Saw II

This article is about the horror film. For the Aphex Twin album, see Selected Ambient Works Volume II.

Saw II
File:SawIIposter2.jpg Saw II Promotional poster
Directed by	Darren Lynn Bousman
Written by	Darren Lynn Bousman Leigh Whannell
Produced by	James Wan Leigh Whannell Mark Burg Gregg Hoffman
Starring	Donnie Wahlberg Tobin Bell Shawnee Smith Erik Knudsen Emmanuelle Vaugier Franky G Beverly Mitchell Glenn Plummer Dina Meyer Lyriq Bent
Cinematography	David A. Armstrong
Edited by	Kevin Greutert
Music by	Charlie Clouser
Distributed by	Lionsgate Twisted Pictures
Release date	October 28, 2005
Running time	Theatrical cut 93 min. Unrated cut 95 min.
Countries	United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$4,000,000 $24,000,000 (with P&A)
Box office	$147,739,965

Saw II is a 2005 American horror film, and the sequel to the 2004 Saw. The film (apart from external shots) was filmed in one building over the span of 25 days. It was released in most parts of the world on October 28, 2005, but not released in Australia until December 1, 2005. Darren Lynn Bousman took over directing duties, and co-wrote the story's script with Leigh Whannell, the original film's co-writer.

The film features the Jigsaw Killer finally being apprehended, but trapping the arresting officer in one of his own games while showing another "game" of eight people in progress at the same time. It also explores the character's back story, providing a partial explanation for why he became "Jigsaw."

Saw II is currently #16 on Bravo's Even Scarier Movie Moments. Following the film's opening weekend gross of $31.5 million, Lions Gate Entertainment commissioned Saw III, released on October 27, 2006.

Plot

The film opens with Michael, a police informant, finding himself ensnared in a deadly trap created by the Jigsaw Killer. A videotaped message informs him that a "death mask," a Venus flytrap-like helmet, has been locked around his neck and will close on his head unless he finds the key in time. Michael realizes, through hints left by Jigsaw, that the key has been implanted behind his right eye. He finds a scalpel nearby, but cannot bring himself to cut out his own eye; when the timer runs out, the device slams shut, killing him instantly.

After an argument with his rebellious teenage son Daniel (Erik Knudsen), Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is called to the scene of Michael's death. Following clues that have been specifically left for him, he is able to pinpoint Jigsaw's lair in an abandoned steel factory. The police raid the building and find Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) himself present, though considerably weakened by cancer. Nearby is a set of computer monitors that show eight people trapped in an abandoned house filling with deadly sarin gas; among them are Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Jigsaw's only known survivor, and Daniel. He reveals that the victims have two hours before dying from the nerve agent, but promises that Matthews will see his son in a "safe, secure state" if he can simply talk with the dying man for a while.

File:SawII Michaeltest.jpg

Michael struggles to free himself from the death mask without cutting out his eye to get the key.

The story now intercuts between Jigsaw's lair as Matthews talks with him in an attempt to buy time while the video signal is traced, and the captives in the house, who are trying to secure antidotes to the nerve gas they are breathing. One of them, Gus (Tony Nappo), is killed by a booby-trapped door shortly after they begin their search. Obi (Tim Burd), an accessory to the other victims' kidnappings, is burned alive while attempting to retrieve two antidotes in a furnace. The group later finds a pit filled with thousands of used and bloody hypodermic syringes, with a key to an antidote hidden within. Xavier, the intended victim, throws Amanda into the pit rather than search for the key himself. Amanda retrieves the key, but Xavier fumbles with it and fails to unlock the door to the antidote before its timer runs out.

Meanwhile, Jigsaw explains his evolution into a killer to Matthews and reveals to him that the seven adults trapped in the house are criminals that Matthews has framed. Should Daniel's identity be discovered, he will be in great danger. Matthews, growing impatient with Jigsaw's philosophical ramblings, trashes several models and plans but fails to move Jigsaw.

Xavier, having abandoned the others, realizes that one number of the combination to the safe has been written on the back of each of the victims' necks. After killing Jonas in a fight, he begins stalking the remaining four, who have been made aware that Daniel is the son of the adults' arresting officer. Laura soon dies from gas exposure, and Addison's arms become trapped in a glass box containing razors as she tries to retrieve an antidote for herself.

Matthews, meanwhile, loses control and violently assaults Jigsaw, eventually forcing him to take him to the house at gunpoint. As they depart, the tech team pinpoints the signal, prompting the others to travel to its origin. In the house, Xavier pursues Amanda and Daniel through a hidden basement tunnel, which leads to the bathroom of the first film (including the bodies of Adam Faulkner and Zep Hindle, and the severed foot of Dr. Lawrence Gordon, all now badly decomposed), where Daniel then collapses. Amanda remarks that Xavier has no way of learning his own number, whereupon he slices off a piece of skin from the back of his neck to read it. After he threatens Amanda, Daniel, who has only feigned collapse, fatally slashes Xavier's throat.

Once the SWAT team arrives at the location of the video feed, they find only a bank of VCR's playing back previously recorded images of the eight victims. They realize at this point that the events in the house took place some time before the police raided Jigsaw's lair; Matthews, however, is unaware of this fact. Reaching the real house, he finds the already decomposing body of Jonas. He enters the bathroom (now empty except for the bodies of Zep, Adam, and Xavier) and is attacked by a figure wearing a pig mask. Back at Jigsaw's lair, a timer expires and a large safe opens to reveal Daniel inside, hyperventilating into an oxygen mask.

Matthews awakens to find himself chained by the ankle to the bathroom's pipework. An audio tape lying next to him reveals that Amanda has put him there. In a montage of flashbacks, she is shown to have become Jigsaw's protégée. Amanda appears in the door and says "Game over," before closing the bathroom door as Matthews screams threats and abuse. Outside the house, a badly beaten Jigsaw slowly forms a smile.

Cast

• Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Eric Matthews
• Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw
• Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young
• Erik Knudsen as Daniel Matthews
• Emmanuelle Vaugier as Addison Corday
• Franky G as Xavier Chavez
• Beverley Mitchell as Laura Hunter
• Glenn Plummer as Jonas Singer
• Dina Meyer as Detective Allison Kerry
• Lyriq Bent as Sergeant Daniel Rigg
• Tim Burd as Obi Tate
• Tony Nappo as Gus Colyard
• Noam Jenkins as Michael Marks

Critical reaction and box office

Even more so than in the previous film, critics found Jigsaw's diabolic "games" to require a large amount of planning and fortuitous timing in order to succeed, causing some to liken his murderous schemes to Rube Goldberg machines.Tobin Bell addressed some of these criticisms by saying, "My sense is that [Jigsaw] is so detail oriented that I think he thinks in terms of worst case scenario. I think he’s a very good judge of character, so his sense that, for example, that Detective Matthews was going to play right into his trap, which he did, was right on. Now, it seems to me that he’s got plan 2 always in place. And there’s probably been a number of plan 2s. I mean, we’ve only seen three movies. Maybe there are six more somewhere where he failed, where something didn’t play out."

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the aggregate rating of this film was only 36%, with several reviewers revolted by the explicit gore and torture scenes. Of the few critics who provided positive reviews, some remarked that it was a worthy follow-up, providing plenty of what fans of the first expected. As with its predecessor, however, the film garnered far more positive reception with the public than with critics. It currently holds a rating of 74% by users at Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 6.8 at the Internet Movie Database.

Made for only $4 million (not including a $20 million P&A budget), Saw II grossed $147 million worldwide, which includes $87 million in the United States.

Soundtrack

Main article: Saw II (soundtrack)

DVD release

Unrated version

Saw II has been released on a standard as well as a "Special Edition" uncut DVD.

Differences include:

• When the police are entering the Wilson Steel warehouse, three short cuts are shown of Jigsaw upstairs working, with a bowl of cereal in front of him, realizing the police have arrived. When he realizes this, he calmly goes back to what he was working on.
• Jigsaw has a few extra lines of dialogue with Detective Matthews, mentioning that he has "wiped the slate clean", and that most people are merely "sleepwalking".
• When Obi is trapped in the oven, he attempts to break the glass on the far side as he is burning alive.
• The scene of Amanda thrashing around in the syringe pit is extended.
• In the bathroom, Charlie Clouser's score is different and much harsher as Xavier cuts the back of his neck, than the similar music in the theatrical cut.
• The opening scene with "The Venus Headtrap" is extended and the song "Irresponsible Hate Anthem (Venus Headtrap Mix)" is playing in the background.
• The scene where Matthews is beating up Jigsaw is extended with one extra punch.

As with the first Saw, there is an easter egg called "SAW 2 in 62". It has three "takes", the first one is using clay figures modeled after the characters in the film, the second replaces the character with common materials, and the third one uses photos from the film which are animated.

External links

• Official site
• Saw II at IMDb
• Saw II at AllMovie
• Saw II at Box Office Mojo
• Saw II at Rotten Tomatoes
• Official SAW site and fan club
• Official Tobin Bell site and fan club
• Official SAW props, wardrobe, and autograph auction