 29, 2008

John Manard

Super Reviewer

Contrary to the eventual saturation of the series, Saw's early chapters are quite entertaining. Saw came out of the gate swinging. The introduction to the series is a sadistic and vile innovation to the horror genre. The film is contrived at times with occasionally awkward dialogue. That said, the traps, gore, and

November 2, 2011

Jason Calvin

Super Reviewer

Saw Quotes

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1. John/Jigsaw: Most people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not you, not any more...
– Submitted by Ben K (59 days ago)
1. Dr. Lawrence Gordon: He doesn't want us to cut through our chains. He wants us to cut through our feet!
– Submitted by Joel L (2 months ago)
1. John/Jigsaw: Live or die, make your choice.
– Submitted by Joel L (2 months ago)
1. John/Jigsaw: Hello, Mr. Hindle. Or as they called you around the hospital: Zepp. I want you to make a choice. There's a slow-acting poison coursing through your system, which only I have the antidote for. Will you murder a mother and her child to save yourself? Listen carefully, if you will. There are rules.
– Submitted by Joel L (2 months ago)
1. John/Jigsaw: GAME OVER!
– Submitted by Joel L (2 months ago)