Saw has an interesting antagonist at its heart. Known as The Jigsaw Killer, John Kramer abducts an oncologist and a photographer, chains them up in a very disturbing bathroom where there is a corpse with a gun and a tape recorder in his hands. The tape recorder deals out some scary threats and you see that Jigsaw loves to play macabre games like this. 'Jigsaw' is a former civil engineer diagnosed with terminal cancer. He cannot be saved and tried to kill himself, but this fails and he develops a new respect for life. This respect leads him to play games with people who he feels do not value life enough to test how much they want to live. And these games are gruesome and barbaric. Throughout the film, speculation at to Jigsaw's identity is driving everyone crazy - especially an unhinged cop whose partner was killed by Jigsaw. Of course, everyone gets it wrong and the corpse on the floor suddenly gets very jaunty and reveals himself as Jigsaw, after there has been a lot of drama, flashbacks and carnage, of course. John 'Jigsaw' Kramer is a very clever and manipulative bad guy. He is fascinating and the film has a great premise - it was made on a paltry budget by director James Wan but took $100 million at the worldwide box office. Viewers were lured in by the explicit gore and high impact violence and the film spawned six sequels - each one elaborating on the character and motivations of Jigsaw.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
