Saw II DVD Review:

Something happens when a small film makes a lot of money. Everyone starts paying attention, because not only was the film a success, but the fact that it cost so little to make only increases the value of the success. What is so amazing about Saw II is that the amount of money which was spent on it was not an extremely large increase from the first film. When The Blair Witch Project made a ton of money, it was thought to be a great idea to make a sequel, but with a much larger budget. When the film flopped, it was that much more of a failure. Saw II purposefully used a smaller budget, because that is what made the first film work, and had it failed it would not have been as large of a failure. It didn’t fail, however, and ended up being one of the biggest success stories of 2005, even though the film is not even that good.

With everything left obviously unresolved in the first film, the killer is still on the loose. At the beginning of the film we are introduced to a new cop, Detective Eric Mathews, who is running an investigation of Jigsaw. It looks as though he may even kill the twisted mastermind behind a number of gruesome deaths, but once the suspect is apprehended, it is obvious that things won’t be that simple. The cat and mouse games begin again, with all new victims in mind, except for one unlucky woman who has been trapped in his web for the second time.

Eight victims are trapped in a house, and as they try to find their way out of it, they realize that every area has been booby trapped. The premise is not much different from the Cube series, except it is much more real. The traps are creative, but they lack the same simplicity that the ones from Saw seemed to have. Some of them are so complicated, or obvious, that it is hard to believe all of the people in the house are stupid enough to fall for them. Mostly they all seem to be set up to encourage the audience to cheer for their demise.

The DVD features the same creative packaging which has become connected with the Saw film on home video. It is a clear case to best feature the saw style disc. The menus are as equally fitting for the series, with hints at gruesome acts. The highlight of the DVD, aside from the film, is the audio commentary track with director Darren Lynn Bousman, and actors Donnie Wahlberg and Beverley Mitchell. It is only unfortunate that Leigh Whannell, the driving force behind the films, could not have been on the commentary track. There are also a number of other features which will be appreciated by horror fans. The most fun of the features is “The Traps of Saw II” which shows all of the deadly creations used to kill the victims in the house. Along the same lines is “Bits and Pieces” which has all of the props used in the film. There is also a gallery with some of the artwork used to plan the shoot in pre-production. There are storyboards and conceptual art. The last feature is mostly just a fun one, which is Jigsaw’s Game.

Ryan Izay