Hutchinson Leader - movie reviews - Comments

Friday the 13th. Best movie

Eric Kraushar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:51:57 -0600

Friday the 13th. Best movie of 2009 so far. Then again, it's the only movie that I've seen the first six weeks of the year. Jorge hit it on the nail - it reminded me so much of the original movies, just updated with new early-20s actors that are/were hot on such wonderful channels such as the WB and ABC Family.

Jason was absolutely ruthless. Back to the glory days of FT13 2 and 4. And very much unlike 8 when he allowed a kickboxer to get in 13 or 14 punches/kicks before delivering one blow to said head-less kickboxer.

Plus we saw a 90-second preview of Transformers 2. Awesome is all I can say about that.

Aura Lee: A fellow horror

Jorge Sosa — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:05:11 -0500

Aura Lee:

A fellow horror movie buff! Sweet!

I maybe came off sounding more harshly critical of "Saw" then I meant to. I loved the first two "Saw" movies. "Saw III" was still interesting but didn't seem as rock-solid.

Here's what I mean when I say, "The 'Saw' series copped ideas from 'Seven' but lacks its depth."

((SPOILER ALERT!))

Both movies are about a serial killer who targets victims based on what he sees as their moral failings. He justifies murder because he thinks his victims brought his vengeance on themselves.

Both John Doe and Jigsaw think they have the moral high ground. And they love an audience. They taunt the investigators and eventually lure them into traps.

Both Jigsaw and John Doe set up elaborate ways for their victims to get offed. As you pointed out, people in both series are faced with grisly choices. Not just the "vanity" victim, but ... (BIG-TIME SPOILER!!!) ... Detective Mills who has to choose between duty and revenge. He fails the test and ends up playing right into John Doe's evil scheme.

Both films also have surprise endings, so, I would say it's pretty obvious that the creators of "Saw" were heavily influenced by "Seven."

When I say "Saw" lacks the depth of "Seven," I'm thinking about how "Seven" has all these literary allusions in it. Dante's "The Divine Comedy" and the Bible are referenced quite a bit. With "Saw," the filmmakers primarily reference other movies, namely "Seven."

Also, I think the acting in "Seven" is generally stronger, but that's a matter of opinion. I think both Tobin Bell and Kevin Spacey play excellent villains.

I think both movies are pretty suspenseful, but in different ways. "Seven" is more psychological and "Saw" gets me in the gut.

One thing I really admire about the "Saw" series is that the filmmakers show it's possible to make a really scary and profitable movie without spending a lot of money.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)

The “Saw” series copped

Aura_Lee — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 10:28:03 -0500

The “Saw” series copped ideas from “Seven” but lacks its depth??????????

(spoiler alert!)
please explain. i'm a fan of "seven" but an even bigger fan of the "saw" series. i don't feel "saw" copped anything from "seven". sure people got to make some grisly choices in "seven", like the lady who had to choose between living without a nose and killing herself, but in "saw" and "saw ii" everyone has a way out. "seven" was more of a killer punishing people for the sins of society and "saw" is more about getting people to realize their pettiness and gets them to appreciate being alive. (for however short of a life they have left if they don't figure out the puzzle). with the exception of "Saw III" the "Saw" series, i feel, is far more suspenseful and thought provoking. it makes a person think about all the stupid things in one's life that seem to mean more than they should and one goes away with a feeling that life isn't so bad afterall. "seven" had a cool ending and i enjoyed showing that movie to friends just to see the reaction when that head comes out of the package,(i warned you of the spoiler alert) but the "saw" endings seemed much more exciting and made me want to go back to see the movie again to watch all the small little details that one might miss the first time fall into place.