Reviews

STAY ALIVE Rated PG-13 for horror violence, disturbing images, language, brief sexual and drug content. Directed By: William Brent Bell Starring: Jon Foster, Frankie Muniz, Samaire Armstrong, and Sophia Bush Runtime: 85 minutes

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT

7 out of 10. Not very scary, but it is enjoyable.

THE LONG VERSION

OK. I was not expecting much from this flik from the get-go. Script although more original than most of the crap movies to come out lately, was still nothing ground breaking. And, having a relatively unknown director on the project wasn't giving this film any better buzz. Then the trailer was released, which made this movie look even worse. So today I see a matinée for this film with a friend of mine, and I'm surprised to find myself watching a genuinely interesting film.

Is it scary? Not really. There's a few boo scares thrown around, but none of them really work. I like during some of the creepy scenes how silent it was, but it never really paid off properly.

Is it at least suspenseful? Yes. It is, in fact, very suspenseful. There are some really cool chase scenes, and some pretty decent "what was that!?" moments.

Is it gory? No. The pictures were, as most suspected, quick shots in the film, and you barely saw any of it. This was, of course, to keep this flik pg13. That's annoying, but whatever, I could get over it rather quickly.

Editing, Directing, etc. was all pretty solid, nothing shocking, but nothing horrible either.

And now, to the part most people are probably interested in: How was the video game sequences? Awesome. This is by far the best part of the movie. When it goes into the video game, it gets really cool. The beginning shines best in this particular style the movie goes for. With some creepy "Samara" like ghosts crawling around, and plenty of stabbing, the video game sequences are the scariest and goriest parts of the flik. These are the scenes that truly shine.

So what else can I say? It's an enjoyable flik that floats in mediocrity until the video game sequences. Thats when it shines. Which makes this a 7 rather than a 6 out of 10.

All in all: Not very scary, but suspenseful. A pretty solid film that can entertain you, but there will definitely be haters. I say lean back and enjoy a decent rental (when it's released on DVD that is) It will be worth the 6-8 bucks you pay for it.

Plot: The Jigsaw killer returns, this time even more bad ass and sick than before. He decides to set up a few people inside a house, each room with a specific trap for a specific person. The people inside must find a way out, or the poisonous gas being put inside the room will kill them. Along the way, they must also find the antidotes to the poison in their lungs. Meanwhile, Detective Matthews must deal with the finally "caught" Jigsaw killer, is he wants his son to stay alive. Problem is, his son is in the house with all the traps, and Detective Matthews is losing his cool.

Review: Pretty damn good. The plot itself is decent, but if done the right way can be really really good. And, it is. The plot develops nicely, giving twists and turns along the way, and watching both sides of the situation became fascinating, quickly. I found myself listening intently almost the whole time, and the other times, I found myself squirming uncomfortably as the gorgeous gore brought itself out on screen. Which, of course, I loved.

The Characters, sadly, are under-developed, and really don't go anywhere, aside from being shot, stabbed, gassed, burned, cut, and smashed. They're also very cliché' characters we've all seen before, and, sadly, they seem rather flat. The character Xavien is way too quick to go crazy-psycho-killer, and it almost made me roll my eyes. The writer's seemed too quick to get on with the horror/gore, and decided not to let us know nor care about the characters, but rather watch them die in grisly ways. This, of course, is entirely different than in the original Saw, where we got to know the characters incredibly well. If it gave us a bit more time to get to know the characters, it would be better. Besides, we got some good ol' horror right from the beginning, that let me tell you, made me smirk evilly, at the same time squirm uncomfortably. I loved it.

Anywho, the editing directing and all that good stuff was done rather nicely. The director did a great job at giving a grimy sadistic feel to the film ,and I just love that. The editing was well done during the horrific situation sequences, but some times seemed a bit slow, or a bit too fast at other times. The cinematography was very stylized, like the original Saw, which I just love. It, also, gives a very different feel to the movie than you get with most others.

As for what we see in the movie, be prepared to close your eyes, clench your fists, and not feel in the mood to make-out (which, for me especially, is very hard to do :P ) and to squirm uncomfortably through-out 3/4 of the movie. Also, look forward to, not only one, but TWO twists through-out the movie. It's a pretty good shocker!

Overall I guess, to be fair, I must give it a 8/10 (the original got a big fat 9.5) because of the few issues it had, such as the sometimes poor editing, the rushed feeling of the beginning, and the cliché' unexplored characters. It also, as per usual, does not live up to the original, but is still pretty damn sweet.

Things to Beware: 1. Not everyone can act :\ 2. Cliché' characters 3. Some poor editing 4. Squirmy uncomfortable feeling No making out :P

Things to Look Forward to: 1. Squirmy uncomfortable feeling (if you like that) 2. Gruesome deaths 3. Nice twist at the end 4. A really really really really awesome, best scene of the movie opening sequence 5. Pretty damn good directing

OVERALL: 8.6/10

Let me say this right now: This movie is not a thinker. It's not very intelligent, and its not thought provoking. But it's one hell of a thrill ride, and in and itself, got some creepy moments.

Some people may be disappointed, but to tell you the truth, this movie does exactly what I wanted it to do--give the viewer a good time. This is a nice enjoyable film, plenty of action/gore/nudity for everyone, and its awesome to see the old monsters back into the action.

I give this movie a fun and enjoyable 8/10. Good job Hollywood, you pulled off a movie thats **gasp** enjoyable! However, though, this movie may not be for the faint of heart. Plenty of gore, plenty of nudity, and plenty of sexuality. But for people like me, the movie suits just fine.

Also, oddly, the actor for Jason was changed but it's not really noticeable.

Again, a nice 8/10 from me. goodjob, Hollywood.

Oh man I loved this film. I so wanted to hate it... I so wanted to disregard it. I wanted it to die! How dare they make a movie of such a good book! But, alas, I loved it. It had me cracking up, even if it did miss a few good chances at some jokes. Didn't really follow the book much, but from what I heard, it wasn't trying to. 8/10 for being a nice fun, family flick.

Arthur and Trillian had a little bit more love in this story, The big computer had a woman's voice, and a few other weird things were added in, but most were pretty good. The horrible vogon poetry didn't work out that funny, but there were some great jokes... I just cracked up at some of them.

"Peculiarly, the bowl of petunias only thoughts before it fell was 'Oh no, not again.' Some say that if we were to KNOW why the bowl of petunias had said such a thing, we would know much more about the universe today." However, I'm not sure many people at my theater got the humour the movie was aiming at... I sometimes found myself the only one laughing, probably annoying the others around me.

Anyhoo, I recommend this movie for a nice good time.

Well I went in to watch this film expecting the upsets I have received from a-many horror films, including "White Noise" "Darkness" and "Boogey Man" and I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised.

This movie does great at what it does. It doesn't use the ghost concept as good as it could, which I was a little sad about, but it picked up in plenty of jump-scares and creepy moments. This movie starts off good, and gets better.

Well, I don't have much to say about this film, aside that from all points of view, it was just a fun little horror flick. I give this a nice 7/10 because although not the best movie I've ever seen, it's a fun movie to watch for some good jumps and goosebumps.

Overall this movie does what it tries to do, and gets you to jump numerous times. The plot is pretty interesting, and although I've never seen the original, I've been told it gives more information on what happened.

Dimension pulled one off. Wow!

My summary truly is the summary of this lackluster film.

Acting 7/10. Main character is decent, supporting actors are okay... The extras all look like they're going about there daily business.

Storyline 6/10. Meh. Usually Post apocalyptic stuff, but with a few stupid things. For one, there is a whole "Wolf" thing, where the wolves escape from their cages, and come back about 40 minutes later in the film. Main problem: They were the only animals that escaped. A little unrealistic? No giraffes or elephants got out? Just the wolves? Also, the whole "running-from-ice" thing is pretty stupid. How the hell do you block out freezing cold weather? You close your doors and the cold can't get in? Yeah... My main problem with the plot was that the entire movie is basically the kid yelling "Save Me Dad!" And then the dad runs for him. "Save Me!" *dun dun dun dun* "Help!" *Dun dun dun dun* "Please Hurry!" *dun dun dun dun* Pretty lame.

Characterization 2/10. The characters stay themselves basically. We care a teeny bit about them, mainly because a few of them look sad and cry on one another's shoulders, which gives us a but of pity, but aside form that, I'de kill them myself if it wasn't morally wrong.

Special Effects 9/10. The one innovational thing of this movie. These graphics do what "The Matrix" did to the 90's, bringing new innovational amazing scenes of great and hardly noticeable CGI. The water that rises high above New York, really looks like water. Large Budget = Good graphics.

Overall 3/10. Very boring at some points, laughable suspense, stupid and pointless scenes of idiocy, and really bad acting Extras bring this movie way down. The graphics give it two points, the acting gives it one. 3/10.