Saw (2004)

Decided to go into a Saw marathon for a part of October. It's been a long time since I've seen one (I've seen several in the franchise) and I haven't seen the first one since it first came out so it was time to check it out again. Did it hold up?

For those that don't know, Saw is mainly about two guys who are chained up in a dingy, gross old bathroom which looks kinda like a subway station. They don't immediately know why they are there but an ultimatum is made by a mysterious recording that says one of them must kill the other before time runs out. There is more going on than just this but it is the core of the film.

It stars Cary Elwes and a bunch of other actors you know from different things. There were two actors from LOST and one from The Shield so I got to see folks from two of my favorite shows.

The thing about these Saw movies is they were kinda the trend setting ones to make horror movies more intense and gory. There was a certain level of deeper killings then a slasher film so it started many directors down this direction and now it's commonplace.

I still enjoyed the first one but not as much as I remember. I think the novelty of it, back when I saw it, was pretty big and that's the reason it stuck with me. I found, in this viewing, that there were some very unusual editing choices in places which detracted from the flow of the film.

Yes, I'll still recommend this one as necessary horror viewing. Now, on to the rest!