Back in the early 2000’s, Horror was hot as ever. And although the third entry had seemed to wrap-up the series at the time, SCREAM's heavy influence on the genre was still going strong. The adrenaline shot Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson injected into the veins of the Horror genre in late 1996 and early 1997 was necessary, as our beloved genre hadn’t had an explosive hit in years. But, at the beginning of this century, not too many films were taking chances with originality, and suffered from the played out, self-aware character angle. Screenwriter Todd Farmer is on record stating that all notes regarding the ‘Jason X’ script (which was conceived in the late 90’s/early 00’s) said the movie needed to be more like 'Scream.' To me, Farmer's statement proves that studios didn't know how to take the next step forward in Horror cinema, yet.



Then, in 2004, word hit the internet that a short film (SAW) was being made into a feature-length film by the original short's writer (Leigh Whannell) and director (James Wan). The buzz was strong, but too much hype can make a movie seem not as good as it actually is on the first viewing. Lucky for me, and people with a passion for the genre, when 'Saw' was released in October, 2004, it was everything us Horror fans were promised and more. Wan and Whannell delivered.

