Saw
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: October 29, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
12
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Film ThreatHeidi Martinuzzi
May be the best independent horror film to have come out since "The Blair Witch Project." It's certainly better than "Blair Witch", and more fun, more gruesome, and more macabre. In a very delightful way. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The filmmakers piece it together with almost clockwork perfection and deliver it with masterful misdirection, creating the most ingenious, eccentric and brazenly jaundiced psycho-thriller to come along in years. Read full review
80
EmpireKim Newman
As good an all-out, non-camp horror movie as we’ve had lately. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Wan's tense, grisly cinematic morsel won't go down easy. But once it hits bottom, Saw is oddly satisfying, though the gag reflex never entirely goes away. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Saw is for hard-gore horror aficionados only. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
The slasher scenes, though relatively few, are amazingly evocative for such a low-budget movie. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Horror fans will find plenty to shriek about. Everyone else should keep their distance. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Boasts an undeniably original premise and clever plot machinations that lift it several notches above the usual slasher film level. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
Less a classical narrative than an ingenious machine for inducing terror, rage, and paralyzing unease. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Saw is a gristle-cut B psycho thriller that would like to tap the sickest corners of your imagination. It has a few moments of nightmare creepiness, but it's also derivative and messy and too nonsensical for its own good. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
It's brutal horror, where anyone can die at any time, and gorehounds will love it. Average folks may find it too intense. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Does a better-than-average job of conveying the panic and helplessness of men terrorized by a sadist in a degrading environment, but it is still not especially scary. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Saw is so full of twists it ends up getting snarled. For all of his flashy engineering and inventive torture scenarios, the Jigsaw Killer comes across as an amateur. Hannibal Lecter would have him for lunch. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
It's gross as hell. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
With its toilet-bobbing and blood spurting and Elwes's fey, Vincent Price–like mugging, Saw succeeds in capturing something like Takashi Miike by way of William Castle. Happy Halloween, indeed. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
The film is a squeamish exercise, like watching a cruel child pull the wings off flies - especially the climactic scene, which is so gory it would turn a coyote's stomach. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Wan's debut feature is a twisted, squirm-inducingly nasty bit of work, which isn't a criticism because that's exactly what he and cowriter Leigh Whannell had in mind. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
An efficiently made thriller, cheerfully gruesome, and finally not quite worth the ordeal it puts us through. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Leah McLaren
Let's just say this: It's a lucky thing I wasn't shackled to my seat in the theatre during this movie. I'd be limping home. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
As long as Saw stays in that big, nasty bathroom, all we need to believe is the knot in our stomachs. Read full review
50
PremiereAaron Hillis
Spoiled by its own insatiable desire for envelope-pushing flair; it’s wider-scoped when it should be intimate, splashy instead of subtle, icky but not scary. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyKim Morgan
A story that's so ridiculous you'll at least be entertained by the outrageous plot contortions to come. Read full review
38
USA TodayMike Clark
Becomes exceedingly disgusting when it wallows in the psychological torture of a child, a no-no under any circumstances. Read full review
33
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
What makes Saw so awful is that it starts with a clever premise and then completely blows it. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Though dumber than a box of rocks, Saw forges ahead with the kind of conviction and energy that will keep bad-cinema junkies sitting bolt upright. Read full review
30
VarietyDennis Harvey
A crude concoction sewn together from the severed parts of prior horror/serial killer pics. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Saw has its moments, and most of them are brutal in the extreme, but ultimately it's one tremendous misfire that will either leave you laughing or, possibly, gagging. Not what I'd call a winning combination. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
But humans who live above ground, including horror fans, will find themselves only fitfully entertained and more consistently appalled. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Where "Seven" seemed to radiate diabolical evil, Saw just radiates idiocy. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A gore movie with no teeth. Read full review
25
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Promoted as "the year's scariest movie," it's anything but. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Sicko horror film from Australia, whose sadism is topped only by its absurdity. Read full review
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