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Preview by: Jack Foley
IT IS being hailed as one of the most original serial killer
thrillers since Se7en, and is
set to make a name for its young director, James Wan, a native
Australian who could well emerge as one of the most exciting prospects
of the year.
Saw is an intricate tale about a viciously intelligent game being
executed by a criminal genius, who is keen to teach his victims
the value of life.
When the lead character, Adam, regains consciousness at the beginning
of the film, after nearly being drowned at the bottom of a bathtub,
he finds himself chained to a rusty pipe inside a dark torture
chamber.
But there is someone with him - namely, Dr Lawrence Gordon, who
has also just regained consciousness, and is chained to the opposite
side of the space.
Between them a man is lying in a pool of blood after apparently
shooting himself in the head with the pistol in his hand.
Adam and Dr Gordon must therefore piece together the clues left
behind by the deranged criminal mind that has brought them together
and finally realise that they, too, must make a seemingly impossible
set of choices for their lives - beginning with the saw that is
lying within reach for the both of them.
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Far from being just about the victims
in question, however, the remit of the killer extends far wider,
encompassing all aspects of both Adam and Dr Gordon's life - while
on the outside, a no-less stable detective is attempting to fit
together the pieces that the killer is leaving in his bloody wake.
The enticing premise debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival,
where it went down a storm.
Critics and viewers hailed it as a disturbing and highly memorable
piece, that stays with you long after it has finished.
It stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Leigh Whannell,
Tobin Bell and Michael Emerson.
Wan, who describes himself in interviews as a mild-mannered
sort of guy who doesn't necessarily rate horror as his favourite
gentre, is a graduate of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,
in Melbourne, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree.
He has previously directed a number of shorts and music videos
in his native country, and has also served in a number of production
capacities, including director, segment producer, editor, and
title sequence designer.
Yet Saw could mark his arrival in Hollywood in a big way. The
next David Fincher anyone?
The film opens in the UK in October.
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