'Saw II' review

Hot off the presses, our review of the eagerly anticipated horror sequel.

Oct 28 2005

'Saw II' screened too late to be included in this week's magazine, but with the film hitting screens today, we present Nigel Floyd's review:

This solid sequel employs the same cruel puzzle logic as the original 'Saw', toying with the audience in much the same way that serial killer Jigsaw (brilliantly played by the pale, soft-voiced Tobin Bell) does with his imprisoned victims. The spring-loaded surprises never quite match the original, but you'll be kept awake by the stroboscopic images, jagged sounds and incessant screaming.

The challenge facing first-time writer-director Darren Lynn Bousman and his collaborator Leigh Whannell (co-creator and co-star of 'Saw') was how to get more mileage out of serial killer Jigsaw's imprisoning of eight new victims in a single locked room.

In fact, a bigger budget means it's an entire house. There's even a returnee: ex-junkie Amanda, the sole survivor from 'Saw’. As before, none of the victims knows why they are there, or what they have in common.

In a neat twist, Jigsaw is quickly apprehended by Detective Eric Mathews (Donnie Wahlberg). As in 'Seven', however, this is merely how the trap is sprung. The cancer-ridden Jigsaw has locked the corrupt cop's teenage son, Daniel (Erik Knudsen), in a booby-trapped house with a bunch of criminals who Mathews previously sent down using false evidence.

Soon, the prisoners are ripping themselves and each other apart in their selfish efforts to escape. Meanwhile, their prison is slowly filling with poison gas, which will kill them in two hours.

'Saw II' achieves a level of horror and cruelty – both physical and psychological – that is inventively modern and atavistically medieval.

• 
•