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{{Short description|2005 film by Darren Lynn Bousman}} | |||
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{{about|the film|the video game|Saw II: Flesh & Blood{{!}}''Saw II: Flesh & Blood''|the Aphex Twin album|Selected Ambient Works Volume II{{!}}''Selected Ambient Works Volume II''}} | |||
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{{Infobox_Movie | | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2014}} | |||
movie_name = Saw II| | |||
{{Infobox film | |||
image = ]| | |||
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| name = Saw II | ||
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| image = Saw II poster.jpg | ||
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| caption = Theatrical release poster | ||
| director = ] | |||
| producer = {{Plainlist| | |||
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distributor = ] | | |||
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release_date = ] ] | | |||
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runtime = 93 minutes | | |||
movie_language = English | | |||
music = | | |||
awards = | | |||
budget = | | |||
}} | }} | ||
| writer = {{Plainlist| | |||
* ] | |||
* Darren Lynn Bousman | |||
}} | |||
| starring = {{Plainlist|<!--PER POSTER CREDIT BLOCK--> | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
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}} | |||
| music = ] | |||
| cinematography = ] | |||
| editing = ] | |||
| studio = ] | |||
| distributor = ] | |||
| released = {{Film date|2005|10|28|}} | |||
| runtime = 93 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 92:40--> | |||
| country = Canada <br/> United States | |||
| language = English | |||
| budget = $4 million | |||
| gross = $152.9 million<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saw II (2005) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Saw-II-(2005) |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=The Numbers |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523030039/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Saw-II-(2005) |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
}} | |||
'''''Saw II''''' is a 2005 ] directed by ] and written by ] and Bousman. It is the sequel to 2004's '']'' and the second installment in the ]. The film stars ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. In the film, a group of ex-convicts are trapped by the ] inside a house and must pass a series of deadly tests to retrieve the antidote for a ] that will kill them in two hours. | |||
After the successful opening weekend of 2004's ''Saw'', a sequel was immediately ]. Whannell and ] were busy preparing for their next film and were unable to write or direct. Bousman wrote a script called ''The Desperate'' before ''Saw'' was released and was looking for a producer but many studios rejected it. ] received the script and showed it to his partners ] and ]. It was decided that, with some changes, it could be made into ''Saw II''. Whannell became available to provide rewrites of the script. The film was given a larger budget and was shot from May to June 2005 in Toronto. | |||
'''''Saw II''''' is the sequel to the ] ]/] film '']''. It was released worldwide on ], ]. ] took over the directing duties of the film, and also co-wrote the story's script with ], the original film's co-writer. | |||
''Saw II'' was released in the United States by ] on October 28, 2005. It opened with $31.9 million and grossed $88 million in the United States and Canada. It has remained the highest grossing ''Saw'' film in those countries. ''Saw II'' was released to home media on February 14, 2006, and topped charts its first week, selling more than 3 million units. ''Saw II'' was followed by a ] titled '']'' (2006) and later a ] titled '']'' (2023). Bell was nominated for ] at the ] for his role as Jigsaw in the film, and ''Saw II''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=‘Saw’ Filmmakers on 20 Years of Games, Twisty Timelines and Tobin Bell |url=https://www.thewrap.com/saw-franchise-legacy-saw-x-john-kramer-tobin-bell/ |access-date=August 3, 2024 |website=The Wrap}}</ref> | |||
==Cast== | |||
*] as <b> John/Jigsaw </b> | |||
*] as <b> Obi </b> | |||
*] as <b> Video Techie </b> | |||
*] as <b> Xavier </b> | |||
*] as <b> Daniel Matthews</b> | |||
*] as <b> Kerry </b> | |||
*] as <b> Laura | |||
*] as <b> Gus </b> | |||
*] as <b> Jonas </b> | |||
*] as <b> Amanda </b> | |||
*] as <b> Addison </b> | |||
*] as <b> Erick Matthews</b> | |||
== |
==Plot== | ||
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, the plot summary should be 400-700 words. --> | |||
*]: ''Oh yes...there will be blood.'' | |||
Police informant Michael Marks awakens in a room with a spike-filled mask locked around his neck. ] on a screen tells him that the key to open the death mask is located inside his eye. He cannot bring himself to cut his eye, and is killed when the mask closes on his head. | |||
At the scene of Michael's murder, Detective Kerry finds a message for her former partner, Detective ]. Matthews joins Kerry and Officer Rigg in leading a ] team to the factory which produced the lock from Michael's trap. There, they apprehend John Kramer, the ], who indicates computer monitors showing eight people trapped in a house, including his only known survivor ], Matthews's son Daniel, and six other victims: Xavier, Jonas, Laura, Addison, Obi, and Gus. A nerve agent filling the house will kill them all within two hours, but John assures Matthews that if he follows the rules of his own game, he will find Daniel again in a safe place. At Kerry's urging, Matthews agrees to buy time for the tech team to arrive and trace the video signal. During their conversation, John reveals to Matthews that his main motivation for his games was a suicide attempt after his cancer diagnosis, which led to a newfound appreciation for life; the games are intended to help his victims develop the same appreciation. | |||
{{spoiler}} | |||
The group is informed by a microcassette recorder that antidotes are hidden throughout the house; one is in the room's safe, and the tape provides a cryptic clue. Gus ignores a warning note and uses the key provided with the cassette on the door, which triggers a revolver through the peephole that kills him. Once the door opens, they search the house and find a basement, where Obi, who helped with abducting the other victims, is killed in a furnace trap while trying to retrieve two antidotes. In another room, Xavier's test involves digging through a pit filled with syringes to retrieve a key to a steel door in two minutes, but he instead throws Amanda into the pit. She retrieves the key, but Xavier fails to unlock the door in time. Throughout the game, the group discuss connections between them and determine that each has been incarcerated before except Daniel. During his father's test, John reveals their affiliation to Matthews, who was a corrupt police officer who framed his suspects in various crimes. | |||
Eric Matthews has caught the Jigsaw killer and is looking to put a stop to his current game, already in progress. That game is staged in a house where 7 unfortunate participants are imprisoned. What Matthews doesn't realize is that another game is unfolding right in front of him... | |||
Xavier returns to the safe room and finds a number on the back of Gus's neck. After realizing the numbers are the combination for the safe, he kills Jonas and begins hunting the others. Laura succumbs to the nerve agent and dies, after finding the clue revealing Daniel's identity. Incensed by the revelation, Addison leaves on her own and finds a glass box containing an antidote, but her arms become trapped in the openings which are lined with hidden blades. Xavier enters the room and leaves her to die after reading her number. Amanda and Daniel find a tunnel from the first room leading to a dilapidated bathroom, where they find Adam and Zep's bodies.{{refn|name=Timeline1|group=N|As depicted in '']''.}} After Xavier corners them, Amanda taunts him by implying that he will not learn his number because nobody will read it to him. Xavier responds by cutting off a piece of skin from the back of his neck to read his number. Xavier charges them, and Daniel slits his throat with a hacksaw. | |||
Having seen Xavier chasing his son, Matthews assaults John and forces him to lead him to the house. The tech team tracks the video's source and while Rigg's team searches the house, Kerry realizes that the game took place days before they captured John and the footage they thought they'd been seeing live was actually pre-recorded. Soon after, the timer for Matthews's game expires and a nearby safe unlocks to reveal Daniel inside, bound and breathing in an oxygen mask. Unaware of these events, Matthews enters the house alone and makes his way to the bathroom, where he is subdued by a pig-masked figure. He awakens shackled at the ankle to a pipe and finds a tape recorder left by Amanda, who reveals she had become John's accomplice after surviving her first trap and helped him set up Matthews's test during the game at the house, intending to continue John's work after he dies. Amanda then appears and seals the door, leaving Matthews to die as John hears his screams outside and smiles. | |||
==Cast== | |||
{{Further|List of Saw characters{{!}}List of ''Saw'' characters}} | |||
{{Cast listing|<!--Per end credits order and credited roles. WP:FILMCAST--> | |||
* ] as ] | |||
* ] as ] | |||
* ] as ] | |||
* ] as Daniel Matthews | |||
* ] as Xavier | |||
* ] as Jonas | |||
* ] as Addison | |||
* ] as Laura | |||
* Timothy Burd as Obi | |||
* ] as Kerry | |||
* ] as Rigg | |||
* ] as Michael | |||
* ] as Gus | |||
* Kelly Jones as SWAT Member Pete | |||
* Vincent Rother as SWAT Member Joe | |||
}} | |||
==Production== | |||
The film starts off with a man waking up alone, seated in a chair in a grungy, sealed room. A device is secured around his neck. As he gets up from the chair, he triggers a timer built into the device. A nearby TV turns on, showing the familiar "clown" figure Jigsaw employed in the first film. Jigsaw's recorded message tells the man that as punishment for being a police informant, spying upon and betraying others, and for not appreciating life, he has to play Jigsaw's game. When the timer goes off, the device will snap closed, crushing the man's head with sharp nails inside the device (not unlike an ]). The TV cuts to the man lying on an operating table with a shadowy figure standing over him, as Jigsaw tells him that the key to unlock the device has been implanted behind his eye. A scalpel has been left for the man to carve the key out from his eye socket, if he chooses to do so. The terrified man fails to extract the key in time and is killed. | |||
===Development and writing=== | |||
Detective Matthews is called to the scene, as the deceased was his informant, and discovers a message scrawled on the ceiling which reads, "Look Closer, Detective Matthews." Matthews spots an engraving on the metal contraption, and believes he knows where Jigsaw is - the Wilson Steel building. After his initial reluctance, his former partner, Kerry, finally convinces him to join in the search warrant. | |||
].]] | |||
''Saw II'' was immediately ]ed after '']''{{'}}s successful opening weekend a year earlier.<ref name="IGNFeb2005">{{Cite web |last=Otto |first=Jeff |date=February 9, 2005 |title=IGN Interviews James Wan and Leigh Whannell |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/586/586613p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212164031/http://movies.ign.com/articles/586/586613p1.html |archive-date=February 12, 2007 |access-date=August 17, 2011 |website=] |publisher=]}}</ref> Producers needed a script for a sequel <ref name="FilmMonthly">{{Cite web |last=Fischer |first=Paul |date=October 26, 2005 |title=Leigh Returns to the Saw |url=http://www.filmmonthly.com/Profiles/Articles/LeighWhannell/LeighWhannell.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325022511/http://www.filmmonthly.com/Profiles/Articles/LeighWhannell/LeighWhannell.html |archive-date=March 25, 2012 |access-date=August 22, 2011 |website=Film Monthly}}</ref> but ] and ], director and writer of ''Saw'', were working on ]'s '']''. Music video director ] had just completed a script for his first film ''The Desperate'', and was trying to sell it to studios but was getting reactions that the script was very similar to ''Saw''. A German studio eventually approached him with an offer to produce the film for $1 million. Just as they were looking for a cinematographer, the American cinematographer ], who had worked on ''Saw'', arrived on the scene and suggested showing the script to ''Saw'' producer ].<ref name="BDDarren2005">{{Cite web |date=October 27, 2005 |title=Leigh Whannell & Darren Lynn Bousman Talk Saw II! |url=https://movieweb.com/leigh-whannell-darren-lynn-bousman-talk-saw-ii/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215190103/https://movieweb.com/leigh-whannell-darren-lynn-bousman-talk-saw-ii/ |archive-date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=December 15, 2022 |website=]}}</ref> Hoffman read the script and called Bousman wanting to produce ''The Desperate''.<ref name="BDDarren2005" /> Bousman was initially upset when he heard about his script's similarities to ''Saw'', and feared at first that Lionsgate's call was due to complaints of ].<ref name="BousmanComingsoon">{{Cite web |last=Brevet |first=Brad |date=February 9, 2006 |title=INTERVIEW: Darren Bousman Talks 'Saw 2' and So Much More! |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/509387-interview_darren_bousman_talks_saw_2_and_so_much_more |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920062329/https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/509387-interview_darren_bousman_talks_saw_2_and_so_much_more |archive-date=September 20, 2016 |access-date=June 19, 2021 |publisher=]}}</ref> After Hoffman showed the script to his partners ] and ], the two decided that ''The Desperate'' was the starting script they needed for ''Saw II'' and two months later, Bousman was flown to ] to direct.<ref name="BDDarren2005" /> | |||
Whannell polished the script, with input from Wan,<ref name="SawIINotes" /> in order to bring it into the ''Saw'' universe,<ref name="FilmMonthly" /> but kept the characters, traps and deaths from ''The Desperate'' script.<ref name="BDDarren2005" /> Bousman said, "But you could read the script for ''The Desperate'' and watch ''Saw II'', and you would not be able to draw a comparison".<ref name="BDDarren2005" /> Bousman's first draft for ''The Desperate'' consisted of an ] violent film, but after Bousman's agent found difficult to have the script bought because most studios were turned off due to the level of violence, Bousman modified his script to be an ] film, which is when the executives of Lionsgate were turned on his potential. Overall, the framework of ''The Desperate'' had a similar bleak, disgusting atmosphere and a ], which is why the executives found parallels in the script's style.<ref name="BousmanComingsoon" /> Wan and Whannell also served as executive producers. All the previous film's crew members returned: editor ], cinematographer Armstrong, and composer ]. This would be Hoffman's last film; he died on December 4, 2005, almost two months after the release of ''Saw II''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Kim |date=December 15, 2005 |title=Obituary: Gregg Hoffman |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/15/guardianobituaries.film |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110131430/http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/dec/15/guardianobituaries.film |archive-date=November 10, 2011 |access-date=August 25, 2011 |website=]}}</ref> | |||
After some of the accompanying SWAT team fall prey to one of Jigsaw's ], they find Jigsaw. Very ill due to his advanced stage ], he offers no further resistance as the SWAT team handcuffs him. As they start to take him away, he directs Matthews and the others to an adjoining room, which contains several monitors showing various rooms of a house, along with an electronic timer counting down from 2 hours. On one of the monitors, Matthews sees a room containing the group of Jigsaw's latest game-players, among them his own son, Daniel. He soon learns that the rest in the group are people he has framed for crimes they did not commit. | |||
Only those key cast and crew members who were involved in the film's ending were given the full script; the rest received only the first 88 pages. If a particular page was rewritten, the old page was shredded. Members were also required to sign ] requiring them not to release any plot details.<ref name="GreggJoBlopt3">{{Cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Gregg |author-link=Gregg Hoffman |date=May 20, 2005 |title=Saw 2: Diary #3 |url=https://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/saw-2-diary-3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023160535/http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/saw-2-diary-3 |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |publisher=] |page=3}}</ref> Reportedly, "four or five" alternate endings were shot in order to keep the ending a surprise.<ref name="SawIINotes">{{Cite web |title=Saw II Production Notes |url=http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/epk/saw2/docs/pro_notes.doc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929214115/http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/epk/saw2/docs/pro_notes.doc |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2011 |publisher=] |format=1.40MB ] file}}</ref> Bousman gave the actors freedom to change dialogue in the script. He said that 95% of the time, the actors went by the script, with about 5% being ]s, which he said "made all of the difference in the world".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Rebecca |date=February 14, 2006 |title=One on One with "Saw II" Writer/Director Darren Lynn Bousman |url=http://movies.about.com/od/saw2/a/saw2db021406_3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008223944/http://movies.about.com/od/saw2/a/saw2db021406_3.htm |archive-date=October 8, 2012 |access-date=August 23, 2011 |website=] |page=3}}</ref> ] was allowed to modify some pieces of dialogue, especially those of Eric Matthews' interactions with his son Daniel and Jigsaw. For the former, Wahlberg added the line of what was the last thing Eric told Daniel basing it on what he says to his first son before hanging up the phone. For the latter, Wahlberg felt that the relationship between Eric and Jigsaw was "too dicey" and should emphasize Eric's need to sit with Jigsaw to rescue his son; ] agreed with most of these changes, which Wahlberg added after finishing shooting every day, and the two improvised together on set.<ref name="Saw II: An Interview with Donnie Wahlberg">{{Cite web |last=Wilson Morales |date=October 2005 |title=Saw II: An Interview with Donnie Wahlberg |url=http://www.blackfilm.com/20051021/features/donniewahlberg.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215191453/http://www.blackfilm.com/20051021/features/donniewahlberg.shtml |archive-date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=2021-06-18 |publisher=BlackFilm.com}}</ref> Hoffman said in an interview with '']'' that they listened to fans' suggestions. For instance, instead of only showing the aftermath of a character violently dying in a flashback, they would allow it to unfold as it happened. This was in contrast to ''Saw'', in which most of the violence was implied off-screen.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rowe |first=Michael |date=November 2005 |title=Saw II: Building a Better Human Trap |journal=] |page=30 |issn=0164-2111 |number=248}}</ref> | |||
The story switches to the captives in the house. Amanda, (a surivivor from the original film) breaks through a loose section of a brick wall in the room they found themselves in, and finds a key and a tape recorder containing a taped message from Jigsaw explaining their predicament: they have been exposed to a deadly toxic gas, and will die within 2 hours unless they find the antidotes that are hidden around the house. The key has a note warning them not to use it to open the door in the room, but Xavier ignores the message, and turns the key in the lock while Gus looks through the eyehole. The lock is rigged to fire a gun pointing directly at the eyehole. The gun discharges into Gus's eye, killing him. Amanda reveals to the others that she has had to play one of Jigsaw's games before, and pleads with them that they have to follow his "rules". | |||
===Casting=== | |||
The terrified captives begin to explore the house. Laura finds another door which leads to the basement, with another tape marked for Obi which reveals how he had assisted Jigsaw to get the others in the house and explaining that there are two antidote syringes inside a large furnace in the room. Obi climbs inside to retrieve them, the door closes and the furnace ignites. Obi is burned to death before they can get him out, and both antidotes are lost. | |||
From the first film, Tobin Bell returned to play Jigsaw even though he wasn't obligated to return.<ref name="DonnieWahlbergMovieWed">{{Cite web |last=Roman |first=Julian |date=October 26, 2005 |title=Donnie Wahlberg Talks Saw II |url=https://movieweb.com/donnie-wahlberg-talks-saw-ii/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215191652/https://movieweb.com/donnie-wahlberg-talks-saw-ii/ |archive-date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |publisher=]}}</ref> Bell found it fascinating to reprise his role, but played the role like any of his, feeling that he needed to put himself on Jigsaw's side to get into character and play him properly.<ref name="BellIGN">{{Cite web |last=Otto |first=Jeff |date=October 28, 2005 |title=Interview: Tobin Bell |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/10/28/interview-tobin-bell |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721011544/https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/10/28/interview-tobin-bell |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |access-date=July 22, 2021 |publisher=]}}</ref> ] similarly returned to play ] even though she never imagined ever reprising the role as she didn't expect the first film to be such a hit.<ref name="ShawneeSmithBloodyDisgusting">{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Jason |date=May 13, 2021 |title=Needles, Traps & Torture: Shawnee Smith Shares Memories of Playing Amanda Young in the Original 'Saw' Trilogy |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/exclusives/3665086/needles-traps-torture-shawnee-smith-shares-memories-playing-amanda-young-original-saw-trilogy-mask-insanity/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514015630/https://bloody-disgusting.com/exclusives/3665086/needles-traps-torture-shawnee-smith-shares-memories-playing-amanda-young-original-saw-trilogy-mask-insanity/ |archive-date=May 14, 2021 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |publisher=]}}</ref> Smith was paid $150,000 for her role with an additional $100,000 if the film grossed over $50 million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 27, 2007 |title=Before the State Labor Commissioner of the state of California |url=https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/TAC/2006-18%20Agency%20For%20The%20Performing%20Arts,%20Inc.%20v.%20Shawnee%20Smith,%20Red%20Headed%20Woman,%20Inc..pdf |website=] |quote=The terms of the contract provided that Smith would be paid $150,000 as compensation for her services on ''Saw II''. It also provided that Smith would be paid an additional $100,000 if the movie grossed in excess of $50 million. |access-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217015322/https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/TAC/2006-18%20Agency%20For%20The%20Performing%20Arts,%20Inc.%20v.%20Shawnee%20Smith,%20Red%20Headed%20Woman,%20Inc..pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Bousman served as a ] for the hooded figure who places a key behind Michael Marks' eye, who the fans immediately theorized to be the first film's protagonist Dr. Lawrence Gordon, to add "flavor" to the performance, though Bousman didn't intend the figure to be Gordon.<ref name="DVD Commentary">''Saw II'' DVD commentary</ref> | |||
Donnie Wahlberg was cast as Eric Matthews out of attraction to the character and the script.<ref name="DonnieWahlbergF.c.a">{{Cite web |last=Fischer |first=Paul |title=Donnie Wahlberg - Saw II Interview |url=https://www.female.com.au/donnie-wahlberg-saw2.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401220808/https://www.female.com.au/donnie-wahlberg-saw2.htm |archive-date=April 1, 2020 |access-date=June 19, 2021 |publisher=Female.com.au}}</ref> At sixteen years old, ] was cast as Daniel Matthews in his first major feature film appearance; Knudsen auditioned hard to get the role and was excited upon being notified that he had won the part, as the first ''Saw'' was one of his favorite horror films along with the ].<ref name="ErikKnudsenSFATT">{{Cite web |last=Eramo |first=Steve |date=May 29, 2012 |title=Tech Support: Interview with Continuum's Erik Knudsen |url=https://scifiandtvtalk.typepad.com/scifiandtvtalk/2012/05/tech-support-interview-with-continuums-erik-knudsen.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119134946/https://scifiandtvtalk.typepad.com/scifiandtvtalk/2012/05/tech-support-interview-with-continuums-erik-knudsen.html |archive-date=November 19, 2012 |access-date=July 22, 2021 |publisher=SciFiTalkAndTvTalk}}</ref> | |||
The Jigsaw killer insists that Matthews has to play a game to save his son. The game is simple, he just has to sit with Jigsaw--by himself--and listen to what he has to say. All the while, the timer is ticking away in the room with the monitors. Matthews is on the verge of cracking, but decided he has no other choice but to hear Jigsaw out. | |||
] was cast as Laura Hunter despite her dislike for horror films and her inability to watch the first film full until trying for the fifth time, but she accepted the role nonetheless because she was looking for a challenging and frightening part to push her limits, which she found in Laura physically due to the requirement to play sick and coughing.<ref name="BeverleyMitchellblackfilm.com">{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Wilson |date=October 2005 |title=Saw II: An Interview with Beverley Mitchell |url=http://www.blackfilm.com/20051021/features/beverlymitchell.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060127212133/http://www.blackfilm.com/20051021/features/beverlymitchell.shtml |archive-date=January 27, 2006 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |publisher=blackfilm.com}}</ref> ] originally auditioned for the role of Xavier Chavez, but was cast as Daniel Rigg instead out of fear for racial stereotypes of casting an African-American as a drug dealer, leading to ]'s casting as Xavier, though Bent still found the casting of a Puerto-Rican to be stereotypical.<ref name="LyriqBentTMB">{{Cite web |date=October 14, 2007 |title=TMB interviews Saw 4 star Lyriq Bent |url=https://www.themovieblog.com/2007/10/tmb-interviews-saw-4-star-lyriq-bent/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531110743/https://www.themovieblog.com/2007/10/tmb-interviews-saw-4-star-lyriq-bent/ |archive-date=May 31, 2017 |access-date=June 19, 2021 |publisher=The Movie Blog}}</ref> | |||
Forcing open a door into another room, the captives find another tape, this one marked for Xavier. On the tape, Jigsaw condemns him for his life as a drug pusher and states that if he wants to escape, he must wallow in the filth that he made others wallow in. Daniel pulls back a sheet to reveal a pit full of syringes. The message says a key is in the pit that will open a door concealing another antidote. Xavier grabs Amanda and throws her into the pit, yelling at her to dig through them to find the key. Stabbed with dozens of needles, Amanda finally finds it and gives it to Xavier. He races to the lock but fumbles with it. The door's timer expires, sealing the door forever. Daniel helps Amanda out of the pit. | |||
===Filming and post-production=== | |||
After growing tired of listening to Jigsaw and helplessly watching one captive after another die while the timer runs down, Matthews finally snaps and unleases his rage on the old man. After thrashing Jigsaw across the room, he says, "Game over," and finally agrees to take Matthews to the house, but only if he can take him alone. | |||
''Saw II'' was given a larger production budget of $4 million,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rooney |first=Brian |date=October 27, 2006 |title=Evolution of Scary Movies |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2611799&page=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917163419/http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2611799&page=1 |archive-date=September 17, 2013 |access-date=August 22, 2011 |publisher=]}}</ref> compared to ''Saw''{{'}}s budget of a little over $1 million.<ref name="TorontoStar">{{Cite news |last=Alexander |first=Chris |date=June 11, 2006 |title=Saw's Unkindest Cutssaw's Unkindest Cuts |work=] |publisher=]}}</ref> The marketing budget was an additional $2 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McClintock |first=Pamela |date=May 7, 2006 |title=Lionsgate: The hidden enigma |url=https://variety.com/2006/film/news/lionsgate-the-hidden-enigma-1200505906/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075611/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117942674 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |website=] |publisher=]}}</ref> The first shot, which involved shooting police cars and a SWAT van driving around the industrial docklands outside the soundstage,<ref name="GreggJoBlopt1">{{Cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Gregg |date=May 6, 2005 |title=Saw 2: Diary #1 |url=https://www.joblo.com/?id=7379 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023160558/http://www.joblo.com/?id=7379 |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |publisher=JoBlo.com |page=1}}</ref> was filmed on {{nowrap|April 29, 2005}} in Toronto. ] took place over 25 days at Toronto's ] from {{nowrap|May 2, 2005}} to {{nowrap|June 6, 2005}}.<ref name="GreggJoBlopt1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rowe |first=Michael |date=November 2005 |title=Saw II: Building a Better Human Trap |journal=] |page=29 |issn=0164-2111 |number=248}}</ref><ref name="GreggJoBlopt5">{{Cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Gregg |date=June 24, 2005 |title=Saw 2: Diary #5 |url=https://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/saw-2-diary-5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023160605/http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/saw-2-diary-5 |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |publisher=JoBlo.com |page=5}}</ref> The film was initially given 21 days to be shot. The nerve gas house scenes were shot in an abandoned warehouse in Toronto and the actors who played the Jigsaw victims there worked sixteen hours each day. At the time of filming, in addition to having an on-set tutor for two hours, Erik Knudsen caught the flu, so he filmed his part while sick, which he mused that actually worked due to his character's apparent poisoning throughout the film.<ref name="ErikKnudsenSFATT" /> The ending was filmed on May 25 and 26.<ref name="GreggJoBlopt4">{{Cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Gregg |date=May 27, 2005 |title=Saw 2: Diary #4 |url=https://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/saw-2-diary-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023160627/http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/saw-2-diary-4 |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |publisher=JoBlo.com |page=4}}</ref> The music and sound was recorded in July and ''Saw II'' was ] on {{nowrap|July 16}}. It was completely finished by {{nowrap|September 9}}.<ref name="GreggJoBlopt5" /> Visual effects were performed by ] and post-production services were provided by ].<ref name="SawIINotes" /> | |||
===Trap designs=== | |||
Meanwhile, in the house, Xavier has snapped and is trying the kill his fellow captives to retrieve the numbers written on the back of their necks (the answer to Jigsaw's cryptic clue "You all possess the combination. It's all in the back of your mind."). These numbers are supposed to be the combination to the safe in the first room which holds an antidote. He kills Jonas and then goes after the others. | |||
], the film's production designer, took three weeks to construct 27 sets on a single sound stage.<ref name="SawIINotes" /> The puppet ], used in the series to give instructions to Jigsaw's victims, was originally created by Wan out of paper towel rolls and ]. Given the larger budget for the sequel, Billy was upgraded with remote-controlled eyes and a ]-driven mouth.<ref name="GreggJoBlopt2">{{Cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Gregg |date=May 13, 2005 |title=Saw 2: Diary #2 |url=https://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/saw-2-diary-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023160410/http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/saw-2-diary-2 |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |publisher=JoBlo.com |page=2}}</ref> In one trap, "The Needle Room", Smith's character Amanda is thrown into a pit of needles to find a key. In order for this to be done safely, four people, over a period of four days, removed the needle tips from syringes and replaced them with fiber optic tips. They modified a total of 120,000 fake needles. However, this number was insufficient, and the pit had to be filled with styrofoam and other materials to make it appear to have more needles. The needles that were apparently stuck into Smith were actually blunted syringes stuck into padding under her clothing. For certain shots, a fake arm was used.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=The Traps of Saw II: The Needle Pit |date=2005 |type=DVD |publisher=] |people=] (production designer), Jim Murray (property master), Darren Lynn Bousman (writer/director)}}</ref> | |||
].]] | |||
Addison finds a picture of Daniel and Matthews together and realizes that Daniel is the son of the cop who put her in prison. The effects of the toxin are starting to become more severe, and she wanders off as Laura succumbs to the nerve gas. Amanda finds Jonas's body and realizes Xavier means to kill them all. She goes back to rescue Daniel. | |||
Bousman came up with an idea whereby a character's hands would get stuck in some sort of vessel, and this resulted in the "Hand Trap". It proved to be a challenge, but after much discussion, Hackl, property master Jim Murray and art director Michele Brady came up with a suitable design. They arranged a glass box suspended by chains from the ceiling which contained a hypodermic needle with the antidote and which had two hand-holes on the underside. As soon as ]'s character Addison puts her hands into the holes, razor blades would close in on her hands, and any attempt to withdraw from the trap would cause her to bleed to death. In order for the trap to be used safely, the prop builders made the handcuffs move inside the box and fake blades that would retract from the actress's hands, thus allowing her to slide her hands out. Hackl subsequently commented that the character did not have to put her hands into the trap, as there was a lock with a key on the other side of the box that would have opened the contraption.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shapiro |first=Jessica |date=October 23, 2008 |title=How to Engineer a Nightmare |url=http://machinedesign.com/article/how-to-engineer-a-nightmare-1023 |url-status=dead |journal=] |volume=80 |issue=20 |pages=22–23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405024728/http://machinedesign.com/article/how-to-engineer-a-nightmare-1023 |archive-date=April 5, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |title=The Traps of Saw II: The Hand Trap |date=2005 |type=DVD |publisher=Lionsgate Home Entertainment |people=David Hackl (production designer)}}</ref> | |||
The original idea for the "Furnace Trap" came from the house having been a ] at some point, but this would have involved turning the house into a funeral parlor, so it was instead decided that the furnace would be part of the house's boiler system. The furnace was visualized in the form of a computer model so that Bousman could better understand how shots could be filmed. Using the computer model as a guide, the furnace was constructed in three days using cement board and tin with removable sides and top so Timothy Burd's character Obi could be filmed crawling inside. The furnace produced real flames and, in place of Burd, a ] using a fire retardant gel crawled into the fire.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=The Traps of Saw II: The Furnace |date=2005 |type=DVD |publisher=Lionsgate Home Entertainment |people=David Hackl (production designer)}}</ref> | |||
While pursuing Amanda and Daniel, Xavier comes across Addison who has fallen victim to another of Jigsaw's contraptions - a glass box suspended from the ceiling that contains an antidote. On the underside of the box are two holes just wide enough to put your arms through, once you push past the blades covering them. She discovers too late that the blades are arranged similar to a ] preventing her from removing her arms once inside; the edges dig deeper into her flesh the harder she pulls. Xavier reads her number and leaves her to die in the contraption. | |||
==Release== | |||
Matthews leaves behind his team, and escapes with Jigsaw in his van. Almost immediately after this, the police finally locate the broadcast location of the video feed and take off for the house as well. Once at the house, Jigsaw gives Matthews the key to get inside. When Matthews gets inside he finds the dead bodies of the victims littered throughout the rooms. | |||
''Saw II'' was released in New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom on {{nowrap|October 28, 2005}}; and {{nowrap|November 17, 2005}} in Australia. The original teaser poster showing two bloody, severed fingers, representing the Roman numeral, II, was rejected by the ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=David |first=Erik |date=August 22, 2005 |title=Saw II Sees Ads Yanked |url=http://blog.moviefone.com/2005/08/22/saw-ii-sees-ads-yanked |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616053639/http://blog.moviefone.com/2005/08/22/saw-ii-sees-ads-yanked |archive-date=June 16, 2012 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |website=] |publisher=]}}</ref> Since the poster was already released and managed to "slip by" the MPAA, they issued a release stating the poster was not approved and was unacceptable; Lionsgate removed the poster from their websites.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saw 2 Poster Banned |url=https://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=8380 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606154924/http://www.joblo.com/?id=8380 |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2005 |publisher=]}}</ref> The image was used instead for the film's soundtrack cover.<ref name="AllMusic">{{Cite web |title=Saw 2 - Original Soundtrack |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/saw-2-r794014 |access-date=August 19, 2011 |website=] |publisher=] |archive-date=September 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928212609/https://www.allmusic.com/album/saw-2-mw0000170980 |url-status=live }}</ref> Lionsgate held the second annual "Give Til It Hurts" ] for the ] and collected 10,154 pints of blood.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 6, 2007 |title=American Red Cross Partners With Lionsgate on SAW IV Blood Drive |url=http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.94aae335470e233f6cf911df43181aa0/?vgnextoid=d45cc92887b6b110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106140610/http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.94aae335470e233f6cf911df43181aa0/?vgnextoid=d45cc92887b6b110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD |archive-date=November 6, 2011 |access-date=September 12, 2011 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McClintock |first=Pamela |date=October 9, 2006 |title=Inside Move: 'Saw' gets into bloody vein for promo poster |url=https://variety.com/2006/film/features/inside-move-saw-gets-into-bloody-vein-for-promo-poster-1117951593/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109034821/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117951593 |archive-date=November 9, 2012 |access-date=September 12, 2011 |website=] |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
===Soundtrack=== | |||
Amanda and Daniel retreat to the first room as Xavier tries breaking through the door to get at them. Amanda pushes aside the safe, revealing a trap door underneath. They go through the hatch just as Xavier breaks through. He follows them, cornering them in the infamous bathroom from the first movie. The bodies of Adam and Zep are still there, rotted over with fungus and mold. Amanda tells Xavier that Daniel is dead and that if he kills her, he won't be able to find out the number on his own neck. Xavier, now insane from the poison, takes his knife and slices a section of skin off the back of his neck. He moves in to kill Amanda, Daniel suddenly jumps forward, crushing Xavier's ankle and, using the hacksaw from the first movie, slits Xavier's throat, killing him. | |||
The ''Saw II'' soundtrack was released on October 25, 2005, by Treadstone Records.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 17, 2005 |title=Saw II Soundtrack Slices Into Stores |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/09/17/saw-ii-soundtrack-slices-into-stores |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215165214/https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/09/17/saw-ii-soundtrack-slices-into-stores |archive-date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=December 15, 2022 |website=]}}</ref> Johnny Loftus from ] gave the soundtrack two and a half out of five stars, writing, "The remixer and occasional ] member's music was overdone, mysterious, tense, and capably chilling, just like the horror-camp of the film itself."<ref name="AllMusic" /> ]'s song "]" was released as a single for both its original album and the soundtrack, and the video was also directed by Bousman.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=Saw II Commentary |date=2006 |type=DVD |publisher=] |time=1:29:11– 1:29:13 |people=Darren Lynn Bousman, Donnie Wahlberg and Beverly Mitchell}}</ref> | |||
===Home media=== | |||
While the SWAT team enters the house, Kerry is watching the monitors, confused that the cameras aren't showing them in the house. They soon realise that they have been led to the wrong location, and the images on the monitors were not a live feed, but a recording. | |||
''Saw II'' was released on ], ], and ] on February 14, 2006, through ]. The DVD debuted as number one selling 2.5 million units in its first day. It went on to sell 3.9 million units its first week, becoming the fastest selling theatrical DVD in Lions Gate's history.<ref name="CNWGroup2">{{Cite news |date=February 22, 2006 |title=Jigsaw Is Back With a Vengeance as Lionsgate's SAW II Has Teeth in Debut on Home Entertainment Charts |agency=]}}</ref> In rentals, ''Saw II'' topped the charts its first week bringing in $9.96 million in combined rentals, pushing '']'' ($5.96 million) to number 2.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Strowbridge |first=C.S. |date=February 25, 2006 |title=Saw Seen at Home |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/news/180110830-Saw-Seen-at-Home |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215195355/https://www.the-numbers.com/news/180110830-Saw-Seen-at-Home |archive-date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=December 15, 2022 |website=]}}</ref> Its second week, it placed first on rental charts with $5.29 million despite a 47% drop from its first week.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Strowbridge |first=C.S. |date=March 6, 2006 |title=Saw Stands Up to Competition |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/news/180230830-Saw-Stands-Up-to-Competition |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215200253/https://www.the-numbers.com/news/180230830-Saw-Stands-Up-to-Competition |archive-date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=December 15, 2022 |website=The Numbers}}</ref> The film grossed $45 million in home sales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saw II (2005) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Saw-II-(2005) |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=The Numbers |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523030039/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Saw-II-(2005) |url-status=live }}</ref> On October 24, 2006, a DVD "Unrated Special Edition" was released,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Redwine |first=Ivana |date=October 24, 2006 |title=Saw II DVD Unrated Special Edition Release Date |url=http://homevideo.about.com/od/horror/p/saw2dvdsawiidvd.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725053435/http://homevideo.about.com/od/horror/p/saw2dvdsawiidvd.htm |archive-date=July 25, 2011 |access-date=August 19, 2011 |publisher=]}}</ref> while an Unrated ] edition was also released with various special features on January 23, 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 29, 2007 |title=Saw II (Bluray) |url=http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/561/sawii.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103070340/http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/561/sawii.html |archive-date=November 3, 2011 |access-date=August 19, 2011 |publisher=High-Def Digest}}</ref> | |||
==Reception== | |||
Meanwhile, at the real location, Matthews sees the open trapdoor and goes down to search find Daniel. He gets into the darkened bathroom, and sees someone lying in the bathtub. He approaches cautiously, but the person inside, wearing the same animal mask from the first film, leaps up, stuns him with a ] and stabs him in the leg with a syringe. Matthews drops to the floor. The attacker removes the mask, it is Amanda. | |||
===Box office=== | |||
The timer in the room at Wilson Steel expires and a safe across the room opens to reveal Daniel, wearing an oxygen mask, weary but alive. He had been there the whole time, had Matthews been able to win Jigsaw's "game", he would have found his son "in a safe, secure place" just as Jigsaw had told him. | |||
''Saw II'' opened with $31.7 million on 3,879 screens across 2,949 theaters.<ref name="BOMWeekend">{{Cite web |last=Gray |first=Brandon |date=October 31, 2005 |title='Saw II' Gores 'Zorro' on Halloween Weekend |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1930&p=.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829005954/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1930&p=.htm |archive-date=August 29, 2011 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |website=]}}</ref> The three-day ] opening weekend set a Lionsgate record. It became at the time, the widest release for the distributor and one of the best opening weekends for a horror sequel.<ref name="CNWGroup">{{Cite news |date=March 3, 2006 |title=Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures Announce SAW III for Halloween 2006 |agency=]}}</ref> For its second weekend it fell 47% making $16.9 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gray |first=Brandon |date=November 7, 2005 |title=Welcome to the Cluck: 'Chicken Little,' 'Jarhead' Top Weekend |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1935&p=.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629211754/http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1935&p=.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> | |||
''Saw II'' opened in the United Kingdom with $3.8 million on 305 screens, 70% larger than the first installment. It opened in Japan on 67 screens with $750,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bresnan |first=Conor |date=November 1, 2005 |title=Around the World Roundup: 'Zorro' Leaves Modest Mark in Mass Foreign Bow |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1932&p=.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122151159/http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1932&p=.htm |archive-date=November 22, 2011 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> Opening to $1.3 million on 173 screens it was the number one film in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bresnan |first=Conor |date=November 24, 2005 |title=Around the World Roundup: 'Harry Potter' on Fire in Foreign Bow |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1948&p=.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918032946/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1948&p=.htm |archive-date=September 18, 2011 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> The film grossed $87 million in the United States and Canada and $60.7 million in other markets for a worldwide total of $147.7 million.<ref name="BOM">{{Cite web |title=Saw II (2005) |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=saw2.htm |access-date=August 19, 2011 |website=Box Office Mojo |archive-date=August 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805082453/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=saw2.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In the United States and Canada, ''Saw II'' is the highest-grossing film of the ].<ref>{{Cite web |title='Saw' Vs. 'Saw' |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?id=sawvs.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215230104/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdown/sd675214852/ |archive-date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=August 19, 2011 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> | |||
When Matthews wakes up, he finds an audio cassette player lying next to him. Playing the tape, Matthews learns that Amanda has become Jigsaw's protege and has now taken his place. He watches helplessly as Amanda closes the door on him. "Game over," she says, coining Jigsaw's catchphrase. Matthews, chained to a pipe, is left in the room alone only with the light from his flashlight and his gun now just out of reach. Jigsaw is shown, still sitting in Matthew's van, smiling. | |||
===Critical response=== | |||
== Analysis == | |||
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|37|4.7|122|''Saw II'' is likely to please the gore-happy fans of the original, though it may be too gruesome for those not familiar with first film's premise.|ref=yes|access-date=14 December 2022}} {{Metacritic film prose|40|28|ref=yes|access-date=14 December 2022}} Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CinemaScore Home |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ |access-date=December 14, 2022 |website=] |archive-date=April 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413083139/https://www.cinemascore.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Robert Koehler of '']'' wrote, "cooking up new Rube Goldberg torture contraptions isn't enough to get ''Saw II'' out of the shadow of its unnerving predecessor".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Koehler |first=Robert |date=October 20, 2005 |title=Saw II Review |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117928622?categoryid=31&cs=1 |url-status=live |magazine=] |publisher=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114051203/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117928622/ |archive-date=November 14, 2012 |access-date=October 20, 2020}}</ref> Gregory Kirschling of '']'' gave the film a B minus, saying "''Saw II'' is just barely a better ] than ''Saw''" and that both films are "more clever and revolting than they are actually chilling". He praised Bell's performance as Jigsaw, saying "As the droopy-lidded maniac in the flesh, Tobin Bell is, for all the film's gewgaws, ''Saw II''{{'s}} sturdiest horror, a ] look-alike who calls to mind a seedy ] lazily overseeing the universe from his evildoer's lair". He ended his review: "Where ''Saw II'' lags behind in ''Saw'''s novelty, it takes the lead with its smoother landing, which is again primed to blow the movie wide open, but manages a more compelling job of it than the original's cheat finish".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kirschling |first=Gregory |date=October 26, 2005 |title=Movie Review Saw II (2005) |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1123047,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=] |publisher=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001080317/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1123047,00.html |archive-date=October 1, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2011}}</ref> | |||
At the end of the film, the viewer comes to realize that Jigsaw's game was not really with the people in the house but with Detective Matthews. John allowed the detective to find him in the beginning, requesting him and leaving him with the clues as to where he was hiding. John told Matthews numerous times that this was a game and that if he simply sat and talked to him, he would find his son in "a safe, secure place" (a hidden hint that Daniel was in fact in the safe in John's room). Had Matthews done this, he would have waited out the timer, retrieved his son, and never entered into Amanda's trap. Daniel himself had no reason to be in the house. Based on John's questions for the detective, Matthews was a prime subject for John's game. | |||
Kevin Crust of the '']'' called ''Saw II'' a "worthy follow-up to its grisly predecessor". He said the story was "much more focused on an endgame than the original film. There are fewer credibility gaps and there are plenty of reversals to satisfy fans". He criticized the use of numerous flashbacks, saying that it "rob us of the pleasure of actually remembering for ourselves".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crust |first=Kevin |date=October 29, 2005 |title=Grisly 'Saw II' makes the cut |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-28-et-saw28-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108012936/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/oct/28/entertainment/et-saw28 |archive-date=November 8, 2012 |access-date=August 22, 2011 |website=]}}</ref> Laura Kern, writing for '']'', said that Bousman "delivers similar hard-core, practically humorless frights and hair-raising tension, but only after getting past a shaky beginning that plays more like a forensics-themed television show than a scary movie" and called Greutert's editing "crafty". She called the sequel "more trick than treat" and that it "doesn't really compare to its fine predecessor - though it still manages to be eye-opening (and sometimes positively nauseating) in itself".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kern |first=Laura |date=October 28, 2011 |title=Round 2 in a House of Horror |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2005/10/28/movies/28saw.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714032226/http://movies.nytimes.com/2005/10/28/movies/28saw.html |archive-date=July 14, 2012 |access-date=August 25, 2021 |website=]}}</ref> '']''{{'}}s Alan Morrison gave the film three out of five stars. He said that the film improves upon ''Saw''{{'s}} "perverse fascination with '']''-style murders and brutally violent puzzles" and that Jigsaw's intellectual games make "] look like the compiler of ''The Sun''{{'}}s quick crossword". He ended his reviews saying, "Morally dubious it may be, but this gory melange of torture, terror and darkly humorous depravity appeals to the sick puppy within us all".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrison |first=Alan |date=October 2005 |title=Saw II Movie Review |url=https://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132340 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021064219/http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132340 |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |access-date=October 26, 2023 |website=] |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
== Statistics == | |||
===Accolades=== | |||
*Genres: Suspense/Horror, Thriller. | |||
Tobin Bell was nominated for "Best Villain" at the ] for his role as Jigsaw,<ref name="mtv-noms">{{Cite web |last=Weinberg |first=Scott |date=April 26, 2006 |title=Get Your Goofy MTV Movie Awards Noms Right Here |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wedding_crashers/news/1646716/get_your_goofy_mtv_movie_awards_noms_right_here |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208110313/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wedding_crashers/news/1646716/get_your_goofy_mtv_movie_awards_noms_right_here |archive-date=December 8, 2008 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Flixster}}</ref> though the award went to ] for his role as ] in '']''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 8, 2006 |title=2006 Movie Awards Summary |url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2006/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911234904/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2006/ |archive-date=September 11, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2011 |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
*'''Rated R''' – Restricted: Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. | |||
*'''UK-Rated 18''' – Restricted: 18 and over only! | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
== Trivia == | |||
|- | |||
*In ] ], the ] rejected the poster for ''Saw II'' which used two severed ] to resemble "II" in the movie's title. A new poster was produced, still using the fingers but not explicitly showing that they're severed. | |||
! Award | |||
! Category | |||
! Recipient(s) | |||
! Result | |||
|- | |||
| ]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-08-10 |title=The Nominees for the 2006 DGC Awards |url=http://www.dgc.ca/PHPUploads/DGC%20Awards%2006%20Nominees%20List.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061012150928/http://www.dgc.ca/PHPUploads/DGC%20Awards%2006%20Nominees%20List.pdf |archive-date=October 12, 2006 |access-date=September 9, 2022 |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| Outstanding Sound Editing - Feature Film | |||
| Rob Bertola; Tom Bjelic; Allan Fung; Mark Gingras; John Laing; Paul Shikata; ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |||
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 16, 2006 |title=fuse Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Winners Announced |url=http://www.amcnetworks.com/press-releases/fuse-fangoria-chainsaw-awards-winners-announced/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517120822/http://www.amcnetworks.com/press-releases/fuse-fangoria-chainsaw-awards-winners-announced |archive-date=May 17, 2017 |access-date=January 19, 2019 |website=]}}</ref> | |||
| Best Villain | |||
| ] | |||
| {{won}} | |||
|- | |||
| ]<ref name="mtv-noms" /> | |||
| Best Villain | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan=2|]<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 21, 2007 |title=Superman Returns Leads the 33rd Annual Saturn Awards with 10 Nominations |url=https://movieweb.com/superman-returns-leads-the-33rd-annual-saturn-awards-with-10-nominations/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215232124/https://movieweb.com/superman-returns-leads-the-33rd-annual-saturn-awards-with-10-nominations/ |archive-date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=September 9, 2022 |website=]}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| style="text-align:center;"|— | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |||
| ] | |||
| style="text-align:center;"|— | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan=2|]<ref>{{Cite web |title=2006 Teen Choice Awards – Movie Nominees |url=http://www.fox.com/teenchoice/features/nominees/movies/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017110558/http://www.fox.com/teenchoice/features/nominees/movies/ |archive-date=October 17, 2006 |access-date=July 7, 2022 |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| Choice Movie: Scream | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |||
| Choice Movie: Thriller | |||
| style="text-align:center;"|— | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|} | |||
==Notes== | |||
*The entire movie was shot in 25 days. | |||
{{Reflist|group=N}} | |||
== |
==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | |||
* '']'' | |||
* '']'' | |||
* '']'' | |||
* '']'' | |||
* '']'' | |||
== |
==External links== | ||
{{wikiquote}} | |||
* {{Official website}} | |||
* {{IMDb title}} | |||
* {{mojo title}} | |||
* {{rotten-tomatoes}} | |||
* {{Metacritic film}} | |||
{{Saw}} | |||
*{{imdb title|id=0432348|title=Saw II}} | |||
{{Darren Lynn Bousman}} | |||
* | |||
{{Leigh Whannell}} | |||
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{{Twisted Pictures}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saw 2}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 19:26, 10 January 2025
2005 film by Darren Lynn Bousman This article is about the film. For the video game, see Saw II: Flesh & Blood. For the Aphex Twin album, see Selected Ambient Works Volume II.
Saw II | |
---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Darren Lynn Bousman |
Written by |
|
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | David A. Armstrong |
Edited by | Kevin Greutert |
Music by | Charlie Clouser |
Production company | Twisted Pictures |
Distributed by | Lions Gate Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
Countries | Canada United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $4 million |
Box office | $152.9 million |
Saw II is a 2005 horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Leigh Whannell and Bousman. It is the sequel to 2004's Saw and the second installment in the Saw film series. The film stars Donnie Wahlberg, Franky G, Glenn Plummer, Beverley Mitchell, Dina Meyer, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Erik Knudsen, Shawnee Smith, and Tobin Bell. In the film, a group of ex-convicts are trapped by the Jigsaw Killer inside a house and must pass a series of deadly tests to retrieve the antidote for a nerve agent that will kill them in two hours.
After the successful opening weekend of 2004's Saw, a sequel was immediately green-lit. Whannell and James Wan were busy preparing for their next film and were unable to write or direct. Bousman wrote a script called The Desperate before Saw was released and was looking for a producer but many studios rejected it. Gregg Hoffman received the script and showed it to his partners Mark Burg and Oren Koules. It was decided that, with some changes, it could be made into Saw II. Whannell became available to provide rewrites of the script. The film was given a larger budget and was shot from May to June 2005 in Toronto.
Saw II was released in the United States by Lionsgate Films on October 28, 2005. It opened with $31.9 million and grossed $88 million in the United States and Canada. It has remained the highest grossing Saw film in those countries. Saw II was released to home media on February 14, 2006, and topped charts its first week, selling more than 3 million units. Saw II was followed by a sequel titled Saw III (2006) and later a prequel titled Saw X (2023). Bell was nominated for Best Villain at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards for his role as Jigsaw in the film, and Saw II.
Plot
Police informant Michael Marks awakens in a room with a spike-filled mask locked around his neck. Billy the Puppet on a screen tells him that the key to open the death mask is located inside his eye. He cannot bring himself to cut his eye, and is killed when the mask closes on his head.
At the scene of Michael's murder, Detective Kerry finds a message for her former partner, Detective Eric Matthews. Matthews joins Kerry and Officer Rigg in leading a SWAT team to the factory which produced the lock from Michael's trap. There, they apprehend John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer, who indicates computer monitors showing eight people trapped in a house, including his only known survivor Amanda, Matthews's son Daniel, and six other victims: Xavier, Jonas, Laura, Addison, Obi, and Gus. A nerve agent filling the house will kill them all within two hours, but John assures Matthews that if he follows the rules of his own game, he will find Daniel again in a safe place. At Kerry's urging, Matthews agrees to buy time for the tech team to arrive and trace the video signal. During their conversation, John reveals to Matthews that his main motivation for his games was a suicide attempt after his cancer diagnosis, which led to a newfound appreciation for life; the games are intended to help his victims develop the same appreciation.
The group is informed by a microcassette recorder that antidotes are hidden throughout the house; one is in the room's safe, and the tape provides a cryptic clue. Gus ignores a warning note and uses the key provided with the cassette on the door, which triggers a revolver through the peephole that kills him. Once the door opens, they search the house and find a basement, where Obi, who helped with abducting the other victims, is killed in a furnace trap while trying to retrieve two antidotes. In another room, Xavier's test involves digging through a pit filled with syringes to retrieve a key to a steel door in two minutes, but he instead throws Amanda into the pit. She retrieves the key, but Xavier fails to unlock the door in time. Throughout the game, the group discuss connections between them and determine that each has been incarcerated before except Daniel. During his father's test, John reveals their affiliation to Matthews, who was a corrupt police officer who framed his suspects in various crimes.
Xavier returns to the safe room and finds a number on the back of Gus's neck. After realizing the numbers are the combination for the safe, he kills Jonas and begins hunting the others. Laura succumbs to the nerve agent and dies, after finding the clue revealing Daniel's identity. Incensed by the revelation, Addison leaves on her own and finds a glass box containing an antidote, but her arms become trapped in the openings which are lined with hidden blades. Xavier enters the room and leaves her to die after reading her number. Amanda and Daniel find a tunnel from the first room leading to a dilapidated bathroom, where they find Adam and Zep's bodies. After Xavier corners them, Amanda taunts him by implying that he will not learn his number because nobody will read it to him. Xavier responds by cutting off a piece of skin from the back of his neck to read his number. Xavier charges them, and Daniel slits his throat with a hacksaw.
Having seen Xavier chasing his son, Matthews assaults John and forces him to lead him to the house. The tech team tracks the video's source and while Rigg's team searches the house, Kerry realizes that the game took place days before they captured John and the footage they thought they'd been seeing live was actually pre-recorded. Soon after, the timer for Matthews's game expires and a nearby safe unlocks to reveal Daniel inside, bound and breathing in an oxygen mask. Unaware of these events, Matthews enters the house alone and makes his way to the bathroom, where he is subdued by a pig-masked figure. He awakens shackled at the ankle to a pipe and finds a tape recorder left by Amanda, who reveals she had become John's accomplice after surviving her first trap and helped him set up Matthews's test during the game at the house, intending to continue John's work after he dies. Amanda then appears and seals the door, leaving Matthews to die as John hears his screams outside and smiles.
Cast
Further information: List of Saw characters- Tobin Bell as Jigsaw / John Kramer
- Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young
- Donnie Wahlberg as Eric Matthews
- Erik Knudsen as Daniel Matthews
- Franky G as Xavier
- Glenn Plummer as Jonas
- Emmanuelle Vaugier as Addison
- Beverley Mitchell as Laura
- Timothy Burd as Obi
- Dina Meyer as Kerry
- Lyriq Bent as Rigg
- Noam Jenkins as Michael
- Tony Nappo as Gus
- Kelly Jones as SWAT Member Pete
- Vincent Rother as SWAT Member Joe
Production
Development and writing
Saw II was immediately greenlighted after Saw's successful opening weekend a year earlier. Producers needed a script for a sequel but James Wan and Leigh Whannell, director and writer of Saw, were working on Universal Pictures's Dead Silence. Music video director Darren Lynn Bousman had just completed a script for his first film The Desperate, and was trying to sell it to studios but was getting reactions that the script was very similar to Saw. A German studio eventually approached him with an offer to produce the film for $1 million. Just as they were looking for a cinematographer, the American cinematographer David A. Armstrong, who had worked on Saw, arrived on the scene and suggested showing the script to Saw producer Gregg Hoffman. Hoffman read the script and called Bousman wanting to produce The Desperate. Bousman was initially upset when he heard about his script's similarities to Saw, and feared at first that Lionsgate's call was due to complaints of plagiarism. After Hoffman showed the script to his partners Mark Burg and Oren Koules, the two decided that The Desperate was the starting script they needed for Saw II and two months later, Bousman was flown to Toronto to direct.
Whannell polished the script, with input from Wan, in order to bring it into the Saw universe, but kept the characters, traps and deaths from The Desperate script. Bousman said, "But you could read the script for The Desperate and watch Saw II, and you would not be able to draw a comparison". Bousman's first draft for The Desperate consisted of an X-rated violent film, but after Bousman's agent found difficult to have the script bought because most studios were turned off due to the level of violence, Bousman modified his script to be an R-rated film, which is when the executives of Lionsgate were turned on his potential. Overall, the framework of The Desperate had a similar bleak, disgusting atmosphere and a twist ending, which is why the executives found parallels in the script's style. Wan and Whannell also served as executive producers. All the previous film's crew members returned: editor Kevin Greutert, cinematographer Armstrong, and composer Charlie Clouser. This would be Hoffman's last film; he died on December 4, 2005, almost two months after the release of Saw II.
Only those key cast and crew members who were involved in the film's ending were given the full script; the rest received only the first 88 pages. If a particular page was rewritten, the old page was shredded. Members were also required to sign confidentiality agreements requiring them not to release any plot details. Reportedly, "four or five" alternate endings were shot in order to keep the ending a surprise. Bousman gave the actors freedom to change dialogue in the script. He said that 95% of the time, the actors went by the script, with about 5% being adlibs, which he said "made all of the difference in the world". Donnie Wahlberg was allowed to modify some pieces of dialogue, especially those of Eric Matthews' interactions with his son Daniel and Jigsaw. For the former, Wahlberg added the line of what was the last thing Eric told Daniel basing it on what he says to his first son before hanging up the phone. For the latter, Wahlberg felt that the relationship between Eric and Jigsaw was "too dicey" and should emphasize Eric's need to sit with Jigsaw to rescue his son; Tobin Bell agreed with most of these changes, which Wahlberg added after finishing shooting every day, and the two improvised together on set. Hoffman said in an interview with Fangoria that they listened to fans' suggestions. For instance, instead of only showing the aftermath of a character violently dying in a flashback, they would allow it to unfold as it happened. This was in contrast to Saw, in which most of the violence was implied off-screen.
Casting
From the first film, Tobin Bell returned to play Jigsaw even though he wasn't obligated to return. Bell found it fascinating to reprise his role, but played the role like any of his, feeling that he needed to put himself on Jigsaw's side to get into character and play him properly. Shawnee Smith similarly returned to play Amanda Young even though she never imagined ever reprising the role as she didn't expect the first film to be such a hit. Smith was paid $150,000 for her role with an additional $100,000 if the film grossed over $50 million. Bousman served as a stand-in for the hooded figure who places a key behind Michael Marks' eye, who the fans immediately theorized to be the first film's protagonist Dr. Lawrence Gordon, to add "flavor" to the performance, though Bousman didn't intend the figure to be Gordon.
Donnie Wahlberg was cast as Eric Matthews out of attraction to the character and the script. At sixteen years old, Erik Knudsen was cast as Daniel Matthews in his first major feature film appearance; Knudsen auditioned hard to get the role and was excited upon being notified that he had won the part, as the first Saw was one of his favorite horror films along with the Scream series.
Beverley Mitchell was cast as Laura Hunter despite her dislike for horror films and her inability to watch the first film full until trying for the fifth time, but she accepted the role nonetheless because she was looking for a challenging and frightening part to push her limits, which she found in Laura physically due to the requirement to play sick and coughing. Lyriq Bent originally auditioned for the role of Xavier Chavez, but was cast as Daniel Rigg instead out of fear for racial stereotypes of casting an African-American as a drug dealer, leading to Franky G's casting as Xavier, though Bent still found the casting of a Puerto-Rican to be stereotypical.
Filming and post-production
Saw II was given a larger production budget of $4 million, compared to Saw's budget of a little over $1 million. The marketing budget was an additional $2 million. The first shot, which involved shooting police cars and a SWAT van driving around the industrial docklands outside the soundstage, was filmed on April 29, 2005 in Toronto. Principal photography took place over 25 days at Toronto's Cinespace Film Studios from May 2, 2005 to June 6, 2005. The film was initially given 21 days to be shot. The nerve gas house scenes were shot in an abandoned warehouse in Toronto and the actors who played the Jigsaw victims there worked sixteen hours each day. At the time of filming, in addition to having an on-set tutor for two hours, Erik Knudsen caught the flu, so he filmed his part while sick, which he mused that actually worked due to his character's apparent poisoning throughout the film. The ending was filmed on May 25 and 26. The music and sound was recorded in July and Saw II was locked on July 16. It was completely finished by September 9. Visual effects were performed by C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures and post-production services were provided by Deluxe.
Trap designs
David Hackl, the film's production designer, took three weeks to construct 27 sets on a single sound stage. The puppet Billy, used in the series to give instructions to Jigsaw's victims, was originally created by Wan out of paper towel rolls and papier-mâché. Given the larger budget for the sequel, Billy was upgraded with remote-controlled eyes and a servo-driven mouth. In one trap, "The Needle Room", Smith's character Amanda is thrown into a pit of needles to find a key. In order for this to be done safely, four people, over a period of four days, removed the needle tips from syringes and replaced them with fiber optic tips. They modified a total of 120,000 fake needles. However, this number was insufficient, and the pit had to be filled with styrofoam and other materials to make it appear to have more needles. The needles that were apparently stuck into Smith were actually blunted syringes stuck into padding under her clothing. For certain shots, a fake arm was used.
Bousman came up with an idea whereby a character's hands would get stuck in some sort of vessel, and this resulted in the "Hand Trap". It proved to be a challenge, but after much discussion, Hackl, property master Jim Murray and art director Michele Brady came up with a suitable design. They arranged a glass box suspended by chains from the ceiling which contained a hypodermic needle with the antidote and which had two hand-holes on the underside. As soon as Emmanuelle Vaugier's character Addison puts her hands into the holes, razor blades would close in on her hands, and any attempt to withdraw from the trap would cause her to bleed to death. In order for the trap to be used safely, the prop builders made the handcuffs move inside the box and fake blades that would retract from the actress's hands, thus allowing her to slide her hands out. Hackl subsequently commented that the character did not have to put her hands into the trap, as there was a lock with a key on the other side of the box that would have opened the contraption.
The original idea for the "Furnace Trap" came from the house having been a crematorium at some point, but this would have involved turning the house into a funeral parlor, so it was instead decided that the furnace would be part of the house's boiler system. The furnace was visualized in the form of a computer model so that Bousman could better understand how shots could be filmed. Using the computer model as a guide, the furnace was constructed in three days using cement board and tin with removable sides and top so Timothy Burd's character Obi could be filmed crawling inside. The furnace produced real flames and, in place of Burd, a stuntman using a fire retardant gel crawled into the fire.
Release
Saw II was released in New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom on October 28, 2005; and November 17, 2005 in Australia. The original teaser poster showing two bloody, severed fingers, representing the Roman numeral, II, was rejected by the Motion Picture Association of America. Since the poster was already released and managed to "slip by" the MPAA, they issued a release stating the poster was not approved and was unacceptable; Lionsgate removed the poster from their websites. The image was used instead for the film's soundtrack cover. Lionsgate held the second annual "Give Til It Hurts" blood drive for the Red Cross and collected 10,154 pints of blood.
Soundtrack
The Saw II soundtrack was released on October 25, 2005, by Treadstone Records. Johnny Loftus from AllMusic gave the soundtrack two and a half out of five stars, writing, "The remixer and occasional NIN member's music was overdone, mysterious, tense, and capably chilling, just like the horror-camp of the film itself." Mudvayne's song "Forget to Remember" was released as a single for both its original album and the soundtrack, and the video was also directed by Bousman.
Home media
Saw II was released on DVD, VHS, and Universal Media Disc on February 14, 2006, through Lions Gate Home Entertainment. The DVD debuted as number one selling 2.5 million units in its first day. It went on to sell 3.9 million units its first week, becoming the fastest selling theatrical DVD in Lions Gate's history. In rentals, Saw II topped the charts its first week bringing in $9.96 million in combined rentals, pushing Just Like Heaven ($5.96 million) to number 2. Its second week, it placed first on rental charts with $5.29 million despite a 47% drop from its first week. The film grossed $45 million in home sales. On October 24, 2006, a DVD "Unrated Special Edition" was released, while an Unrated Blu-ray edition was also released with various special features on January 23, 2007.
Reception
Box office
Saw II opened with $31.7 million on 3,879 screens across 2,949 theaters. The three-day Halloween opening weekend set a Lionsgate record. It became at the time, the widest release for the distributor and one of the best opening weekends for a horror sequel. For its second weekend it fell 47% making $16.9 million.
Saw II opened in the United Kingdom with $3.8 million on 305 screens, 70% larger than the first installment. It opened in Japan on 67 screens with $750,000. Opening to $1.3 million on 173 screens it was the number one film in Australia. The film grossed $87 million in the United States and Canada and $60.7 million in other markets for a worldwide total of $147.7 million. In the United States and Canada, Saw II is the highest-grossing film of the Saw series.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 37% of 122 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Saw II is likely to please the gore-happy fans of the original, though it may be too gruesome for those not familiar with first film's premise." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 40 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Robert Koehler of Variety wrote, "cooking up new Rube Goldberg torture contraptions isn't enough to get Saw II out of the shadow of its unnerving predecessor". Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B minus, saying "Saw II is just barely a better B flick than Saw" and that both films are "more clever and revolting than they are actually chilling". He praised Bell's performance as Jigsaw, saying "As the droopy-lidded maniac in the flesh, Tobin Bell is, for all the film's gewgaws, Saw II's sturdiest horror, a Terence Stamp look-alike who calls to mind a seedy General Zod lazily overseeing the universe from his evildoer's lair". He ended his review: "Where Saw II lags behind in Saw's novelty, it takes the lead with its smoother landing, which is again primed to blow the movie wide open, but manages a more compelling job of it than the original's cheat finish".
Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times called Saw II a "worthy follow-up to its grisly predecessor". He said the story was "much more focused on an endgame than the original film. There are fewer credibility gaps and there are plenty of reversals to satisfy fans". He criticized the use of numerous flashbacks, saying that it "rob us of the pleasure of actually remembering for ourselves". Laura Kern, writing for The New York Times, said that Bousman "delivers similar hard-core, practically humorless frights and hair-raising tension, but only after getting past a shaky beginning that plays more like a forensics-themed television show than a scary movie" and called Greutert's editing "crafty". She called the sequel "more trick than treat" and that it "doesn't really compare to its fine predecessor - though it still manages to be eye-opening (and sometimes positively nauseating) in itself". Empire's Alan Morrison gave the film three out of five stars. He said that the film improves upon Saw's "perverse fascination with Seven-style murders and brutally violent puzzles" and that Jigsaw's intellectual games make "Hannibal Lecter look like the compiler of The Sun's quick crossword". He ended his reviews saying, "Morally dubious it may be, but this gory melange of torture, terror and darkly humorous depravity appeals to the sick puppy within us all".
Accolades
Tobin Bell was nominated for "Best Villain" at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards for his role as Jigsaw, though the award went to Hayden Christensen for his role as Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Directors Guild of Canada | Outstanding Sound Editing - Feature Film | Rob Bertola; Tom Bjelic; Allan Fung; Mark Gingras; John Laing; Paul Shikata; John Douglas Smith | Nominated |
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Villain | Tobin Bell | Won |
MTV Movie Awards | Best Villain | Tobin Bell | Nominated |
Saturn Award | Best DVD Special Edition Release | — | Nominated |
Best Horror Film | — | Nominated | |
Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Scream | Donnie Wahlberg | Nominated |
Choice Movie: Thriller | — | Nominated |
Notes
- As depicted in Saw.
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External links
- Official website
- Saw II at IMDb
- Saw II at Box Office Mojo
- Saw II at Rotten Tomatoes
- Saw II at Metacritic
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Related |
- 2005 films
- 2000s American films
- 2000s English-language films
- 2005 directorial debut films
- 2005 horror films
- Advertising and marketing controversies in film
- American sequel films
- American splatter films
- Canadian splatter films
- Films about cancer
- Films scored by Charlie Clouser
- Films directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
- Films with screenplays by Leigh Whannell
- Films shot in Toronto
- Lionsgate films
- Obscenity controversies in film
- Rating controversies in film
- Sadistic horror films
- Saw (franchise) films
- English-language horror films