Saw II has teeth, and this house-of-horrors franchise has legs, though they're manacled to the radiator.
Saw II (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:113
Fresh:40
Rotten:73
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: Saw II is likely to please the gore-happy fans of the original, though it may be too gruesome for those not familiar with first film's premise.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for grisly violence and gore, terror, language and drug content
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Oct 28, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $87,025,093
Synopsis: In SAW, a huge horror hit in 2004, a masked man called Jigsaw orchestrated the kidnapping of two people, chained them in a disgusting bathroom in an abandoned warehouse, and played vicious, brutal... In SAW, a huge horror hit in 2004, a masked man called Jigsaw orchestrated the kidnapping of two people, chained them in a disgusting bathroom in an abandoned warehouse, and played vicious, brutal mind games with them that potentially could lead to their freedom. Jigsaw is back for more gory fun in SAW II, but this time he comes out from behind the mask to terrorize a troubled cop face-to-face. Tobin Bell reprises his brief role as Jigsaw in the first film with a major starring turn in the sequel. Dying of cancer, Jigsaw lets himself get caught, only to show Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) that his son, Daniel (Erik Knudsen), has been taken hostage with seven other people, all of whom have been placed in a house of horrors with only the slimmest chance of escaping with their lives. Jigsaw promises Matthews that Daniel will live only if the cop follows the rules of the game, but time is running out, as the captives' bodies have been poisoned with a toxin that will soon destroy them. Meanwhile, in the dank, mysterious, booby-trapped house, the ever-more-desperate group of people (including Shawnee Smith, who is back as Amanda, the lone survivor of SAW) furiously try to find their connection to each other and a way out, but blood and violence lie in their path. Like its predecessor, SAW II is a frightening thriller filled with plenty of tricks and treats to satisfy even the most jaded horror fan. [More]
Starring: Tony Nappo, Shawnee Smith, Franky G, Beverley Mitchell
Starring: Tony Nappo, Shawnee Smith, Franky G, Beverley Mitchell, Tim Burd, Glenn Plummer, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Erik Knudsen, Tobin Bell, Lyriq Bent, Donnie Wahlberg, Dina Meyer
Director: Darren Lynn Bausman
Director: Darren Lynn Bausman
Screenwriter: Darren Lynn Bausman, Leigh Whannell
Producer: Gregg Hoffman, Mark Burg
Composer: Charlie Clouser
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for Saw II
The serpentine plot is logical; the acting is passable and the film creates a palpable atmosphere of paranoia and tension.
A greater number of humans in peril doesn’t mean better terror in Saw II. It just means more hammy acting, smashing, yelling, begging, burning, cutting and stabbing.
If you can sit through Saw II without gagging, gasping or covering your eyes, you are made of stern stuff indeed. And you should seek psychiatric help, since you might be a closet sociopath.
Even hard-core horror can go too far. Saw II is as punishing as it gets. It's effective, all right, but to what end? Certainly not entertainment.
I saw Saw, I saw Saw II, and I have lived to tell about it. Aren't you glad?
Factor in the unintentionally funny dialogue, the hey-look-over-there attempts at making you jump, and you'll see that the real trap here is the price of the ticket.
Saw II lacks quite a bit of the cutting edge that made the original such a guilty, grisly pleasure last year.
The makers of Saw II have taken great pains to hide the twist ending to the film. I'd love to reveal it out of spite, only because it hints that I'll be sitting through another Saw sequel next year.
If anything, this blood-spattered, stomach-churning sequel to last year's serial-killer thriller is even more moronic, more overplotted and more convoluted.
Saw II goes to great lengths to be smart and not just viscerally but intellectually provocative. An admirable ambition, but it just makes the movie even more silly when it fails so utterly in the effort.
For the tough-as-Leatherface horror crowd who want to be bruised and battered by their entertainment, Saw II represents a cut above in the genre.
No point in labeling this a horror film. This is a sadism film, and while all good and great horror films know what sadism tastes like, a sadism film settles for nothing of lasting, imaginative horror.
Saw II is not for the faint of heart. It's for the foolish of wallet.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman... creates wincing images of bloodshed, cut rapidly to the point of nausea, to cover how idiotic this luridly thrill-free thriller really is.
Coupled with the distancing cop/killer face-off, the erratic pace may cause viewers to tune out long before a twisty ending that manages to be satisfying, if not surprising.
Eventually ... the movie benefits from the courageousness of some atypical story choices, and rallies to a passingly respectable if still extremely middling standing.
With 'Saw II,' to misquote Sherlock Holmes, the game's a-flat...Despite the makers' almost desperate efforts to shock and surprise, proves a curiously dull blade.
Unfortunately, or fortunately if you’re hoping Lion’s Gate Films takes a bath for pretending that sadistic pornography is fun fare for Halloween, the movie [is] pretty dull.
Latest News for Saw II
October 16, 2009:
See Saw with Alex, Day 2: Saw II
Fear, I think, is one of the essential components of movie watching that almost completely disappears as we grow older. When was the last time you sat down for a movie truly... More...
November 09, 2007:
Ending Already Written for Saw V
The biggest thrills of the Saw movies are their surprise endings, which seem to keep audiences guessing even more than M. Night Shyamalan's latest creations. That's why the... More...
November 07, 2007:
Saw V Still On Track for 2008
Saw IV is the fourth Saw film in as many years. After reports that the Saw franchise would finally take a year off, producer Mark Burg countered that he's still aiming for... More...
November 01, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Bees and Gangsters Slug It Out For #1 Spot
Following a sluggish fall season, November kicks off with a bang this weekend with two high profile films both reaching for the number one spot while appealing to vastly... More...
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