More guts, more gory

Saw fans who couldn’t wait for the release of Saw 2 to get their gore fix (as well as Saw producers who needed money now) will be thrilled with the new Saw Uncut Edition DVD, which represents a big, if completely unnecessary, improvement from the previous bare-bones DVD. Even the menus are scary.

Saw, which stars Cary Elwes and Danny Glover, was last fall’s sleeper hit, chronicling the misadventures of a serial killer with a little too much time on his hands. The Uncut Edition restores some quarter-second long gore shots excised when the producers decided that the movie actually needed to be semi-palatable in order to turn a profit. So, if you were hoping against hope that you could experience the extended version of the scene in which a heroin addict locked into a reverse bear trap digs through the intestines of an incapacitated man to find the key, well, your day has come.

Extra features range from pointless to fun to simply bizarre: The DVD-ROM option to create a customized clown for an e-card is all of those things, especially since the cards can include the killer’s ominous voice humming the birthday song or telling the recipient to get well soon. Terrifying, yet adorable.

A storyboard sequence detailing an alternate scene is brought to life through clever animation that suggests some real work went into this DVD. Two new commentary tracks are jovial and informative, if not full of self-praise. “This is a great shot” is uttered 40 times at minimum.

A preview of Saw 2 contains a scene more cringe-inducing than any in the original, while the trio of behind-the-scenes documentaries enjoyably covers every aspect of the original film’s production in great detail. Too much detail – Saw isn’t exactly Gone With The Wind; yet, it has a DVD treatment much better than it deserves, so Saw’s many fans will find the Uncut Edition a worthwhile purchase. m