First We Saw Den, Then We Saw Saw

Is Saw a complete and utter rip-off of another film? Looks like it might just be.

Den was released, in so much as a film without a distributor is ever released, in 2001. It was a full three years later that Saw came along, sharing many of the same elements, including a very convincing series of plot similarities.

Panel2Panel have an interview with Den director Greg Arce, and a big long list of Den vs Saw comparisons. Here are the best few:

A madman has kidnapped strangers and locked them into an abandoned location. These victims are then subject to a number of weird mind games. One of them is a doctor - in the case of Den, a psychotherapist. The characters have hidden secrets that link them to one another, including a little something about infidelity. In the final scene, the victims are chained up so that they might not reach one another.

There are a number of visual coincidences too, with the central sets being dressed with pipes and chains. To me, it looks like the Saw boys have some explaining to do. Not to say that they won't be able to explain this all away, just that now they will have to.

Food for thought? I'd say so. And I'm not alone.

I'd love to see Den. I hope that I'd like it more than Saw, which - frankly - I really didn't like at all.

And, yes, a law suit is coming soon. The truth will out - whatever it is.

Your Very Own Dead Silence Special Event Screening

Want an exclusive screening for Dead Silence, all to yourself, in your town and with 100 guests of your chosing? And how about if director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannel are in attendance? Sound like a lark to you? Well, why not try to win one.

Two Quick Looks At Dead Silence

I was sent these two pics from James Wan's ghost story, Dead Silence. The film should be out towards the end of March.

Creepy doll.

Dead Silent Dummy

The picture above is of Billy, a murderous dummy from James Wan's upcoming Dead Silence. Wan directed the first Saw, and this will be only his second film. On the evidence of Saw alone, it's going to be quite ludicrous, riddled with plot holes, badly crafted and phenomenally successful at the box office, eventually spawning an ever-more torturous franchise (pun intended).

The new film's plot details a ghostly vengeance enacted with the assistance of 101 creepy dolls. Almost certainly lacking the good natured, tacky schlock of a Charles Band killer doll production, this film is either going to cement Wan's standing in the horror community, or ruin him.

Dread Central scored the exclusive first look at Billy, and also have had a review of the film since August - yep, it's complete, and perhaps tellingly, sitting on the shelf. Only yesterday, it was revealed that the film will be dumped out - sorry, released - in March next year.