Saw 2 film analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nac1avJp3UE - Here is alink to the movie trailer for Saw 2.

The saw films are a series of films which often revolve around a group of people in a horrific situation which the eventually have to escape from. Saw 2 is no different. Produced in 2005 by Gregg Hoffman would suggest it would fall into the category of a ‘gore’ horror film, and that suggestion would be correct.
The film begins with a man who has his head in a vice, distressed and scared, eventually he is killed in a frankly, horrific manner. This sets the tone for the film overall and leaves nothing to the viewers imagination, it doesn’t ease the viewer into the violence, its instant.
As the film progresses, a story line is formed where a police officer’s son is captured by the Jigsaw and he has to try and survive in this house he is trapped in, along with some other victims. It eventually turns out, the police officer framed all the people in the house with the boy and got them sent to prison for something they didn’t necessarily do, increasing the danger in the situation the boy has found himself in.
  Throughout the film the gore continues, with the victims being killed in unbelievable ways, such as being burned alive in a large furnace, attacked with a club containing nails, bleeding to death through severed wrists, and being shot in the head with a mechanical gun. All of which, very graphic and clear for the viewer to see. The film not only scares the audience by using different horror techniques such as quick cutting, aggression, possible death and the thought of captivity, but it also disgusts the audience, scaring them with the gore, making them not want to watch, but at the same time they cant resist. This is a classic technique that horror film producers use, as it is a human instinct, the lust for blood, the producers play on this and in a way, force the audience to watch even though what they are watching is quite repulsive.
  In terms of the structure of the film, there are many aspects of Todorovs theory in which he said there was a set structure for all films, an equilibrium, then an event happens, in this case, when the boy is captured and is trapped in the house, then there is a period of recognition, which also occurs in this film, then there is usually an attempt to fix the problem, in this case, when they are trying to escape the house, and the final stage of Todorovs theory, a new equilibrium. This stage of the theory is one that doesn’t completely agree with the film. The reason being, after the twist which turns out to be that the boy is actually safe and in a cupboard, the father has actually been captured while trying to save his son, therefore there is definitely no equilibrium to end the film. This has been done on purpose by the film producer, to leave the audience feeling uncomfortable about the film when they leave the cinema. It also gives them a chance to continue the series of films as it is currently on a cliffhanger, so it leaves the audience wanting more.

  The film fits in with the time period in which it was made, due to the fact that when it was made, there was a gore craze at the time for gore films, other gore films at the time include ‘Let the right one in’ and ‘The Grudge’. I don think the film made any progress in the genre, however. The film was a sequal, therefore had a previous story before it, which is actually quite similar to this one, showing there wasn’t much progression in terms of the kind of story lines in the films. The main difference between the films is that there is a different group of people trying to escape the jigsaw. The main progression was the manner in which the people are killed. The violence in the Saw films is predominantly much stronger than that in other horror films such as ‘Let the right one in’. So in that sense, the Saw films did make progress.
The characters in the film are very important as they form the structure of the group in the house. Vladamir Propp said that there would always be a hero, someone that was usually the main character, in this case, the police officers son. They would always have a helper, who would aid the hero, in this film it turns out to be the girl, however she turns out to be a false hero as although she helps the boy escape, she is actually working for the jigsaw and ends up capturing the police officer herself. There would also be a villain in the film, who would actively want to block the hero’s intentions, here, it is the large muscular male who tries to kill the young boy after he finds out who his father is. These characters appear in the majority of films and stories and are crucial to the story. I think the audience would side with the young boy and the girl helping him, to begin with, as the young boy is there through no fault of his own and as the audience has been introduced to his father, you feel connected to the character. You also side with the young girl as she is helping the boy, this soon changes however when the audience discovers her evil intentions.
  In conclusion, the film is a classic gore horror movie of its time, containing brutal and disgusting violence, designed to repulse the audience. The film contains a strong story line however which compels the audience from beginning to end. The characters in the film are well representative of Propp’s theory, with slight differentiations and twists, leaving the audience interested and shocked by the fillm. The twist at the end of the film is very clever and allows the film to be left on a cliff hanger, opening up the possibility of another film and it leaves the audience wanting to see more gore. The main reason for the success of the series of films, the natural lust for blood.

Kieran Browne