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"SAW II" (2005) (Donnie Wahlberg, Shawnee Smith) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Extreme Extreme Extreme Heavy Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Moderate Extreme None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate Mild Mild Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: A number of people try to make their way out of a potentially lethal, booby-trapped house as a cop deals with the deranged perpetrator and tries to figure out where the victims are located. PLOT: Eric Matthews (DONNIE WAHLBERG) is a decorated cop who's given up the street beat for a desk job but must contend with his failed marriage and estranged relationship with his son Daniel (ERIK KNUDSEN) who's now getting into trouble of his own. But Eric has bigger fish to fry when he's called to a homicide scene by Kerry (DINA MEYER), a police detective who's continuing her work investigating the devious, homicidal spree left in the wake of a killer dubbed Jigsaw. It seems that the killer has left a message for Eric who's suddenly drawn into the investigation when he and Kerry learn that Jigsaw is back to his old tricks again. This time he has Daniel as one of his potential victims trapped inside a house with a bunch of strangers. They learn via audiotape that if they want to survive their booby-trapped environs -- before a slowly vented nerve gas kills them in two hours -- they must figure out various abstract clues about themselves and the house in order to get out. One of the victims, former addict Amanda (SHAWNEE SMITH) has first-hand experience with this situation as she was a previous victim of Jigsaw's morality experience who managed to prove she had the survival instinct the killer seems to be testing. Unfortunately for Gus (TONY NAPPO), he fails that and becomes the first victim, thus causing muscle-bound drug dealer Xavier (FRANKY G.) to take charge, much to the chagrin of fellow former convicts Jonas (GLENN PLUMMER) and Addison (EMMANUELLE VAUGIER). Meanwhile, mousy Laura (BEVERLEY MITCHELL) can't handle the predicament in which she finds herself, unlike Obi (TIMOTHY BURD) who may know a thing or two about what's occurring. Eric and Kerry quickly apprehend the killer (TOBIN BELL) in his lair, but he wants to play a twisted game with Eric, stating that if he plays along, he can save his son. With time running out, Eric tries to figure out the killer's mindset and tricks, all as the potential victims race against the clock, the progressively worsening effects of the nerve agent, and some of them turning against the others. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the original film or grisly horror films in general, they probably will. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For grisly violence and gore, terror, language and drug content. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: DONNIE WAHLBERG plays a cop with a troubled past, a failed marriage and an estranged son who he must then try to rescue from the killer's lair. He smokes, uses strong profanity and beats up the killer out of anger and wanting to get info out of him. SHAWNEE SMITH plays a former survivor of the killer's trap who once again finds herself in a time-based predicament. She uses strong profanity and drugs (in a flashback). TOBIN BELL plays the ailing killer who enjoys his sadistic traps that he explains as tests of the victims' survival instincts. FRANKY G. plays a muscle-bound drug dealer who takes the unofficial lead in trying to solve their predicament but is really only looking out for himself. He uses strong profanity, kills one person and chases after others with the intent of killing them. GLENN PLUMMER plays an ex-con who tries to calm down the situation, but must contend with Xavier. He fights with him and uses profanity. ERIK KNUDSEN plays Eric's troubled and estranged son who's in some sort of trouble with the law before being kidnapped by the killer and stuck in the house of traps with the others. DINA MEYER plays the detective working the Jigsaw case. EMMANUELLE VAUGIER plays another trapped victim, an ex-con who uses strong profanity. BEVERLEY MITCHELL plays the mousey victim who crumbles under the pressure of the situation. TIMOTHY BURD plays an older man who knows a thing or two about the situation in which he finds himself stuck with the others, some of whom are there because of him. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated horror film. Profanity consists of at least 81 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are present. Brief, sexually related dialogue is present, as is the sight of a man in just tight briefs or shorts and the occasional shape of a woman's nipples through her top. Violence consists of lethal and bloody acts where people are killed by various means and in various fashions (including but not limited to being shot, burned alive, having a head crushed in a steel trap, being bashed in the head with a spiked bat, etc.), while a cop severely beats a suspect. All of that has very bloody, gory and grisly results and may, along with various moments of potential peril (and scenes of vomiting blood from being poisoned, etc.), be unsettling, suspenseful or downright scary to some viewers, particularly younger kids and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Bad attitudes are obviously present, while a woman shoots up heroin or something similar in a flashback, while comments are made about drinking and a person smokes several times. A character is noted as having cancer, a father and son have some tension between them and some of the behavior on display (mainly referring to setting up similar booby-traps) might be enticing to some to imitate. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, a great deal of camera movement (shaky, whip around, handheld, etc.) is present throughout the film). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE We see a bottle of beer by Eric. Kerry makes a brief comment about "crack-heads." When Gus comments on never waking up in a strange place, one of the other men sarcastically guesses that Gus has never been drunk before. Gus says that he has, adding that he went to college. Amanda admits that she was once a junkie and we then see some quick flashback images of her shooting up and appearing high. We then hear she was arrested for possession. We hear that Xavier is a drug dealer. BLOOD/GORE A man's eye is very bloody (including down his face). When he's killed moments later by steel jaws clamping down onto his head, we see a great deal of blood flow out from around those jaws. We see the body of the above dead man again, with blood all over him, some discoloration from being dead, a dried pool of blood around him and a jigsaw pattern that's been cut out of his skin (leaving a gory hole). A woman vomits. A man unlocks a door only to be shot in the eye by a handgun mounted on the other side. It kills him, leaving a bloody wound in his eye socket and a large hole in the back of his head. We see the open skull flap there (along with brain matter and blood) while his blood splatters onto Laura and Xavier. We see another view of the dead man with the open head wound (showing bloody brains). A woman coughs out some blood that we see on the floor. Some in the group find something under a cover and remove that to reveal a dead and bloody body in a white mask. We see quick flashback views of the killer following a purposeful, suicide attempt car crash where he's quite bloody and must pull a bloody rod out of his body. We see a flashback image of Amanda cutting her wrist with a razor blade (with very bloody results). Xavier coughs out blood into his hand. Jonas vomits and then does so again. We see more views of the first victim's bloody body with the open head wound. A man strikes another man on the back of the head with a spiked baseball bat (with large nails/spikes sticking out of it), killing that person and spilling a lot of blood onto the floor. Later, a woman removes that makeshift club from the man's head, but must yank it out, thus tugging the guy's head while doing so. Xavier's face is very bloody after getting into a fight. Trying to grab a vial of antidote, a woman puts her hands up inside a glass cage when the openings are one-way, with sharp metal that cuts her arms when she tries to pull them back out (resulting in an extremely bloody mess). We then see her there and hear her agonizing screams. The killer's face is very bloody after Eric severely beats him for information. We see various dead, decomposed and dried up bodies in a large bathroom (from the first film). We also see a severed foot/lower leg on the floor. Needing a tattooed number off the back of his own neck, Xavier reaches around with a knife and cuts out the skin, leaving a bloody mess there as he holds out the bloody patch of skin. A man comes at Amanda and Daniel, with the latter suddenly kicking the man in the leg and then slicing a hacksaw across the man's neck, ripping it open (with very bloody results). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE The killer and his accomplices obviously have extreme cases of bad attitudes. We see that Eric and Daniel have an estranged relationship, with a brief comment that Daniel's mother has custody of him. When Eric comments on being the dad, his teenage son says "You're better at being a cop." Eric then yells at his son to go to his mother's if that's what he wants. We see that Daniel did something that landed him in jail. Xavier tells Addison that the only door she knows how to open is between her legs. Xavier grabs one of the women and throws her into pit of dirty/used syringes to retrieve a key. We hear that Xavier is a drug dealer and that others are ex-convicts of one sort or another. The killer claims that Eric shot an unarmed suspect and planted evidence against others in the past to ensure arrests and convictions. A man strikes another man on the back of the head with a spiked baseball bat (with large nails/spikes sticking out of it), killing him. Eric roughs up the killer, punching and throwing the frail man about in his lair into various things. He then grabs and breaks his finger, punches and stomps down on him (we don't see the impact of the latter). He then hits him again and holds his handgun in the killer's mouth to make him talk. He later punches him again. Xavier is only out for himself and doesn't care about the others, helping them or working as a team. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. We hear sounds of suffering and then see a man who awakens to find a large, steel trap (referred to as a Venus fly trap as that's somewhat what it looks like) positioned around his head. His eye is bloody and the killer -- via videotape -- informs him that it's a spring-loaded trap with the key now buried behind the victim's own eye (on video we briefly see, from a distance, surgery performed on the victim's head to put the key there). The frustrated man then knocks over the TV and then breaks the line that starts a countdown for the trap to snap shut. He then finds the scalpel left for him and nearly cuts into his own eye to get the key out (he tries several times with the blade right at his eye), but can't. The trap jaws then slam shut, crushing his head in them (we then see blood flowing out from them). A masked figure on TV might be unsettling for some viewers. Various armed cops slowly make their way into the killer's lair with guns and flashlights drawn. While ascending some stairs, a booby-trap is activated, causing one or more steps to give away below a cop, sending him crashing down into them where something then snaps his legs, presumably breaking them, leaving him yelling in agony as the rest proceed in their search for the killer. We see that the killer has all sorts of macabre stuff in his lair, including broken mannequin type heads, etc. Several cops slowly make their way into a large, caged area, unsure of what they may find. The killer informs Eric and the others that those trapped in the house are being subjected to a gas that will affect their nervous system and kill them in two hours. A man unlocks a door only to be shot in the eye by a handgun mounted on the other side. It kills him, leaving a bloody wound in his eye socket and a large hole in the back of his head. We see the open skull flap there (along with brain matter and blood) while his blood splatters onto Laura and Xavier. The trapped group leaves the initial room and then cautiously make their way through the adjacent hallways and other areas, worried that they'll encounter other booby-traps. Some in the group find something under a cover and remove that to reveal a dead and bloody body in a white mask. We see a flashback to Obi grabbing Laura from the backseat of her car, putting something over her mouth that then renders her unconscious. Xavier holds a knife to Obi's throat and seems to cut it, but only leaves a mark there rather than spilling blood. A man crawls into a medium sized, metal chamber to retrieve two syringes with antidotes to the poison gas. But once inside, the door closes and flames start erupting from the grate he's on, coming closer and closer to him. The others race to try to get him out, but the metal is too hot. One eventually breaks the small glass window on the other side, but the man inside can only manage to get his head and shoulders out before he gets stuck and the fire inside kills him. Xavier forces a door open that starts another timer. In this case, they hear (via audiotape) that the key to unlock a door (that will lock forever when the timer hits zero) is at the bottom of a pit filled with dirty, used syringes. Xavier then grabs one of the women and throws her into the pit, with her panicked movement only making the situation worse as she's then stuck with even more syringes (that we see sticking out of her body). As the timer counts down, she screams in agony and digs for the key, subjecting herself to more syringes and broken glass (we see more views of her with syringes sticking out of all parts of her body, with Daniel pulling out some of them). All of the trapped people progressively get sicker as the nerve agent continues to affect them. Xavier comes at Jonas with a knife, prompting Jonas to knee and punch him, with the two then struggling followed by Xavier hitting his head on a safe. Jonas then hits Xavier again and kicks him on the ground. A man strikes another man on the back of the head with a spiked baseball bat (with large nails/spikes sticking out of it), killing that person and spilling a lot of blood onto the floor. Later, a woman removes that makeshift club from the man's head, but must yank it out, thus tugging the guy's head while doing so. A woman convulses on the floor and then dies from that (or the other woman comforting her could have broken her neck in a mercy killing, but that's not for certain). Xavier chases after Amanda and Daniel with a knife which becomes tenser for Daniel once Xavier learns who he's related to. This occurs several times late in the film, including them trying to keep a door closed as he pushes and pounds on it from the other side. Eric roughs up the killer, punching and throwing the frail man about into various things in his lair. He then grabs and breaks his finger, punches and stomps down on him (we don't see the impact of the latter). He then hits him again and holds his handgun in the killer's mouth to make him talk. He later punches him again. Trying to grab a vial of antidote, a woman puts her hands up inside a glass cage when the openings are one-way, with sharp metal that cuts her arms when she tries to pull them back out (resulting in an extremely bloody mess). We then see her there and hear her agonizing screams. Eric enters the house with his gun drawn, slowly trying to find his son and rescue the others. Needing a tattooed number off the back of his own neck, Xavier reaches around with a knife and cuts out the skin, leaving a bloody mess there as he holds out the bloody patch of skin. A man comes at Amanda and Daniel, with the latter suddenly kicking the man in the leg and then slicing a hacksaw across the man's neck, ripping it open (with very bloody results). GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Automatic weapons/Bat with nail spikes in it/Knives/Various booby-traps: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Who the f*ck are you?" "What the f*ck/is this?" "You m*therf*cker," "F*ck this," "I'll rip your f*cking head off," "F*ck that," "Open the f*cking door," "Are you out of your f*cking mind?" "F*ck you," "Shut the f*ck up," "F*cked up," "F*cker," "We're in the wrong f*cking house," "You f*cking bitch," "I'll f*cking kill you," "Pull some sh*t like that," "Sh*t-work," "You piece of sh*t," "This is/stop this bullsh*t," "Who gives a sh*t," "Sh*t-hole," "Get his ass out of here," "Oh yes, there will be blood," "Shut up," "Stop bitching about it," "Shut the hell up," "Bitch," "Bastard," "A real hard ass," "Kick my ass" and "Where the hell are we?" Some kids could be inspired to try to create such elaborate death traps where the victim has to do something horrific to save themselves from a certain fate. Eric has a tattoo on his shoulder, while Xavier has one on his arm. We see a flashback image of Amanda cutting her wrist with a razor blade (with very bloody results). JUMP SCENES A man is suddenly shot in the face by a booby-trapped door (with a gun on the other side). A man's hand slams against a small window and then, after the glass is broken, suddenly thrusts his hand out through the opening. A woman turns and Jonas is suddenly there. A person suddenly jabs a syringe into Eric after popping up from a bathtub, with the solution inside quickly rendering Eric unconscious. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 81 "f" words (3 used with "mother"), 26 "s" words, 6 asses (3 used with "hole"), 5 hells, 1 damn, 1 S.O.B., 4 uses of "Oh my God," 3 of "G-damn" and 2 uses each of "Jesus" and "Swear to God." SEX/NUDITY We see a potential male victim in just some small and tight shorts/briefs. Laura shows a little cleavage from time to time in her top. Addison wears a small halter top under which we occasionally see the shape of her nipples. Xavier tells Addison that the only door she knows how to open is between her legs. SMOKING Eric smokes at least 4 times. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We see that Eric and Daniel have an estranged relationship, with a brief comment that Daniel's mother has custody of him. When Eric comments on being the dad, his teenage son says "You're better at being a cop." Eric then yells at his son to go to his mother's if that's what he wants. Eric worries about his son once he realizes the killer has kidnapped him and has him in the booby-trapped house. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The question of how far people will go to save themselves or others. The killer's comment that he doesn't actually kill the people, but it's their lack of a survival instinct that does them in. We learn that the killer has cancer. The killer mentions the Tokyo subway gas attacks as a reference to what he's doing to his potential victims. The comment that the knowledge of one's pending mortality changes everything and that a lack of such awareness prevents people from really living. The killer claims that Eric shot an unarmed suspect and planted evidence against others in the past to ensure arrests and convictions. VIOLENCE We hear sounds of suffering and then see a man who awakens to find a large, steel trap (referred to as a Venus fly trap as that's somewhat what it looks like) positioned around his head. His eye is bloody and the killer -- via videotape -- informs him that it's a spring-loaded trap with the key now buried behind the victim's own eye (on video we briefly see, from a distance, surgery performed on the victim's head to put the key there). The frustrated man then knocks over the TV and then breaks the line that starts a countdown for the trap to snap shut. He then finds the scalpel left for him and nearly cuts into his own eye to get the key out (he tries several times with the blade right at his eye), but can't. The trap jaws then slam shut, crushing his head in them (we then see blood flowing out from them). While ascending some stairs, a booby-trap is activated, causing one or more steps to give away below a cop, sending him crashing down into them where something then snaps his legs, presumably breaking them, leaving him yelling in agony as the rest proceed in their search for the killer. A man unlocks a door only to be shot in the eye by a handgun mounted on the other side. It kills him, leaving a bloody wound in his eye socket and a large hole in the back of his head. We see the open skull flap there (along with brain matter and blood) while his blood splatters onto Laura and Xavier. Xavier bashes at a locked door with a baseball bat loaded with large nails/spikes on its end. We see a flashback to Obi grabbing Laura from the backseat of her car, putting something over her mouth that then renders her unconscious. Xavier holds a knife to Obi's throat and seems to cut it, but only leaves a mark there rather than spilling blood. A man crawls into a medium sized, metal chamber to retrieve two syringes with antidotes to the poison gas. But once inside, the door closes and flames start erupting from the grate he's on, coming closer and closer to him. The others race to try to get him out, but the metal is too hot. One eventually breaks the small glass window on the other side, but the man inside can only manage to get his head and shoulders out before he gets stuck and the fire inside kills him. We see a flashback image of Amanda cutting her wrist with a razor blade (with very bloody results). Xavier forces open a door that starts another timer. In this case, they hear (via audiotape) that the key to unlock a door (that will lock forever when the timer hits zero) is at the bottom of a pit filled with dirty, used syringes. Xavier then grabs one of the women and throws her into the pit, with her panicked movement only making the situation worse as she's then stuck with even more syringes (that we see sticking out of her body). As the timer counts down, she screams in agony and digs for the key, subjecting herself to more syringes and broken glass (we see more views of her with syringes sticking out of all parts of her body, with Daniel pulling out some of them). Xavier comes at Jonas with a knife, prompting Jonas to knee and punch him, with the two then struggling followed by Xavier hitting his head on a safe. Jonas then hits Xavier again and kicks him on the ground. A man strikes another man on the back of the head with a spiked baseball bat (with large nails/spikes sticking out of it), killing him and spilling a lot of blood onto the floor. Later, a woman removes that makeshift club from the man's head, but must yank it out, thus tugging the guy's head while doing so. A woman convulses on the floor and then dies from that (or the other woman comforting her could have broken her neck in a mercy killing, but that's not for certain). Eric roughs up the killer, punching and throwing the frail man about into various things in his lair. He then grabs and breaks his finger, punches and stomps down on him (we don't see the impact of the latter). He then hits him again and holds his handgun in the killer's mouth to make him talk. He later punches him again. Trying to grab a vial of antidote, a woman puts her hands up inside a glass cage when the openings are one-way, with sharp metal that cuts her arms when she tries to pull them back out (resulting in an extremely bloody mess). We then see her there and hear her agonizing screams. Needing a tattooed number off the back of his own neck, Xavier reaches around with a knife and cuts out the skin, leaving a bloody mess there as he holds out the bloody patch of skin. A man comes at Amanda and Daniel, with the latter suddenly kicking the man in the leg and then slicing a hacksaw across the man's neck, ripping it open (with very bloody results). A person suddenly jabs a syringe into Eric after popping up from a bathtub, with the solution inside quickly rendering Eric unconscious. We see quick flashback views of violent acts previously seen in the film. Reviewed October 24, 2005/ Posted October 28, 2005

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