Issue date: 10/27/04 Section: Arts

Cult classics aren't made. They evolve and morph. Much like Old Faithful or the Grand Canyon, it's a natural process taking many, many years. Unfortunately no one told first-time director and writer James Wan.

With "Saw," Wan attempts to skip the lengthy cult-making process and just get straight to the critical acceptance.

However, Wan is only armed with the cinematography of a Marilyn Manson video, a horror story he wrote in high school and Danny Glover.

Audiences might forgive Wan for his somewhat novel approach and memorable villain, Jigsaw.

Wan sets a promising pace with a standout opening scene set in a subterranean bathroom. Two strangers wake up chained to opposite walls of the unfamiliar space, with a dead body separating the men.

As Dr. Gordon, Cary Elwes is charged by an unseen puppeteer to kill Adam, Leigh Whannell by 6 p.m. If the doctor fails to complete this task, his young daughter and wife will be killed. The two are given few clues about their location, connection and salvation.

The two small handsaws given to Adam and Dr. Gordon set the tone of the film.

As Dr. Gordon says in one of the many previews or commercials, "He doesn't want us to saw through our chains! He wants us to saw through our feet!"

Taglines for the film ask "how much blood would you shed to stay alive?" Wan wants the audience to focus on the tension between Dr. Gordon and Adam. Both will have to make choices and only one will live through the ordeal.

The two work together and surmise that the orchestration behind their kidnapping and imprisonment is the notorious Jigsaw. Jigsaw has been making headlines with his unorthodox crimes.

Wan shines as a filmmaker during scenes from Jigsaw's history. The killer's M.O. includes kidnapping the wayward (drug addicts, the suicidal) and placing them in situations where they are forced to choose between two equally hideous options.

One victim is forced to choose between being locked in a basement to starve to death or crawl through a seemingly endless maze of razor wire.

Continued...

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