Saw 2

(2005) ****

Frankly, I wasn't looking forward to the 2nd installment of this brutal series.  I didn't care for the first one and dismissed it in 2003 as a pointless, unrewarding exercise in torture.  Furthermore, I am always skeptical when a sequel is rushed into theaters a year after the original.   But Horrorthon duty called and I joylessly accepted the charges.  

Maybe I simply caught this one in the proper state of mind or maybe they actually did manage to improve on the original.   But I'll be damned if I didn't love every minute of this flick from the nasty opening sequence boasting a spiked mask (pictured) to the equally nasty grand finale. 



The sadistic murderer known as Jigsaw is up to his old tricks.  This time he traps 8 unlikables in a heavily booby trapped dungeon.   Each is injected with a virus that will kill them if the antidote is not found in time.  Once again, Jigsaw relishes in seeing what horrific things they are willing to do to save their own lives.    

I was very pleased to see Jigsaw revealed right off the bat.  I don't think I could have stomached another drawn out splatter-fest void of any concrete explanation.   He is in police custody the entire movie but still has the upper hand as the lieutenant's teenage son is among the victims.   

Even more satisfying, Jigsaw's twisted motives are also addressed.  Essentially he is a dying cancer patient who takes the lives of those he does not feel deserve to live.   Good enough for me!  The actor who plays him does a remarkable job of avoiding the pitfall of portraying him as an omnipotent, diabolical genius a la Hannibal Lecter.   While he has some of those qualities, he also plays the killer as a bitter, pathetic man who has given up on his own life.