Saw II (2005)

June 25, 2024 12:22 PM

[TRAILER] On the hunt for the twisted vigilante and serial killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) and his team must apprehend the elusive murderer to rescue eight people trapped in an abandoned house, before they succumb to his torturous and murderous games. One twist to this task is that Matthews' own son, Daniel (Erik Knudsen), is among the eight people Jigsaw has chosen to test for their lack of morality. With nerve gas pumping through the house, every second counts.

Also starring Shawnee Smith, Franky G, Glenn Plummer, Beverley Mitchell, Dina Meyer, Emmanuelle Vaugier.

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. Written by Leigh Whannell, Darren Lynn Bousman. Produced by Gregg Hoffman, Oren Koules, Mark Burg for Twisted Pictures. Cinematography by David A. Armstrong. Edited by Kevin Greutert. Music by Charlie Clouser. Distributed by Lions Gate Films.

37% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (59% audience score).

Currently streaming in the US on Starz and The Roku Channel. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (3 comments total)

If you're not inclined to watch this film at all, I am not at all trying to change your mind. But if you're a horror fan who blew this off, it's solid, in its grubby way.

This was dismissed at the time of its release as a) a big step down from the first installment that James Wan directed and b) part of the torture porn wave. On rewatch, I think the former is entirely true (though I land closer to that audience score than the critics average), but I don't think the latter is fair. The kills in the movie aren't more mean-spirited than those in say, a slasher movie, and they're not substantially gorier, either. It's just that the Rube Goldberg-iness of their construction increases the OOF and the cruel irony.

My number one complaint for the Bousman entries is that I do not think the cop storylines add much, if anything. Beyond that, I find it somewhere between ill-advised and hilarious how hard the series continually tries to end the story of its central villain and big draw. The non-Jigsaw lore that builds up around this is what chokes the series down later.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:32 PM on June 25

Despite the plot not being fantastic, this film features for me the scariest of the traps-the needle pit. While the headtrap is terrible, I'd still take it over the needle pit any damn day.
posted by miss-lapin at 12:59 PM on June 25 [2 favorites]

That needle pit grosses me out more than anything else in these movies. Everything is else is going to be really painful, but will at least kill you pretty quickly. Needle pit is going to hurt less, but in a really annoying way and then make you die slowly from some dumb infection.
posted by mrphancy at 1:25 PM on June 25