Saw

James Wan
2004

I didn't catch the original entry of this tentpole franchise when it first hit theaters, since it didn't look all that exceptional to me. However, year after year, each successive installment lands front and center on the cover of my beloved Fangoria's October issue, and as a result my curiosity has steadily percolated over a four year period. Wan's film (his only directorial effort in the series) is loaded to the gills with sequel-friendly tropes. The graphic violence and body based horror echoes great Italian fright fare, and the liberal use of plot twists, while admittedly hit or miss, prevents things from getting dull. Serial killer Jigsaw's central conceit, that the majority of people take their lives for granted, and should therefore be tested, is quite compelling, and while the concept of gruesome "games" is hardly original for a horror flick, the masterfully measured unfolding of narrative sets this one apart. The predicament of Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell being sadistically manipulated while trapped in a grimy industrial bathroom plays out brilliantly, the police investigation angle and endangerment of Elwes's family is trite filler in comparison. In this sense, the film may have been more successful as a short, but of course shorts don't end up as cash cow blockbusters.