Saw (2004)

Director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell have one hellish track record boasting some of the most talked about horror films of the last two decades. These are not filmmakers who you can simply write off as bad, even though some may try. While sticking mostly to a similar formula, they've managed to find new ways to scare their audience. They make entertaining, crowd-pleasing experiences that take full advantage of the theater landscape, or of a late-night viewing at home. The original Saw is one of their better films too. Even with admittedly shallow characters this film never manages to get boring. John Kramer's games have inspired many evil playgrounds which quickly became non-sense. This first game however is all about the mind of it's victims. We're given time to understand the motive of each unlikable character until we find ourselves hoping for a good ending. Kramer knows his toys too well for that.

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