Saw-
Uncut Edition
(Lion's Gate Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(2004)
review by Don't Feed the Dead

It has been exactly 1 year and since I had originally seen Saw in the theaters. I still hold onto the movie ticket (much as I do with all of them) and the fond memory of viewing one of the most disturbing horrors to be released in the last decade. In that year's time I have sat and watched as peers trashed the film for its obvious acting flaws and similarities to the oft heralded Se7en. During that same span I have watched a dozen or so horror releases gain favorable reviews even though they were quite sub-par in comparison to Saw's genius storyline and execution. Hence, I felt it necessary to purchase the Uncut Special Edition released by LGF prior to the sequel's arrival to possibly reveal to myself some of these "hang-ups" that others have experienced during its viewing. Fortunately, not only was I still impressed with the overall film, but the added sequences of gore and violence put this release on my "must have" list for genre fans.

We're all familiar with the storyline by now - a "serial killer" named Jigsaw is kidnapping people and having them play a game of survival so that they learn to appreciate their lives. We know by now who the killer is, so the "twist" was a null attribute to the film during its second viewing. However, as poignant as the twist was the first go around is the movie's overall theme, which became more prominent as I sat through the second stint. Co-writers James Wan and Leigh Whannel could have easily presented a hack horror film to producers, yet instead crafted a moral masterpiece, which challenges the sanctity of life. The question is playfully thrown around "How much blood will you shed to survive?" but the impact of the film's quandary isn't felt until its contents are fully processed. How far would you go to survive? General serial killer films have the villain playing the form of God, controlling its victim's fate. However, Saw turns the table on audiences and now presents them with the victim controlling their own destiny. Jigsaw is only the vehicle to convey the message; each victim is their own judge, jury and executioner.

But enough of the philosophical. This edition of Saw is all about the extras. Extra blood, extra gore, interviews, production notes, easter eggs - it's all here folks. There's at least 5 scenes that were edited down for theatrical release but are now shown in all their glory, and believe me, the impact is well felt. I remember almost feeling gypped by the lack of exploration into the death sequences, but the Uncut version leaves nothing to the imagination. This film is much sicker and darker than it's initial viewing conveyed, and the extras provided on the second disc shed a great deal of light on the lunacy by which the film was birthed.

For starters, the original short "Saw" by Wan and Whannell is presented in all its glory and I have to say that it's nothing short of fantastic. Basically taking the face trap scenario and projecting it onto Whannell's character, the short was created just before presentation of the idea to producers. The message was quite clear that Wan and Whannell had a damn fine idea, and that they could execute on the filmmaking end as well. The next step in the extras was to view the process by which the film was made, from inception to conception. Bouncing back and forth between producers, actors and creators, the audience gets to watch Saw literally be built. Throw in a decent amount of production material and you almost feel as though you're part of the filmmaking process.

Out of the hours of available extras, the one segment that I found most entertaining was the featurette on Billie the Puppet. Treating Billie as though he was an actual star in the film, perspectives and hilarious accounts were given by Whannell, Wan, Elwes and a couple others from the set. I nearly laughed myself silly as Wan convincingly described a situation with Danny Glover where he complained about Billie having a bigger trailer than he. Of course we all know the sensationalism surrounding the "horror icons" and this featurette was a nice touch by Lions Gate to poke fun at the hockey mask and bladed glove.

As mentioned earlier, I firmly believe the Uncut Special Edition of Saw to be a must have in your horror collection. Saw was not only a diamond in the rough (amongst CG laden family friendly horrors) but the most complete serial killer horror since Se7en. Although it does have its flaws, the film itself cannot be ignored based on storyline alone and the extras on the second disc make this purchase all the more necessary.