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Saw (2004)
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It is perhaps inevitable that this unsettling debut from director James Wan will be compared with Se7en. Not only do they share similarly skewed serial-killing themes, but their style, tension and sheer viciousness put them in the same genre pigeonhole. Told, unusually, from the point of view of the victims, this well-acted thriller chillingly questions how far an individual will go to stay alive. Leigh Whannell (who also wrote the screenplay) and Cary Elwes become the latest playthings of a game-obsessed psychopath, finding themselves chained to opposite walls in a crumbling, subterranean bathroom, with no recollection of how they got there. With its jerky, grainy cinematography and nerve-jangling industrial soundtrack, the film is more disturbing than terrifying. It's like an extended Nine Inch Nails rock video as imagined by Dario Argento. However just when you think you've got it sussed, the movie throws in some audacious twists, resulting in one of the most memorable climaxes in recent screen history. SF
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| Contains violence, swearing. |
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Tell us what you think
Email us at rtfilmcomments@bbc.co.uk to tell us what you think of this film. Your comments may appear in Radio Times magazine.
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Running time
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98min
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Country of origin
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US
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Genre
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Horror Thriller
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Original language
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English
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Screenplay
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Leigh Whannell, from a story by James Wan, Leigh Whannell
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Theatrical distributor
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Entertainment
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UK cinema certificate
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18
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UK cinema release date
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October 2004
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Film certification logos reproduced by kind permission of BBFC |
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