So I went to see this movie tonight. Walking into the theater lobby, we were both wondering: has society lost all common decency?
I’m talking about the movie “Seed of Chucky,” tastelessly named, and the large cardboard promos that featured the slogan “Fear the Second Coming.” And on top of that, concession stand workers actually had to wear promotional pins that said “Get a Load of Chucky.” Ugh. It must’ve been demeaning to those poor people.
And another thing. We were about to leave the concession stand to go into the movie when this guy, who looked like some type of handyman, literally popped his head up from under the counter, looked at our pretzels, then looked at me and said “Say, you gonna eat all that by yourself?” His rude remark prompted me to lean forward and respond rather loudly: “Do you see two of us standing here??” I don’t think I’ve ever said anything that rude to a stranger, and certainly not in a place of business. But I asked my friend later and he confirmed that yeah, the guy was out of line.
(The employee turned out to be a nice guy, anyway. Just a bit uncouth. Before we went into our movie, he explained that he can’t clean the cheese out of the seat fabric. He hates it when people buy the stuff because they inevitably spill it (or wipe their fingers off on the seats…ugh). Understandable.)
Oh yeah, so we “saw” Saw. I wanted to dislike it. The dialogue in the beginning sucked. And the plot seemed to have the kind of “Final Flashback Fills In Everything That You Couldn’t Possibly Have Guessed On Your Own” structure that I abhor. Still, though, this movie grew quickly on me.
First, I have to say that Saw was much better than The Grudge, which was a sporadically frightening movie with no underlying plot to hold everything together. That movie’s frights were so obviously added in using post-production gimmicktry that the audience was laughing and jumping at the same time. That “The Grudge” still sits atop the movie charts doesn’t give me much hope that screenwriters will be prompted to leave behind the tired old “Don’t Go In There” horror device (also known as “Run-Bitch-Run!” in urban theaters).
Saw doesn’t evoke any genuine terror in the viewer either. But like Se7en, the movie does a great job of conveying a genuine creepiness, depicting sympathetic characters who must jump through the arbitrary hoops of a deranged killer to save their own lives.
The movie also contains a few agonizingly intense moments of true depravity. I dunno about you, but they sure made mynight. Add in some satisfying plot twists interspersed throughout the story, and you’ve got yourself a keeper.
In the end, the reason revealed for the killings is stupid, a throwaway line at best. But who said horror movies were about reason? Go see it.