	How would you feel if you woke up in a dark, dirty, long forgotten bathroom chained at the foot to a pipe on the wall with a dead body lying in a pool of blood on the floor nearby?  This is the opening scene to 2004’s horror hit, Saw.  This movie is a fantastic and fresh addition to the repetitive horror genre, providing the viewer with an intricate plot not found in many horror movies.  Horror alone does not completely define this film’s genre, though; instead, it would be more appropriate to classify this movie as a twisted psychological thriller.  If the general definition of a horror movie is one where the story focuses on escaping from and defeating a monster, then Saw does not fit this mold.  The definition of a thriller is more adequate for this film, pitting protagonists against an enemy out to kill them, even though the methods in this film are quite unconventional.  
	The two main characters, Adam (played by Leigh Whannel) and Dr. Gordon (played by Cary Elwes) are the latest pawns in the Jigsaw killer’s twisted game of death.  They are ultimately given two options: fight against each other for survival or be punished, along with the punishment of loved ones.  In an attempt to figure out what’s going on, they find the bonesaws left in the toilet for them, and after trying to cut through the chains, two realizations hit Dr. Gordon.  He realizes who has done this to them, and he realizes the true intent for the saws: to cut through their feet to free themselves.  This is their ultimate test: how far will they go to live?  Being the first movie in a series of seven, the story of the killer is barely established here, but his motivations are quite obvious: give those who take life for granted one last chance to appreciate life.  
Detectives Tapp (played by Danny Glover) and Sing (played by Ken Leung) are the other main protagonists in this movie, and have been hunting for Jigsaw (played by Tobin Bell) for a while.  A few of his earlier “games” are shown as flashbacks while Dr. Gordon explains to Adam who Jigsaw is.  Each of these “games” that the detectives investigate are gory messes, with one dead body each.  Both had an opportunity to survive, depending on how willing they were to inflict pain upon themselves to obtain their freedom, but both died in the process.  Jigsaw manages to elude the two detectives, killing Sing and wounding Tapp, which sends Tapp into an obsessive craze to catch Dr. Gordon, who he believes is Jigsaw, without realizing the danger that Dr. Gordon and his family are really in.  Paranoia, fear, pain, and madness gradually build throughout the movie, as any good horror movie should do.  All of this leads to a horrific climax heightened by an unexpected twist at the very end.  
