Saw II:A Cut Above The Rest

I went to the first showing of Saw II with Little Sister and it was quite a wild ride. S2 opens up
subtly with another death mask trap that does not end well for the poor joker but sets the gross
out factor for the story nicely.

The basic plot here is that Detective Matthews(Donnie"Sixth Sense"Wahlberg) becomes the focus
of serial killer Jigsaw as his candidate for Juvenile Hall son is selected for the latest House of Horrors along with previous survivor Amanda(a kickass Shawnee Smith)and several other folks
who are more closely connected than they know or care once it's revealed that if they don't work
together,the nerve gas pumped into the building will soon kill them.

We do get some backstory on Jigsaw and fortunately,it doesn't hog screentime and actually plays
a part in the finale. Little Sister compared Jigsaw to a Batman villian and she's right,in the psycho
-logical sense. JS is not hidden in the shadows here,he's a wheelchair bound cancer patient who
nonetheless menaces you,despite his weakened state. He insists on holding an audience with Matthews and just the asking for a drink of water makes you root abit more for the bad guy.

You don't have to had seen the earlier Saw(which is a great twisted film)to enjoy this film but
be warned-totally not for the faint of heart at all. If this becomes a franchise,hopefully the next
film will have the same level of clever plotting and gruesome tableaux. If not,perhaps it may
usher in a new batch of old school horror films that will do more than visually gross out and
send up more murderous mind games..a sinister Sudoku,if you will.