This Day in Horror History: Darren Lynn Bousman’s SAW II Opened in 2005
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, Darren Lynn Bousman’s Saw II opened in 2005.
After the success of James Wan and Leigh Whannel’s Saw, the sequel was given a green-lit immediately. Whannell and Wan were busy preparing Dead Silence and were unable to write or direct so producer Gregg Hoffman found Bousman’s script, The Desperate, and showed it to fellow producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules. It was decided it could be made into Saw II with Whannell providing some rewrites.
Saw II was a financial success, opening with $31.9M and grossing $88M in the United States. Even better, the flick sold more than 3 million DVDs in its first week, making it the fastest-selling theatrical DVD in Lionsgate’s history at the time.
Written by Leigh Whannell and Bousman, the sequel follows a detective on the hunt for the twisted vigilante and serial killer Jigsaw who must apprehend the elusive murderer to rescue eight people trapped in an abandoned house, before they succumb to his torturous and murderous games. One twist to this task is that his son is among the eight people Jigsaw has chosen to test for their lack of morality. With nerve gas pumping through the house, every second counts.
It stars Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Matthews, Shawnee Smith as Amanda, Erik Knudsen as Daniel, Franky G as Xavier, Glenn Plummer as Jonas, Emmanuelle Vaugier as Addison, Beverley Mitchell as Laura, Timothy Burd as Obi, Dina Meyer as Detective Kerry, Lyriq Bent as Officer Rigg, and Tobin Bell as John Kramer / Jigsaw.
Charlie Clouser composed the score.
The film sports a 37% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes with a Critics Consensus that 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.
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