Movie #38 Saw

I am WAY behind on my reviews so I will  have to be brief with them in order to get things caught back up.  Fortunately for me the first picture on my list is Saw.  I am not a huge horror aficionado, but some people who's opinion I trust (or used to) on films recommended this to me.  They said it subverted the genre.  They told me that is had both style as well as substance.  They informed me that there was a morale message to the film.  They praised it for its production values.  They clamored on about the devices of torture and the twist at the end.

I did not see hardly any of this.  I saw a mildly clever setup, terrible (and I mean terrible) acting, hokey scenes of violence and pain and a total lack of morality.  There was no "message" to this film.  The twist at the end did surprise me, but by that time I didn't really care.  I had no reason to root for or become invested in any of these characters.  I did really care what happened to them. 

At best there is a subversion to the genre here.  This is the first American film that I know of to be classified as "Torture Porn".  Essentially films that display torture mearly for the sake of torture.  It is shock cinema.  These types of films have been in the grindhouses and underground for decades.  Movies like Saw and Hostel simply put scenes of mutilation and degradation in the multi-plex. There is no horror here.  There is no slasher, or physiological thrills.  No haunting music or disturbing soundscapes.  Hell, there really isn't even any scares.  A few things jump out at you, but there was nothing frightening about the film.  I watched it on my phone while lying in bed.  I turned it off when it was over and fell right asleep.  I couldn't have done that after The Shining, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 

I could care less about a film or film makers morale's.  I just want to be entertained or manipulated into feeling something.  The only thing I felt during and after Saw was cheated.  I am glad there are people that enjoy watching these movies, and now they have easier access to them.  But you won't see me in line to go see Saw 14.  I give this movie a 1.5/5 stars.  Check out the link below for the trailer....if you dare, ohhhhhhh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFQebvkii90