I definitely recommend it! I can’t even watch shows like squid game because of the mass killing and stuff like that, but this felt completely different imo. Very cool movie
I needed to hear this. I have avoided for all the same reasons. Fan of horror, but huge on torture porn or gore. If the story is interesting enough, it may finally be time.
Torture porn stuff doesn't really start until the fourth film if I'm honest. The first three actually do have a strongly linked story and while they're violent, it's still more focused on the tension - though the third definitely has some pretty gory kills. Saw IV gets a lot more graphic, and then V onwards the story gets way too stupid and the game doesn't even link to the wider story anymore, opting for two simultaneous stories instead. Saw X is completely different though and is actually a revenge story and it's probably my favourite of the series, despite it foregoing the mystery element entirely.
So I saw the first 3 saw movies but none of the rest. Still love the first one. Would I be lost going straight to saw x? The 3rd movie was fine, but I could tell they were just getting more and more ridiculous so never kept up with em lol
Yes, Saw X is a prequel so it's fine. It does spoil the big twist at the end of Saw VII though, but that's a very small nod to basically maintain those films are still canon. Otherwise, it's a self contained story and takes place at some point between Saw 1 and 3.
Omg I'm the type that guesses the endings right when horror movies start and I didn't see that coming AT ALL! Why it will live forever in one of my top 5
The writing of the latter Saw movies also goes totally off the rails. They keep on getting more and more convoluted and build up more and more lore around Jigsaw until they become just totally incomprehensible.
I never watch trailers. Sometimes, it's like they show the entire movie. Especially how a movie is made etc. It takes all the magic away.
I just read a small description about the movie and that's it.
---
Particularly in horror movies, I trust the IMDB score a lot. Those horror movies with a score 6 or more are in most cases, too good. IMDB audience is too harsh. You'll hardly find a horror movie with a score bigger than 7-7,5 -which is the "perfect" for them.
Watched it in a theater all by myself… when it finished I was in awe! Pro: nobody being annoying in the theater. Con: nobody to share that ending with.
Damn. You're right.
Just recently saw the (last) Saw and it was kind of surprising. The main character, which by the way, they've chosen the perfect actor for the role, has a slightly redeeming quality.
In short, in my opinion, people should see the last as well.
I have a core memory being 10 years old and seeing the polar express in Vegas with my family lol. There was a huge promo sign for saw (I was terrified of any horror until like, a year ago) that was basically the top 2/3 of some guys chopped off head in a surgical tray or something with “HOW MUCH BLOOD WOULD YOU GIVE” written on it. That shit traumatized me and I pondered this question lol.
It's such a banger and so iconic too! When you hear it starts in the other movies, you know that shit's about to go down. My favorite horror movie song and by far!
Hearing you guys talking about the ending like this, I tried to summon the memory of what happened again, and all I'm coming up with was someone with one leg chained up, but then accidentally sawing off the wrong leg to escape.
Then I realised I've never actually seen the first Saw, only Scary Movie IV and Saw II, so this probably wasn't the mind blowing ending you guys were referring to.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=HLnNY2KiQEQ
"Wrong foot!"
This was me with The Ring, I was listening to a podcast episode on it the other day but I was picturing all the scenes they were discussing as the versions from Scary Movie 3 lol
I remember watching it with friends and us all going WOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH and someone literally jumped out of their chair lmao. Just blew everyone’s minds!
I just watched Saw (saw Saw) for the first time 2 weeks ago, but I'd read the synopsis and had listened to a podcast episode on it so I knew exactly what was coming. That twist/reveal was still so so good, the music and the way it was shot was so impactful even knowing who it is from the beginning
“Saw” is not as senselessly gory as a lot of people make it sound.
There is a very creative and unique story and aesthetic in the movie that I like. Compelling twists!
However, the gore still does get to me.
It's pretty on par with Se7en in terms of gore, and while people talk about that one being disturbing, it's never referred to as "torture porn" like Saw. I honestly think the poster and name itself made a big difference in the perception, seeing a grey, severed leg and a bone saw on the poster instead of Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman couldn't have helped lol
> it's never referred to as "torture porn" like Saw
that's probably because we only ever get to see the results of violence, not the violent acts themselves
Oh my god, now I have a mental image of a 90's James Patterson-type poster for Saw with sexy Cary Elwes and fatherly Danny Glover, and a smaller image of Monica Potter. You're right. Imagine if it were advertised that way. Then you dump the audience straight into that opening with Shawnee Smith? Holy shit. "Another audience member with a anxiety attack escorted out by paramedics at a showing of Saw." - The news, probably.
I think it's similar to how the OG Texas Chainsaw Massacre is seen in retrospect, in which the atmosphere makes it feel more violent than it actually is
Only 9 more to go! At the very least I would watch part 2 and X. I am a huge fan of the series so I recommend them all but those two are great compliments to the first one if you don't want to go all the way down the rabbit hole. But if you do, enjoy the journey.
I could not get over Chris Rock's acting in Spiral. He just shouted every line into people's faces and it was honestly so funny, but did not work at all
Yeah, that was one issue, the voice was terrible, figured the ending within the first few minutes. They weren't very subtle. Just not a good movie unfortunately.
I thought it was okay, but there was a particular scene where he was frustrated & the combination of his mannerisms and the camera shaking had me dying lol
Watch them all in the releasing order. There are some duds, but the average quality is surprisingly high for a horror franchise with 10 films. Especially II-3D are great for binging.
Also, X takes place between I and II, but if you watch it now - you will spoil II and IV for yourself (and the IV twist is one of the best).
I personally would only recommend watching the first 2 and maybe 3. After that it does kinda just turn into torture porn and they lose what makes the first one special. Apparently X is also good but I haven’t seen it yet.
Yea >!the kid being in the safe after Jigsaw told him he was in a “safe” place!< made me laugh then sad because it was that simple. Crazy how all you have to do is take what he says literally. The one with Matthews being in the ice block trap was the same way.
Watching the first one in theaters when I was way too young for it was one of the best movie going experiences I've had.
The reaction of the crowd during the ending bit was insane. It's genuinely one of the best horrors of that decade imo.
If I have a dumb opinion about horror movies (and I do), its that the Saw movies are generally great and starting with the tonal semi-reset in Saw V only get better. Focusing more on the personality of Jigsaw and less on the body horror is the right direction for the franchise, whose audience has aged out of the splatterfest.
V is in my top 3, which can be very controversial, because most of the people think it's the worst after 3D, Jigsaw and Spiral. I like it exactly because it's slower and more character driven though.
Was that the one where >!it shows loads of flashbacks to Hoffman making the traps?!< That was the worst one imo, didn’t need to watch a ton of different clips showing us basically the same thing
I’m a huge Saw fan (seen each Saw movie at least 3 times each) and the first movie isn’t even my favorite. The movies are like one, big gory soap opera, especially the first 7.
I got to ask Cary Elwes about this movie at Megacon! I asked why he would want to do a movie like this, with a completely (then) unknown director and writer. He said he read the script, and if it scared him he thought it would scare others, too. One of my favorites, so well done with such a low budget.
I thought the exact same thing for years and then ended up binging the whole series and couldn’t stop lol. Its reputation definitely doesn’t do it justice.
its crazy that the saw franchise gained a reputation for being torture porn when all of the movies *do* have a plot, but for the most part they're not god tier writing. each killer has a motive and they do follow a fun, mystery based sequence of events. who's behind this?? why are these people being punished?? why is tobin bell in a backwards cap?? 4 to 6 in particular is basically a campy cop drama trilogy with >!hoffman!< trying to get away with everything. they're so fun. my partner has a big problem with viscerally violent horror (evil dead 2013 was a no go) but they sailed through saw to saw x without even flinching, then asked me what all the fuss is about with the gore! its one of their favourite horror franchises now. i feel like there's many more mindlessly violent movies out there that don't get as much flak. i'm the #1 saw defender if you couldn't tell
Only a handful of movies have a twist as good as the one in saw. A rare breed! Usual suspects is another good twist movie. Man I wish I could forget it so I could watch it again for the first time
I am not big on torture movies. The rest of the series relies pretty heavily on it, so I don't care much for them. However, the first movie is fantastic in my book, exactly how a movie of this nature should be done, and 20 years later, it is still a thrilling watch.
Remember seeing this in NJ in an inner city theater where mothers were in there with their little children, that was more of a horror than the actual film
It was one of my favorite movies when it was released, it was something different from other horror movies, after the third one I started to lose interest in the series
The great thing about the Saw movies is that they are all connected in some way, and the fun twists and turns along the way make it compelling! Edit: they also offer more plot and interesting characters than most horror movies. Of course, there are some inventive and somewhat gory traps in there, which also give you something new every time.
People who say the Saw series is pointless "torture porn" either haven't seen it or they're morons who can't pay attention to a basic premise.
The story goes pretty deep and the character is really consistent. I've been a fan (not a hardcore one though) since the first one. When Jigsaw came out, i was disappointed at first thinking they messed up the character, but then going back to the first and watching them all again, I realized, nope, they kept him completely consistent.
The people who say the movies are just torture porn literally don't pay attention to anything. Like...just actually listen to what the characters say and pay attention to names and stuff and you see how everything is connected and you see foreshadowing and how people were supposed to deal with the traps and could have made it out. Knowing a little bit of history/trivia can help with something, but most of the knowledge required is basic and self contained within the movies or it's spelled out for the audience.
The whole point of these movies is that like 90% of jigsaw's victims deserve some kind of punishment for what they did, but not what he's doing to them because he's psychopath. Since you and some others haven't seen the other movies, I'm not going into specifics. But the point is for most of them to fail in traps, while at the same time:
* they fail to see why they're there
* they fail to confront something (trauma, their evil/bad deeds, etc)
* they don't learn their lesson at all or until it's too late
In all of Jigsaw's traps, you can see the twisted lesson he's trying to teach. For those that have seen all the movies, I'm choosing my words carefully to not spoiling anything for OP and others.
The series isn't flawless. it's riddled with time and date inconsistency, but they aren't super noticeable. There's are one person in the entire series (i haven't seen the very latest movie though, see, i'm a fan, but not a super fan, lol) the makes ZERO sense for Jigsaw to victimize. This one character being part of his traps makes no sense so much to the point that it honestly ruins the character completely. he's super consistent up this point...i serious think the film makers need to go back and completely retcon this part of the movie and just completely redo it or do a flashback in a future movie and show that it was all staged and this character didn't get jigsawed for real or that she was secretly a horrible person. Seriously...thinking about it is upsetting...
Other than that though, it's consistent. I'm not saying other characters deserve getting jigsawed, I'm just saying the psychopath has a code that he follows. Like...to him, stealing everyone's lunch at work everyday and someone poisoning baby food are both bad enough to end up in his trap. both are bad, but one is clearly more evil than the other. But he's a psycho.
It really is excellent, far superior to the cheap exploitative sequels that followed. The original is brilliant, and I’m glad that you liked it so much.
The rest are great imo. The story being expanded in each movie and getting ever increasingly over-the-top makes for an entertaining viewing experience. The only one that fully sucked and had no redeeming qualities was Jigsaw imo. It was super lame and cringey, and it wasn't even fun bad like Saw 3D, it was just bad.
I'm so glad I saw it before the internet and social media was a big thing. My now wife had heard a bit about it and wanted to see it. I knew nothing about it other than it was some horror or thriller where some guys were trapped in a room by a guy that liked to watch his victims through cameras or something.
The basic synopsis sounded pretty lame. But when we finally watched it, my god! So good. We had no idea of any twists or anything so weren't looking for it. I wish I could experience that movie again for the first time.
These days within days of release the twist would be all over facebook in memes.
They're fun films. I saw the first at the cinema. People went nuts about the ending. I like them all, but would suggest avoiding Spiral. It's awful, and doesn't add anything to the canon whatsoever
A modern classic in my eyes although getting less modern as the time goes on 🤣 the music that comes in for the end 'twist' will always be my fave from any horror film!
Saw is one of my favorite horror franchises. Some of the later movies *do* border on being “torture porn”, but it’s really up to you how much you can stomach.
The rest of the series puts more emphasis on showing the traps in action rather than the quick cuts (pun not intended) the first film makes.
The first one (and the second one too, I would say) are excellent psychological horror. But the first is still the best IMO. It feels like a video game but in a *good* way, if that makes sense.
I had the same experience with the Saw movies. I avoided them for years because the "torture porn" label and covers really put me off. But they're much more fun than I anticipated, and I'm generally here for an anti-capitalist movie (and don't need it to be subtle).
The first 2 Saw films aren't really torture porn. They're more psychological and plot driven, but after that they basically become contests to figure out the craziest ways to kill people
The first one is great. I also love Saw II and V
But the deeper you get in the series, the more it's about the torture/gore and less about the twists and turns
Saw was treated very unfairly when it came out.
It was immediately ghettoized with the label "torture porn", which was deeply ignorant of the horror genre. This leads anyone who hasn't seen it to believe the movie is just gore effects and nothing else. John Kramer and the film's message about the value of life resonates with viewers. A similar theme is the saying: "When death finds you, may he find you alive." Oddly enough, this theme is in the same ballpark as Office Space.
There are movies that are nothing but gore, and seem to have been made to show off the skills of the make up artist, like the Guinea Pig series, or the first Terrifier (Though Leone got interesting in the 2nd of the series). But Saw wasn't that. Saw was the victim of the torture porn label because film criticism online is trash, and the countless film critics who don't know film history, and some I'd argue, haven't even watched B&W movies. Or at the very least, Herschell Gordon Lewis films. If I'm going to get super-snarky, then they might only know Vincent Price as the author of cookbooks.
Another entry the critics considered worthless torture porn were the Hostel movies, they weren't my cup of tea, but you can't ignore they're saying something about class in the 21st century. A theme that has become much more resonant as time goes by. I found them uninteresting and dull except for the ending of the second one, which was fantastic, but sitting through the pictures are too long a journey to make it worth it. If the ending of the 2nd was the ending of the 1st, it would have landed the theme perfectly and would have been a solid movie.
A third that comes to mind that makes me throw my hands up at online critics is The Human Centipede. When that came out, these so-called critics acted as if there had never been a mad scientist movie before. Again, instead of reviewing a film for its own merits, they come at it from a high horse, and act as if its the end of film.
When it comes to horror, watch what you want to watch.
Leave it at that!
I cannot state this strongly enough: the first is an all time thriller, the rest are paper thin shock value garbage.
Obviously do what you will, but you can also take the hours that would've gone into the sequels as a gift and watch good movies instead.
The elaborate death traps don't become the focus until the sequels. All the sequels are more similar to each other than the original though, so if you try saw 2 and don't like it you probably won't like the others either
If they left it alone and not barfed out a bunch of sequels, it would have been in the top 10-20 greatest horror movies of all time. Franchising ruined it.
I watched Saw way too young, right when it came out on dvd, and it scared the shit out of me and was always this like, minor source of anxiety, like even when all the shitty sequels came out years later I didn’t even like joining around about them. Like a decade later when I actually liked horror, I revisited it and was surprised it was not nearly as gory as I remembered and was actually a pretty good movie.
The Saw movies until and including the one that came out in 2010 are like that. They are a story in parts essentially with those flashy gore moments, but there is a much deeper story than your average horror film. It's really a disservice that it was known for it's cruel traps and stuff and not for the suspense of the story as a whole.
I put off watching it for years for the same reason! Now I love it as a legitimately great movie. I knew about >!The Jigsaw twist!< but had no idea about >!Adam's key!< when I watched it for the first time, and that left me yelling at the TV in surprise.
The sequels aren't as good (except X, echoing the sentiment that it's also very well-done) but they are entertaining to watch to see how goofy and wild they can get, even if some of the traps are weird or just gross. I love camp and shocking plot twists, so I would have watched the series a lot sooner if someone had sold me on that aspect instead of me just thinking they were all about the gore and torture for more than a decade.
I had seen both Saw 1 and 2 in theaters.. and there was a scene in 2 that made me "nope" out for the rest of the series. That was back when it first came out. Time passed and then last year when Saw X came out I decided I was going to give the rest of the movies a try. Damn near every single one of them is a solid movie. I have now watched the entire series twice.. except for Spiral. It was meh..
>I love the puzzle aspect and the twists and the fact that it makes you think.
Watch the entire franchise you will enjoy it (but feel free to skip Jigsaw).
Most of the sequels are the torture porn you wouldn’t want to see.
Part 2 isn’t too bad but it’s definitely far more violent with grizzly graphic deaths. It’s less about puzzles and choices and more about finding inventive ways to kill prople.
That’s relative to the first one. Relative to the ones that come after it’s far far closer to the original saw.
The series devolves into graphic torture porn with an increasingly convoluted plot.
Some people recommend X but I disagree based solely on you enjoying the original and not most horror. It’s closer to the original but each set piece is essentially a stage to graphically and agonizingly murder someone.
The first one is “you have X number of hours to make a difficult choice.
Everything after 2 becomes “You have 60 seconds to horrifically maim yourself before you’re sadistically murdered.
The first Saw is not torture porn. It’s great with actual tension and suspense. The torture porn element definitely started with the sequels.
The first Saw is the only one I’ll rewatch anymore.
Dude the original ROCKS. I love it. A lot of love when into the making of that movie and you can feel it. Sure it’s got some torture and gore and that may turn some viewers away. But the story around it is awesome and the twist at the end is the cherry on top. One of the best twists in all of cinema!
The budget on that movie was so small that they didn’t even make a dummy to replace Tobe Hooper laying in middle of the room. He had to lay there for every shot and every scene. The ending is one of my favorites of any horror movie. I couldn’t believe it.
I really enjoyed the first few movies! It gets a lot worse as the franchise goes on, I think I ended up turning off number 4 and just never revisited. I'd be so curious if any of the newer ones were a bit more like the first few films
The star of the first Saw movie is the script.
It was a micro budget thriller shot in like 10 days by two complete unknowns, full of tricks that paper over how threadbare the production was, stock photos, reused shots, and it works cos that script is absolutely solid gold. It’s lightning in a bottle.
The sequels are all lesser (particularly 3, there is a reason so many people stop after 3), but I think 4-6 are so lovingly bonkers twisty turny horror soap opera gubbins, that they make the whole series worthwhile.
It is a good concept for a movie. What discredits Saw a lot is that it got very popular and they proceeded to spit out a new Saw movie every year for like a decade. And recent years made few more additions.
I felt a little overkill but I guess if this is your bag, then you have a good amount of content to go through.
The first few are actually really good mystery thrillers. But then it feels like they wrote themselves into a corner and wanted to distract the audience with increasing gore and shock value
They get a bad rep for being "torture porn" when they really aren't. They horror cop movies at best with good stories, themes and twists. I recommend watching them all.
I went to the cinema to watch Saw, and >!when John stands up at the end!< is still one of my favourite endings. Saw 1,2 and 3 are great. The series lost its way after this, but they are still good fun movies to watch
I feel the exact opposite to be honest. I think the Saw concept is interesting, but the contrived twists and the thriller aspect were so stupid to me. Jigsaw is like a supervillain who can set up the most implausibly complicated scenarios, and it's just twists on twists for the sake of twists. The core concept is interesting enough I don't think it needed all the flamboyant shenanigans on top
I love Horror and I even enjoy Gore
But stuff like Saw or Terrifier 1 and 2 are next level for me😂😂😂
Although I know the Saw Movies are most of them some Masterpieces… I draw the line by stopping at Gore like Michael Myers, Jason, Texas Chainsaw, etc
I once saw a Saw X “Cutting Leg Scene” in Twitter and I was like hell no, I’m out
So I have never seen them before
And not planning on it either😭😂
Glad you enjoyed it!
Totally understandable! I don’t think the first Saw movie has much of any gore at all since it’s pretty much all off screen if you were to ever change your mind. Terrifier has everything on screen and is just a very gorey slasher, but I would put Saw in a different category entirely tbh
Oh! I was wrong then. Sincerely, didn’t knew.
I think the Saw Movies got heavier and more brutal (in terms of Gore) as they grew.
What I saw from Saw X literally left me speechless. Same with Terrifier 2. Probably the two craziest movie scenes I have ever seen
Hope you keep enjoying them all my friend!
Respect.
I’ve been putting off watching Saw for the same reasons! I was planning to watch it tonight haha
I definitely recommend it! I can’t even watch shows like squid game because of the mass killing and stuff like that, but this felt completely different imo. Very cool movie
I needed to hear this. I have avoided for all the same reasons. Fan of horror, but huge on torture porn or gore. If the story is interesting enough, it may finally be time.
Torture porn stuff doesn't really start until the fourth film if I'm honest. The first three actually do have a strongly linked story and while they're violent, it's still more focused on the tension - though the third definitely has some pretty gory kills. Saw IV gets a lot more graphic, and then V onwards the story gets way too stupid and the game doesn't even link to the wider story anymore, opting for two simultaneous stories instead. Saw X is completely different though and is actually a revenge story and it's probably my favourite of the series, despite it foregoing the mystery element entirely.
So I saw the first 3 saw movies but none of the rest. Still love the first one. Would I be lost going straight to saw x? The 3rd movie was fine, but I could tell they were just getting more and more ridiculous so never kept up with em lol
Yes, Saw X is a prequel so it's fine. It does spoil the big twist at the end of Saw VII though, but that's a very small nod to basically maintain those films are still canon. Otherwise, it's a self contained story and takes place at some point between Saw 1 and 3.
the first saw is reallly good, great story and not as gory as one would expect. The story/gore ratio gets worse with each sequel tho
Yeah felt the same way. First one is less horror and more thriller. Kind of a serial killer hunt/mystery. I was pleasantly surprised.
The continuity for the series is surprisingly tight for 10 films.
Let us know what you think!
I just finished it! Haha it was so good! The ending was so well crafted, I was more impressed than scared by the end
Omg I'm the type that guesses the endings right when horror movies start and I didn't see that coming AT ALL! Why it will live forever in one of my top 5
what are your other 4 picks? im planning to rewatch entire saw choronologically with my wife
16 year old me was truly shocked
While Saw started the torture porn phase, the first two movies aren't really torture porn. The first movie is still the best one.
James wan directed saw! He also directed the conjuring 1 & 2 and insidious 1 & 2… and the batshit crazy malignant which was …. Batshit crazy!
I loved malignant. It was over the top, but a good thriller none the less
The first Saw movie is GREAT. The sequels are all just gore/torture nonsense.
The writing of the latter Saw movies also goes totally off the rails. They keep on getting more and more convoluted and build up more and more lore around Jigsaw until they become just totally incomprehensible.
I can't believe it's 20 years ago. I still remember the buzz around it when it was first released.
those teaser trailers that showed each trap had me so hyped
I never watch trailers. Sometimes, it's like they show the entire movie. Especially how a movie is made etc. It takes all the magic away. I just read a small description about the movie and that's it. --- Particularly in horror movies, I trust the IMDB score a lot. Those horror movies with a score 6 or more are in most cases, too good. IMDB audience is too harsh. You'll hardly find a horror movie with a score bigger than 7-7,5 -which is the "perfect" for them.
Watched it in a theater all by myself… when it finished I was in awe! Pro: nobody being annoying in the theater. Con: nobody to share that ending with.
I was in high school when it came out and it was HUGE everyone was talking about it for weeks.
Damn. You're right. Just recently saw the (last) Saw and it was kind of surprising. The main character, which by the way, they've chosen the perfect actor for the role, has a slightly redeeming quality. In short, in my opinion, people should see the last as well.
I watched it via a pirated DVD some kid brought into our sixth form centre. 🥲
I have a core memory being 10 years old and seeing the polar express in Vegas with my family lol. There was a huge promo sign for saw (I was terrified of any horror until like, a year ago) that was basically the top 2/3 of some guys chopped off head in a surgical tray or something with “HOW MUCH BLOOD WOULD YOU GIVE” written on it. That shit traumatized me and I pondered this question lol.
My favorite horror movie for sure. The ending is still top notch
Unbelievable ending. One of the only ones I didn’t guess.
I had heard about the ending going into it, but I kind of forgot, so I was still pretty mind blown haha. Such a haunting ending
Yea it was the music too. Chills.
I still think Hello Zepp is my favorite score from a movie ever. Not only does it add flavor to an already great scene, on its own, it’s a banger.
It's such a banger and so iconic too! When you hear it starts in the other movies, you know that shit's about to go down. My favorite horror movie song and by far!
Hearing you guys talking about the ending like this, I tried to summon the memory of what happened again, and all I'm coming up with was someone with one leg chained up, but then accidentally sawing off the wrong leg to escape. Then I realised I've never actually seen the first Saw, only Scary Movie IV and Saw II, so this probably wasn't the mind blowing ending you guys were referring to. https://youtube.com/watch?v=HLnNY2KiQEQ "Wrong foot!"
This was me with The Ring, I was listening to a podcast episode on it the other day but I was picturing all the scenes they were discussing as the versions from Scary Movie 3 lol
I remember watching it with friends and us all going WOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH and someone literally jumped out of their chair lmao. Just blew everyone’s minds!
[удалено]
Oh my god. I have seen this movie countless times and I've never noticed that. Going for another rewatch!
I just watched Saw (saw Saw) for the first time 2 weeks ago, but I'd read the synopsis and had listened to a podcast episode on it so I knew exactly what was coming. That twist/reveal was still so so good, the music and the way it was shot was so impactful even knowing who it is from the beginning
I remember seeing it in the theaters, the audience audibly gasped and we couldn’t believe it. Fun times!
“Saw” is not as senselessly gory as a lot of people make it sound. There is a very creative and unique story and aesthetic in the movie that I like. Compelling twists! However, the gore still does get to me.
It's pretty on par with Se7en in terms of gore, and while people talk about that one being disturbing, it's never referred to as "torture porn" like Saw. I honestly think the poster and name itself made a big difference in the perception, seeing a grey, severed leg and a bone saw on the poster instead of Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman couldn't have helped lol
> it's never referred to as "torture porn" like Saw that's probably because we only ever get to see the results of violence, not the violent acts themselves
I think it mistakenly gets lumped in with the hostel franchise
What? Seven?
No, saw
Oh my god, now I have a mental image of a 90's James Patterson-type poster for Saw with sexy Cary Elwes and fatherly Danny Glover, and a smaller image of Monica Potter. You're right. Imagine if it were advertised that way. Then you dump the audience straight into that opening with Shawnee Smith? Holy shit. "Another audience member with a anxiety attack escorted out by paramedics at a showing of Saw." - The news, probably.
Haha now I wish that's what they actually did, people would NOT have been prepared
I think it's similar to how the OG Texas Chainsaw Massacre is seen in retrospect, in which the atmosphere makes it feel more violent than it actually is
It's to the Saw franchise what First Blood is to the Rambo franchise.
Only 9 more to go! At the very least I would watch part 2 and X. I am a huge fan of the series so I recommend them all but those two are great compliments to the first one if you don't want to go all the way down the rabbit hole. But if you do, enjoy the journey.
Thank you! Since I’m pretty low on horror movie recs I probably will end up watching all of them 😭
I honestly can't recommend Spiral but if you're watching them all you may as well. When my wife and I do a rewatch we always skip that one.
I could not get over Chris Rock's acting in Spiral. He just shouted every line into people's faces and it was honestly so funny, but did not work at all
Yeah, that was one issue, the voice was terrible, figured the ending within the first few minutes. They weren't very subtle. Just not a good movie unfortunately.
Yah if you're gonna call a movie Spiral it really should at least be a little confusing... Imagine if Hitchcock made Vertigo that subtle haha
I thought it was okay, but there was a particular scene where he was frustrated & the combination of his mannerisms and the camera shaking had me dying lol
I'll defend any other movie in the franchise to the ends of the earth. Except Spiral. Absolute utter trash.
Watch them all in the releasing order. There are some duds, but the average quality is surprisingly high for a horror franchise with 10 films. Especially II-3D are great for binging. Also, X takes place between I and II, but if you watch it now - you will spoil II and IV for yourself (and the IV twist is one of the best).
They are mostly duds. I wouldnt bother with any after the first.
I personally would only recommend watching the first 2 and maybe 3. After that it does kinda just turn into torture porn and they lose what makes the first one special. Apparently X is also good but I haven’t seen it yet.
The series is mostly torture porn.
Do it. All of them, in release order. They are not as good as the first, but they worth a watch.
I haven't seen X yet. Good to hear it's up there in top 3 Saws.
It was a nice return to John and for him to get so much screen time.
“Saw”, surprisingly made me feel more grateful for what I have in my life and for a healthy body and safe home. 😂 I’m serious!
Highly recommend Saw 2 if you loved the first one.
Yea >!the kid being in the safe after Jigsaw told him he was in a “safe” place!< made me laugh then sad because it was that simple. Crazy how all you have to do is take what he says literally. The one with Matthews being in the ice block trap was the same way.
Saw 2 is legitimately one of my favorite horror films ever. Definitely one of the best horror sequels of all time IMHO.
Watching the first one in theaters when I was way too young for it was one of the best movie going experiences I've had. The reaction of the crowd during the ending bit was insane. It's genuinely one of the best horrors of that decade imo.
I saw it in theater too and was kind of blown away.
Tobin Bell's voice is absolutely perfect for "Jigsaw".
If I have a dumb opinion about horror movies (and I do), its that the Saw movies are generally great and starting with the tonal semi-reset in Saw V only get better. Focusing more on the personality of Jigsaw and less on the body horror is the right direction for the franchise, whose audience has aged out of the splatterfest.
V is in my top 3, which can be very controversial, because most of the people think it's the worst after 3D, Jigsaw and Spiral. I like it exactly because it's slower and more character driven though.
Was that the one where >!it shows loads of flashbacks to Hoffman making the traps?!< That was the worst one imo, didn’t need to watch a ton of different clips showing us basically the same thing
Yeah, but I liked it
I’m a huge Saw fan (seen each Saw movie at least 3 times each) and the first movie isn’t even my favorite. The movies are like one, big gory soap opera, especially the first 7.
I got to ask Cary Elwes about this movie at Megacon! I asked why he would want to do a movie like this, with a completely (then) unknown director and writer. He said he read the script, and if it scared him he thought it would scare others, too. One of my favorites, so well done with such a low budget.
It doesnt really become torture porn until the 3rd one. The 2nd one starts to do it a little bit but not like the 3rd one and beyond
Even III is not THAT gory... before >!the rack!< obviously
I watched it once. I remember it being the color green.
every movie had an overbearing color back then.
I thought the exact same thing for years and then ended up binging the whole series and couldn’t stop lol. Its reputation definitely doesn’t do it justice.
I re watched all the SAW movies last Halloween time. So good! The first couple ones are definitely my favorites
its crazy that the saw franchise gained a reputation for being torture porn when all of the movies *do* have a plot, but for the most part they're not god tier writing. each killer has a motive and they do follow a fun, mystery based sequence of events. who's behind this?? why are these people being punished?? why is tobin bell in a backwards cap?? 4 to 6 in particular is basically a campy cop drama trilogy with >!hoffman!< trying to get away with everything. they're so fun. my partner has a big problem with viscerally violent horror (evil dead 2013 was a no go) but they sailed through saw to saw x without even flinching, then asked me what all the fuss is about with the gore! its one of their favourite horror franchises now. i feel like there's many more mindlessly violent movies out there that don't get as much flak. i'm the #1 saw defender if you couldn't tell
Only a handful of movies have a twist as good as the one in saw. A rare breed! Usual suspects is another good twist movie. Man I wish I could forget it so I could watch it again for the first time
I am not big on torture movies. The rest of the series relies pretty heavily on it, so I don't care much for them. However, the first movie is fantastic in my book, exactly how a movie of this nature should be done, and 20 years later, it is still a thrilling watch.
I had the exact same experience! Huge horror fan and avoided that one until last year and loved it. You should watch all the others now!
Remember seeing this in NJ in an inner city theater where mothers were in there with their little children, that was more of a horror than the actual film
I begged all my non horror friends to go watch it. 20 years later, the 2nd best SAW gets released.
It was one of my favorite movies when it was released, it was something different from other horror movies, after the third one I started to lose interest in the series
The great thing about the Saw movies is that they are all connected in some way, and the fun twists and turns along the way make it compelling! Edit: they also offer more plot and interesting characters than most horror movies. Of course, there are some inventive and somewhat gory traps in there, which also give you something new every time.
That ending is one of my personal favorites
People who say the Saw series is pointless "torture porn" either haven't seen it or they're morons who can't pay attention to a basic premise. The story goes pretty deep and the character is really consistent. I've been a fan (not a hardcore one though) since the first one. When Jigsaw came out, i was disappointed at first thinking they messed up the character, but then going back to the first and watching them all again, I realized, nope, they kept him completely consistent. The people who say the movies are just torture porn literally don't pay attention to anything. Like...just actually listen to what the characters say and pay attention to names and stuff and you see how everything is connected and you see foreshadowing and how people were supposed to deal with the traps and could have made it out. Knowing a little bit of history/trivia can help with something, but most of the knowledge required is basic and self contained within the movies or it's spelled out for the audience. The whole point of these movies is that like 90% of jigsaw's victims deserve some kind of punishment for what they did, but not what he's doing to them because he's psychopath. Since you and some others haven't seen the other movies, I'm not going into specifics. But the point is for most of them to fail in traps, while at the same time: * they fail to see why they're there * they fail to confront something (trauma, their evil/bad deeds, etc) * they don't learn their lesson at all or until it's too late In all of Jigsaw's traps, you can see the twisted lesson he's trying to teach. For those that have seen all the movies, I'm choosing my words carefully to not spoiling anything for OP and others. The series isn't flawless. it's riddled with time and date inconsistency, but they aren't super noticeable. There's are one person in the entire series (i haven't seen the very latest movie though, see, i'm a fan, but not a super fan, lol) the makes ZERO sense for Jigsaw to victimize. This one character being part of his traps makes no sense so much to the point that it honestly ruins the character completely. he's super consistent up this point...i serious think the film makers need to go back and completely retcon this part of the movie and just completely redo it or do a flashback in a future movie and show that it was all staged and this character didn't get jigsawed for real or that she was secretly a horrible person. Seriously...thinking about it is upsetting... Other than that though, it's consistent. I'm not saying other characters deserve getting jigsawed, I'm just saying the psychopath has a code that he follows. Like...to him, stealing everyone's lunch at work everyday and someone poisoning baby food are both bad enough to end up in his trap. both are bad, but one is clearly more evil than the other. But he's a psycho.
It really is excellent, far superior to the cheap exploitative sequels that followed. The original is brilliant, and I’m glad that you liked it so much.
The first saw is a masterpiece… all the rest, however…
There's just zero ways to make another one as good as the first
The rest are great imo. The story being expanded in each movie and getting ever increasingly over-the-top makes for an entertaining viewing experience. The only one that fully sucked and had no redeeming qualities was Jigsaw imo. It was super lame and cringey, and it wasn't even fun bad like Saw 3D, it was just bad.
same. thoroughly enjoyed the first when it came out. the next two put me off the franchise forever. just as dull and trite as hostel.
Same - first one brilliantly imaginative - so clever - had me totally gripped. Hated the rest.
It's awesome!
Such a treat of a film. ❤️
I like to watch them all every couple of years. I don't like other torture horror movies either, but these are the exceptions.
Now you can say you saw Saw.
That’s what I love so much about the first one! It focuses more on suspense and storytelling than gore
First Saw really feels more like a thriller than “torture porn” horror film.
It's a classic. Some of the sequels are better than others.
Your opinion of Saw is accurate for all the subsequent movies, but the first one is fantastic and not too gratuitous or unnecessary.
I'm so glad I saw it before the internet and social media was a big thing. My now wife had heard a bit about it and wanted to see it. I knew nothing about it other than it was some horror or thriller where some guys were trapped in a room by a guy that liked to watch his victims through cameras or something. The basic synopsis sounded pretty lame. But when we finally watched it, my god! So good. We had no idea of any twists or anything so weren't looking for it. I wish I could experience that movie again for the first time. These days within days of release the twist would be all over facebook in memes.
They're fun films. I saw the first at the cinema. People went nuts about the ending. I like them all, but would suggest avoiding Spiral. It's awful, and doesn't add anything to the canon whatsoever
This makes me so happy. Nothing will ever bear that first mind-blowing view.
A modern classic in my eyes although getting less modern as the time goes on 🤣 the music that comes in for the end 'twist' will always be my fave from any horror film!
First Saw is really good. I think the second and the third is good too then it just starts milking the concept into a dry cow.
Saw 2 is really good too and the latest saw was actually the second best in my opinion.
The series is fantastic! Loved the last one.
The first Saw movie is really good!
The first one is fantastic. Top top movie. You can stop there, dont bother with the rest.
Saw is one of my favorite horror franchises. Some of the later movies *do* border on being “torture porn”, but it’s really up to you how much you can stomach. The rest of the series puts more emphasis on showing the traps in action rather than the quick cuts (pun not intended) the first film makes.
The first one (and the second one too, I would say) are excellent psychological horror. But the first is still the best IMO. It feels like a video game but in a *good* way, if that makes sense.
Saw really broke barriers when it came out. I'd even consider it generation defining. I try to watch that movie every year.
I had the same experience with the Saw movies. I avoided them for years because the "torture porn" label and covers really put me off. But they're much more fun than I anticipated, and I'm generally here for an anti-capitalist movie (and don't need it to be subtle).
The first one is really good. Has a plot, character arcs and everything.
The first 2 Saw films aren't really torture porn. They're more psychological and plot driven, but after that they basically become contests to figure out the craziest ways to kill people
3 through 9 are what you are thinking, those in general suck lol
You have watched the best one. Dont bother watching the rest
The first one is great. I also love Saw II and V But the deeper you get in the series, the more it's about the torture/gore and less about the twists and turns
Saw was treated very unfairly when it came out. It was immediately ghettoized with the label "torture porn", which was deeply ignorant of the horror genre. This leads anyone who hasn't seen it to believe the movie is just gore effects and nothing else. John Kramer and the film's message about the value of life resonates with viewers. A similar theme is the saying: "When death finds you, may he find you alive." Oddly enough, this theme is in the same ballpark as Office Space. There are movies that are nothing but gore, and seem to have been made to show off the skills of the make up artist, like the Guinea Pig series, or the first Terrifier (Though Leone got interesting in the 2nd of the series). But Saw wasn't that. Saw was the victim of the torture porn label because film criticism online is trash, and the countless film critics who don't know film history, and some I'd argue, haven't even watched B&W movies. Or at the very least, Herschell Gordon Lewis films. If I'm going to get super-snarky, then they might only know Vincent Price as the author of cookbooks. Another entry the critics considered worthless torture porn were the Hostel movies, they weren't my cup of tea, but you can't ignore they're saying something about class in the 21st century. A theme that has become much more resonant as time goes by. I found them uninteresting and dull except for the ending of the second one, which was fantastic, but sitting through the pictures are too long a journey to make it worth it. If the ending of the 2nd was the ending of the 1st, it would have landed the theme perfectly and would have been a solid movie. A third that comes to mind that makes me throw my hands up at online critics is The Human Centipede. When that came out, these so-called critics acted as if there had never been a mad scientist movie before. Again, instead of reviewing a film for its own merits, they come at it from a high horse, and act as if its the end of film. When it comes to horror, watch what you want to watch.
Leave it at that! I cannot state this strongly enough: the first is an all time thriller, the rest are paper thin shock value garbage. Obviously do what you will, but you can also take the hours that would've gone into the sequels as a gift and watch good movies instead.
The elaborate death traps don't become the focus until the sequels. All the sequels are more similar to each other than the original though, so if you try saw 2 and don't like it you probably won't like the others either
If they left it alone and not barfed out a bunch of sequels, it would have been in the top 10-20 greatest horror movies of all time. Franchising ruined it.
I watched Saw way too young, right when it came out on dvd, and it scared the shit out of me and was always this like, minor source of anxiety, like even when all the shitty sequels came out years later I didn’t even like joining around about them. Like a decade later when I actually liked horror, I revisited it and was surprised it was not nearly as gory as I remembered and was actually a pretty good movie.
The first couple are good! Then they get progressively worse and turn into just torture movies. Watch the second one!
The Saw movies until and including the one that came out in 2010 are like that. They are a story in parts essentially with those flashy gore moments, but there is a much deeper story than your average horror film. It's really a disservice that it was known for it's cruel traps and stuff and not for the suspense of the story as a whole.
I put off watching it for years for the same reason! Now I love it as a legitimately great movie. I knew about >!The Jigsaw twist!< but had no idea about >!Adam's key!< when I watched it for the first time, and that left me yelling at the TV in surprise. The sequels aren't as good (except X, echoing the sentiment that it's also very well-done) but they are entertaining to watch to see how goofy and wild they can get, even if some of the traps are weird or just gross. I love camp and shocking plot twists, so I would have watched the series a lot sooner if someone had sold me on that aspect instead of me just thinking they were all about the gore and torture for more than a decade.
I had seen both Saw 1 and 2 in theaters.. and there was a scene in 2 that made me "nope" out for the rest of the series. That was back when it first came out. Time passed and then last year when Saw X came out I decided I was going to give the rest of the movies a try. Damn near every single one of them is a solid movie. I have now watched the entire series twice.. except for Spiral. It was meh..
You can probably skip the next 15 sequels. It's more or less the same.
If you’ve never seen “Hard Candy” i recommend it. Also you now have like another eight films to catch up on in the Saw franchise.
I had this exact reason when I watched it for the first time last year! I ended up watching 1-4 and I liked all of them.
>I love the puzzle aspect and the twists and the fact that it makes you think. Watch the entire franchise you will enjoy it (but feel free to skip Jigsaw).
Most of the sequels are the torture porn you wouldn’t want to see. Part 2 isn’t too bad but it’s definitely far more violent with grizzly graphic deaths. It’s less about puzzles and choices and more about finding inventive ways to kill prople. That’s relative to the first one. Relative to the ones that come after it’s far far closer to the original saw. The series devolves into graphic torture porn with an increasingly convoluted plot. Some people recommend X but I disagree based solely on you enjoying the original and not most horror. It’s closer to the original but each set piece is essentially a stage to graphically and agonizingly murder someone. The first one is “you have X number of hours to make a difficult choice. Everything after 2 becomes “You have 60 seconds to horrifically maim yourself before you’re sadistically murdered.
Saw and Saw 2 are great Saw 3 (and beyond) is when the nonsensical violence and hyper-convoluted stories begin
TIL saw is 20 years old
The first Saw is not torture porn. It’s great with actual tension and suspense. The torture porn element definitely started with the sequels. The first Saw is the only one I’ll rewatch anymore.
I like it, but I think Leigh Whannel is the worst fucking actor and it kind of ruins it for me.
One of my favorite movie quotes ever. "Went to sleep in my sh\*thole apartment, woke up in an actual sh\*thole".
Dude the original ROCKS. I love it. A lot of love when into the making of that movie and you can feel it. Sure it’s got some torture and gore and that may turn some viewers away. But the story around it is awesome and the twist at the end is the cherry on top. One of the best twists in all of cinema!
The budget on that movie was so small that they didn’t even make a dummy to replace Tobe Hooper laying in middle of the room. He had to lay there for every shot and every scene. The ending is one of my favorites of any horror movie. I couldn’t believe it.
I really enjoyed the first few movies! It gets a lot worse as the franchise goes on, I think I ended up turning off number 4 and just never revisited. I'd be so curious if any of the newer ones were a bit more like the first few films
The star of the first Saw movie is the script. It was a micro budget thriller shot in like 10 days by two complete unknowns, full of tricks that paper over how threadbare the production was, stock photos, reused shots, and it works cos that script is absolutely solid gold. It’s lightning in a bottle. The sequels are all lesser (particularly 3, there is a reason so many people stop after 3), but I think 4-6 are so lovingly bonkers twisty turny horror soap opera gubbins, that they make the whole series worthwhile.
I do SAW binge marathons at least 3 × yr
It is a good concept for a movie. What discredits Saw a lot is that it got very popular and they proceeded to spit out a new Saw movie every year for like a decade. And recent years made few more additions. I felt a little overkill but I guess if this is your bag, then you have a good amount of content to go through.
Watch the second one, it’s as good as the first one
The first Saw is great. It’s the sequels that became torture porn.
The first few are actually really good mystery thrillers. But then it feels like they wrote themselves into a corner and wanted to distract the audience with increasing gore and shock value
First one is decent. All the sequels are torture-porn.
The Saw franchise is my favorite soap opera
The first 3 are brilliant, the rest are varying degrees of shit, but mostly fun shit.
They get a bad rep for being "torture porn" when they really aren't. They horror cop movies at best with good stories, themes and twists. I recommend watching them all.
I went to the cinema to watch Saw, and >!when John stands up at the end!< is still one of my favourite endings. Saw 1,2 and 3 are great. The series lost its way after this, but they are still good fun movies to watch
Mildly off topic but anyone that says they saw the twist coming is absolutely full of shit.
Saw is an amazing series, keep going so you can meet Hoffman
The original saw is fantastic. I enjoyed the first 3 honestly. I think by 3 one it’s just gore porn
I feel the exact opposite to be honest. I think the Saw concept is interesting, but the contrived twists and the thriller aspect were so stupid to me. Jigsaw is like a supervillain who can set up the most implausibly complicated scenarios, and it's just twists on twists for the sake of twists. The core concept is interesting enough I don't think it needed all the flamboyant shenanigans on top
I saw Saw while eating coleslaw.
I love Horror and I even enjoy Gore But stuff like Saw or Terrifier 1 and 2 are next level for me😂😂😂 Although I know the Saw Movies are most of them some Masterpieces… I draw the line by stopping at Gore like Michael Myers, Jason, Texas Chainsaw, etc I once saw a Saw X “Cutting Leg Scene” in Twitter and I was like hell no, I’m out So I have never seen them before And not planning on it either😭😂 Glad you enjoyed it!
Totally understandable! I don’t think the first Saw movie has much of any gore at all since it’s pretty much all off screen if you were to ever change your mind. Terrifier has everything on screen and is just a very gorey slasher, but I would put Saw in a different category entirely tbh
Oh! I was wrong then. Sincerely, didn’t knew. I think the Saw Movies got heavier and more brutal (in terms of Gore) as they grew. What I saw from Saw X literally left me speechless. Same with Terrifier 2. Probably the two craziest movie scenes I have ever seen Hope you keep enjoying them all my friend! Respect.
You won't regret watching the first saw
It’s FANTASTIC! The others are absolute torture porn though 😂 but it’s such a great intro to it the series
Yeah first one was good not sure about the other ones cuz those are prolly just torture porn imo