Wednesday, October 4, 2023

October Horror Challenge 2023 #15: "Saw"

Boy was this movie a phenomenon when it first came out. it was clever, gory, and dramatic, and it drew in tons of people who didn't usually enjoy horror movies. As a horror fan, i was just geeked that everyone was raving about a horror movie again for the first time since what, 1991 when all the critics were praising "The Silence of the Lambs"? it's rare for a horror movie to capture the public's attention and earn so many accolades, and as a horror fan, when it happens, I get happy, even if I didn't like the movie that's garnering so much attention. It'sa horrorfan thing. We get happy when our genre is getting praise. I wasn't sure if I would like the movie once I finally got to see it, but I was happy that horror was finally having its day. I didn't get to see this movie in theaters, so I had to wait for DVD, but I did indeed enjoy this movie once I saw it, and I'm checking it out again because it's been a long day and I'm yearning for a comfort movie, and however messed up it is, this is a comfort movie for me, so here we go.

What rock have you been living under if you don't know at least the plot of this movie, even if you haven't seen it? Let me refresh your memory:two men wake up in the bathroom of an abandoned building with no memory of how they got there. They are chained down and unable to escape. Slowly, as time passes, they begin to uncover clues as to why they're trapped in this way. They're being punished for their sins. The cops rush to catch the killer who put them in that room, meanwhile we learn more and more about the killer and why he's doing what he's doing, his whole diabolical plan to get his victims to kill themselves as they struggle to stay alive. Will the cops be able to catch the killer? Will the two men ever escape their fate? What kind of horrific trap will the killer set next?

I always forget that Danny Glover is in this movie, and then I see him and it's like, hey old friend. I also forget how unlikable the guys trapped in the room are (we'll mainly just the one guy, Adam) and I always think it isn't fair that the character of Amanda is stuck in a trap that can only be deactivated by killing someone else (not to be cynical, but most people would find it easier to hurt someone else to get free than they would to hurt themselves). it's easy to forget with all the hype that built up over the years and all the many sequels, but this was once just a clever little gory horror movie about a brilliant psychopath who sets up traps to coerce victims to kill themselves. Nifty idea, huh? hopefully revisiting these movies will remind me of what was good about them, apart from all the flashy marketing surrounding the series. it still impresses me that a movie this unapologetically gory and gruesome became such a hit. I'm looking forward to watching the other movies in this series as well. Come along on my journey with me, we have such sights to show you.

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