SAW II (2005)

"There will be blood."

Now this is how you make a sequel! Expanding greatly on the events from the first film, SAW II quickly gets into the story with homicide detective Donnie Wahlberg being called in to investigate a brand new Jigsaw murder. Things go sideways and before you know it, Wahlberg himself is in one of Jigsaw’s traps! Eeeeeeeeee! That’s exciting, but the main focus of the film is the “Nerve Gas House”. Jigsaw has trapped eight people in a rundown old house and pumped in some Will Smith music, I mean, nerve gas that will kill them all within two hours. Hidden throughout the house are antidotes for the poison. Things quickly get crunk.

I like all of the SAW sequels (none of them are bad), but I do think that 2 is one of the better ones.  Mild amount of blood, above average cast who all turn in strong performances (Franky G especially), a random Wes Craven reference, Shawnee Smith with a bigger role, good pace, a few moments of hyperediting, great musical score, good lighting, interesting use of colours, Jigsaw once again trying to convince people that it's a good thing to be alive (tell that to the zero people who like me being alive), an enjoyable amount of twists and turns, some cool old electronic equipment, a slight improvement in the kill traps from the first film, zero sex (I don't think there was any sex even implied in any of the Saw movies), a steady diet of violence and, of course, the highlight of the movie...the needle pit!

SAW II is an impressive horror sequel that's totally worth watching.  Intelligent and well executed with some fun moments.  And, when you look at the depressing state of affairs in the horror movie world back in ye olde 2005, it's even more impressive.  Check it out.

Part 1 - Saw (2004)
Part 3 - Saw III (2006)
Part 4 - Saw IV (2007)
Part 5 - Saw V (2008)
Part 6 - Saw VI (2009)
Part 7 - Saw 3D (2010)
Part 8 - Jigsaw (2017)
Part 9 - Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Part 10 - Saw X (2023)

SAW (2004)

Two unlucky men find themselves in a really horrible place. That’s right...a Will Smith movie marathon. No, I’m just kidding. They weren’t that unlucky! Two unlucky men find themselves chained up in a dingy, fucked up industrial-looking bathroom.  Complete with a poo-filled toilet.  After talking for awhile and assessing that neither one of them can accurately throw an object over three feet, they discover that their lives are connected.  They're also given the message, by their mysterious captor, that if the one guy doesn't kill the other guy in a certain amount of time, the captor will murder the first guy's family.  All kinds of flashbacks and crazy shit happens next.

For a low-budget horror movie, SAW is a pretty impressive film.  The basic story is similar enough to SEVEN that it could almost be seen as a spin-off or imitation told from a different point of view, good pace, solid acting by an impressive cast, low amount of actual on-screen violence, an excellent musical score by Charlie Clouser (that's well worth listening to on it's own), creepy lighting and a very interesting villain, Jigsaw, who's completely different from other memorable horror movie icons like Leatherface, Chucky or Jason.

Another thing that I appreciate about SAW is just how much fun the entire series ended up being!  I've seen them all before, but when I sat down to watch the first one for this review...I ended up watching all eight of the films in a row and had an absolute blast!  It was great.  There's a few standout sequels (2 and 8), but overall, they're all fun.  No duds.  A few films (2 and 5) even come off like gnarly reality game shows!

Yeah, the story is totally unbelievable and dumb, but who gives a fuck?  Life is a pile of shit and a lie-filled hell from birth until release, so why not enjoy yourself and watch some goofy movies that make you laugh?  For anybody out there watching the entire series in order: whenever the Jigsaw puppet shows up on a television, right before he speaks, yell out "'ello, guvna!" It makes absolutely no sense, but is highly enjoyable.

Part 2 - Saw II (2005)
Part 3 - Saw III (2006)
Part 4 - Saw IV (2007)
Part 5 - Saw V (2008)
Part 6 - Saw VI (2009)
Part 7 - Saw 3D (2010)
Part 8 - Jigsaw (2017)
Part 9 - Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Part 10 - Saw X (2023)