When I first saw the original Saw movie I referred to as 'almost' the best movie I had ever seen. Die took the idea, really they carbon copied it, but then they added to it, did some artistic tweaking, made it into a dramatic thriller instead of gore induced horror. But the real speciality of Die is the small details of the world where it takes place. Die is reminiscent of the film Se7en (an AMAZING honour to be compared to in my books) because the world is not described as much as it is just shown. There is this dark, mysterious, gritty, almost futuristic look to the unnamed city. Its a city of death and depression and gambling with an almost Sin City quality to its look in certain shots. Not enough of the city is shown in my opinion but it is truly about the characters not the setting but the setting plays a vital role in this being as good as it was. Some critics will say that the film doesn't spend enough time giving you the character backgrounds and that might be true but you learn enough to make them important and understand the dark truth behind both them and the trials they are being put through.
There really isn't one major star in the film, everyone sort of shares screen time and importance in the script. I have always really enjoyed Elias Koteas but he hasn't had some great roles. In this film he is solid as the depressed and apparently disgraced Police Detective. He has a mysterious background but also this tough anti-hero persona that makes him sort of the leader on the cast. He is terrific and dark. John Pyper-Ferguson was probably born to play a twisted, sadistic cult leader and he is perfect in this role. He doesn't come across as truly psychotic as Saw's Jigsaw killer but instead is more of a subtle and intelligent psycho so to speak. There was definitely more they could have explored with him but he does very well. Emily Hampshire does a great job playing Lisa, the down on her luck woman desperate to live. She is definitely unexplored as a character but she still adds significance to the story. Patricia McKenzie and Katie Boland also deserve mention in excellent roles.
This is Canadian Director Dominic James first full length film and he deserves great kudos! The style for this film should be really scrutinized because if you blink you'll miss it but there is some really great stuff in here. On top of that the film is downright entertaining with an intriguing twist to the whole story. Much like the original Saw (the comparisons are obvious as the plot is almost identical,) this really is only a small snap shot of what could be explored in the film but this is perhaps all we will get. But take it for what it is and really explore what they've done here because it is thrilling, exciting, dark, gritty, disturbing, even gory in its own way. A lot of IMDb reviewers have some really bad things to say about it but I think there is more here than what some might see. Check it out because it was excellent!! 9/10
There really isn't one major star in the film, everyone sort of shares screen time and importance in the script. I have always really enjoyed Elias Koteas but he hasn't had some great roles. In this film he is solid as the depressed and apparently disgraced Police Detective. He has a mysterious background but also this tough anti-hero persona that makes him sort of the leader on the cast. He is terrific and dark. John Pyper-Ferguson was probably born to play a twisted, sadistic cult leader and he is perfect in this role. He doesn't come across as truly psychotic as Saw's Jigsaw killer but instead is more of a subtle and intelligent psycho so to speak. There was definitely more they could have explored with him but he does very well. Emily Hampshire does a great job playing Lisa, the down on her luck woman desperate to live. She is definitely unexplored as a character but she still adds significance to the story. Patricia McKenzie and Katie Boland also deserve mention in excellent roles.
This is Canadian Director Dominic James first full length film and he deserves great kudos! The style for this film should be really scrutinized because if you blink you'll miss it but there is some really great stuff in here. On top of that the film is downright entertaining with an intriguing twist to the whole story. Much like the original Saw (the comparisons are obvious as the plot is almost identical,) this really is only a small snap shot of what could be explored in the film but this is perhaps all we will get. But take it for what it is and really explore what they've done here because it is thrilling, exciting, dark, gritty, disturbing, even gory in its own way. A lot of IMDb reviewers have some really bad things to say about it but I think there is more here than what some might see. Check it out because it was excellent!! 9/10