Bloody Disgusting Interviews SAW 2 Director

Bloody Disgusting.Com has posted an interview with Darren Lynne Bousman, the man entrusted with SAW 2.

Shorter Version: “Man, I’m really jazzed about this gig and I hope I don’t screw it up because that would really PISS OFF THE GUYS that made the first film!!!!” (NOTE: either the article’s author is extremely generous with his exclamation points and CAPITAL LETTERS, or Bousman answered every question as if he had just downed a pot of coffee and a handful of amphetimines.)

Some interesting points do emerge. For example, the film’s story is based on an unrelated script that Bousman had written, which he and Leigh Whannell (writer of the first SAW) then altered to turn it into a sequel.

But what’s most interesting is the concern he expresses about living up to the first film. What’s interesting about this is that SAW is only considered a huge hit because it was made so cheaply. The U.S. domestic gross (approximately $50-million) makes it one of the most successful films ever released by Lions Gate, a niche-film distributor, but it hardly qualifies for blockbuster status.

Sure, there’s a cult out there that liked the first movie and probably wants to see a follow-up, but let’s be honest: we’re not talking about a masterpiece of cinema. Rather like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, SAW clicked more because of its reputation than because of the film itself — it was all about the anticipation, based on what you had heard about the movie. And we all know what happened to the much touted BLAIR WITCH franchise, right? All the plans for multiple sequels and prequels died out immediately upon the release of BLAIR WITCH 2.

We’ll have to wait and see if SAW is a similar one-trick pony. It’s hard to imagine the sequel being anything but a rehash, and once the shock of the new is gone, what really is left?