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	Mark Burg Gregg Hoffman Oren Koules
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
Production companies	Twisted Pictures Evolution Entertainment
Distributed by	Lions Gate Films
Release date	October 28, 2005
Running time	93 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4,000,000
Box office	$152,925,093

Saw II is a 2005 American horror film, and the sequel to the 2004 film 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

Police informant Michael (Noam Jenkins) awakens in a room with a device locked around his neck that has two spiked clamps positioned to close around his head; the only key to unlock this device is behind his right eyeball, as the video tells him. He fails to cut his eyeball out with the scalpel provided, and is killed instantly when the timer runs out. He is later found dead by the police, the latest victim of the Jigsaw Killer.

Following an argument with his son Daniel (Erik Knudsen), Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is called to the scene of Michael's death. Using clues that have been specifically left for him at the scene, he is able to pinpoint Jigsaw's lair in an abandoned steel factory. The police raid the building and find John Kramer (Tobin Bell), weakened by cancer. Nearby is a set of computer monitors that show eight people trapped in an abandoned house being filled with deadly sarin gas; among them are Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Jigsaw's only known survivor, and Daniel, Detective Matthews' son. 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, and secure state" if he can simply talk with the dying man for a while.

In Jigsaw's lair, Matthews talks with John in an attempt to buy time while the video signal is traced. In the house, the captives are trying to secure antidotes to the nerve gas they are breathing. One of them, Gus (Tony Nappo), is shot dead 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 then finds a pit filled with thousands of hypodermic syringes, with a key to an antidote hidden within. Xavier (Franky G), 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.

In his lair, John explains his evolution into what he is today 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 John's philosophical ramblings, trashes several of his models and plans but fails to move him.

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 (Glenn Plummer) in a fight, he begins stalking the remaining four, who have discovered that Daniel is the son of the adults' arresting officer. Laura (Beverley Mitchell) soon dies from gas exposure, and Addison's (Emmanuelle Vaugier) arms become trapped in a glass box containing razors as she tries to retrieve a measure of the antidote for herself. Xavier reads the number on her neck, then leaves her to die.

Matthews 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 where Daniel 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. As he walks towards Amanda, Daniel, who has only feigned collapse, slashes Xavier's throat.

Once the SWAT team arrives at the location of the video feed, they find only a bank of VCRs 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. Reaching the real house, Matthews finds the already decomposing body of Jonas. He enters the bathroom and is attacked by a figure wearing a pig mask. In 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 recorded by Amanda reveals that she has 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

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

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 always got a second plan in place. And there’s probably been a number of second plans. 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 62% by users at Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 6.8 at the Internet Movie Database.

Made for only $4 million, Saw II grossed $147 million worldwide, including $87 million in the United States. Saw II remains the most successful film in the "Saw" series at the US box office (Saw III is the most successful worldwide.)

Soundtrack

Main article: Saw II (soundtrack)

DVD release

Unrated version

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

Differences include:

• The opening scene with the "Venus Head Trap" is extended and the song "Irresponsible Hate Anthem (Venus Head Trap Mix)" is playing in the background.
• When the police are entering the Wilson Steel warehouse, three short cuts are shown of Jigsaw upstairs eating a bowl of cereal in front of him, realizing the police have arrived. When he realizes this, he calmly goes back to eating the cereal.
• 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 to the full three minutes as shown on the timer.
• 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 scene where Matthews is beating up Jigsaw is extended with one extra punch.

As with the first Saw, there is an easter egg called "See SAW II in Sixty II". 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 website (archive)
• Saw II at IMDb
• Saw II at AllMovie
• Saw II at Box Office Mojo
• Saw II at Rotten Tomatoes