Saw 2 Review

Written by: Alex   

The sequel to my favorite horror film of all time is (thankfully) a pleasant gory surprise. As with the original, I walked out of the theater pleased, though for completely different reasons. Whereas the first "Saw" was a truly scary experience, "Saw II" manages to be an enjoyably grotesque tense-filled thriller. Like any good sequel, it stays faithful to the original concept while bringing something new to the table.

Once again, there are elements of "Cube" embedded into the screenplay, but the biggest difference is that "Jigsaw" (Tobin Bell) is now an actual character. Also, like the original, there are some nice visual references to Argento horror flicks. As directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, the picture has a faster pace than its predecessor and some better acting.

However, the scares from the first film aren't present here (though some of that 80's feel is still apparent). As before, the conclusion is one that blew me away. The biggest surprise to me is how the filmmakers were able to put together such a quality follow-up in record's time (less than a year). The fact is that Lion's Gate now has their own "Scream" franchise and I, for one, will be more than happy to watch Jigsaw's ingenious games unfold on the big-screen every Halloween! (He's already fooled me twice!)