What a lovely and pleasant re-watch! Every time I watch the first Saw I'm surprised how well the story and the film in general holds up. I believe it is so underrated! Well maybe not with horror fans but with the big public.

Saw had a great cast, it showed us Jigsaw for the first time with the amazing voice of Tobin Bell. Such a raw voice and so memorable! We are getting great use of the low budget. The gore is never really shown but we feel the pain and it works. We also get like the first great trap like the "Reverse Beartrap" Amanda/Mandy has her head stuck in. And we get a surprise ending!

Anyway, I really like Jigsaw because of his motives, he isn't like a senseless killing machine, he wants his victims to appreciate life and I really, really like that. The design of the doll is creepy. I got scared the shit out of me once in one of those "haunted houses" when a Jigsaw doll rode his little bicycle towards me. Scary stuff.

So yeah, if I can show one entry in this horror franchise to people, it would be the first one. A James Wan and Leigh Whannell masterpiece!

Though I tend to go for both older films (those made before 1970) and
especially so when it comes to the horror/thriller genre, I saw parts 3
and 5 upon theatrical release (yes, I know it's really not right to see
film series out of sequence but I simply don't care) and they were
intriguing and decent, don't ask me why. Now that I both date a horror
film aficionado and my 13-year-old son himself is one as well, I have
decided to check out the contemporarily well-received original (I may
decide now to see the entire series, and in order, but really who's to
say?). Instantly, such trusted, bankable actors as Cary Elwes and Danny
Glover give it credibility, just as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford gave
such films as 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?' way back in days gone
by. This was much better than I felt parts 3 and 5 were, by the way.

The Original Saw (2004) is by far the best in the series. But I guess that's not saying much!

The first in the franchise benefits greatly from a tight and winding plot that keeps the viewer hooked, with an ending that is well deserved and works with the rules put in place by the film. Cary Elwes is great as Dr Gordon even if Leigh Whannell was never destined to be an actor. Gore is definitely not the name of the game here, with the camera frequently cutting away rather than lingering on the violence. Its plot comes first and is a great ride both first time and once you know what is coming.

On the bad side, I despise the editing in this film and the franchise as a whole. The quick cuts may have been a way at the time to save on budget, but it has unfortunately become a staple for this series and I really do not like it. The audio design is also terrible, with the loud stuff destroying my speakers but somehow I was still struggling to hear characters mumbling dialogue (but tbf this might be my setup). Finally, the cinematography is not to my taste. Very grimey, very brown/green, but is damn effective I suppose!

Its good stuff. Only goes downhill from here. 7/10.