226) Saw II (2005)

226) Saw II (2005) Dir: Darren Lynn Bousman Date Released: October 2005 Date Seen: July 26th, 2009 Rating: 1.5/5

I watch the Saw films knowing that they're no kind of good. While Saw II may be a smidge above the other entries in the pedantic franchise--it provides the clearest version of its serial killer hero Jigsaw's manifesto on how torture makes victims appreciate life and avoids the convoluted plots of the sequels that followed--it's just as bad as the rest of them conceptually. In many ways, it does what Jigsaw's traps does: forces the viewer into a corner where it inhumanly assaults them--mostly with bad dialogue and acting; the sadistic violence isn't anything new under the sun, just a little more constipated that its giallo and slasher influences--with every rusty hook in its arsenal of convoluted but fairly dull provocations. Survivors will appreciate quality horror films more afterwards knowing that they have seen some of the worst and lived to like the rest. Moral panic, my ass.