Saw

And to finish off a day of movies no Halloween would be complete without a proper shocker at home with all the lights off. Adverts for Saw II were everywhere, so I looked back on reviews of the first movie, which had passed me by, to see if it was worth a look. To my surprise the reviews were indeed very good and I wondered why it had slipped my radar first time around. It all begins very ominously with two men chained to opposite ends of a dark and disgusting bathroom with a dead man face down in a pool of blood in the middle. Slowly they realise they are part of a game being played by an inventive serial killer who wants his victims to appreciate the value of their lives which they have somehow taken for granted. It is effective enough in some scenes, certainly very creepy, and were it not for the plethora of cliches and some terribly camp acting this would have been much closer to its obvious model, Seven. There are jumps, twists and gore aplenty, loosely hung on a pretty good premise that doesn't quite live up to the potential it suggests. The main question asked is would you lop off your own leg with a hacksaw if it meant you could live? Tough one! Cary Elwes is so overthetop towards the end that you get the requisite horror laughs too, something that Danny Glover's obsessed cop also contributes to. It is an instantly disposable and enjoyable film which for the genre actually achieves a lot more than the average fare, but is by no means a good movie. Perfect for the evening but not one for the collection. 6.5/10 K.