The Jigsaw (2014) User Reviews

Nice telling of a classic well-known horror tale

[oznuravci · 7/10 · 26 September 2023]

This was a nice telling of a classic campfire story (you might remember this from summer camp or as one of the horror stories told in the cave in Dead Poets Society). There are a few shots that might not have needed to be included (book with magnifying glass, perhaps) and a little rushed ending. The man seems to be in an awful hurry to get home for a whiskey and a jigsaw puzzle. Maybe that's his buzz, maybe not. But that hardly matters with this great cast and great atmosphere. It's quite a rich film for a short and includes a lot of gothic horror elements. It's hard to comment on the main part of the story since that's been around for decades, but the originality the brothers bring to this short is that they've added a nice beginning that deviates from the old tale of a woman finding a puzzle behind an old wardrobe in her house and brings us in contact with a shady curiosities dealer in the city. It showcases the classic theme of City as devious and dangerous versus Countryside as safe and pure and sure enough in the end we see a bit of one invading the other. The film looks smart and moves along smoothly. Definitely worth watching.

smart

[Kirpianuscus · 29 September 2017]

it is not the right word, off course. but it is the first after the end of a real remarkable short film . and this is the lead virtue - to give a simple story with a huge impact. and, after a time after the first meet, to rediscover it, familiar for the connections with classic horror literature. because this is its virtue - the deep simplicity. a man, a seller, a game. and the returning jigsaw. and it is enough, proposing the splendid performance of Pedro Monteiro.

Simplicity at best! (Contains no spoilers)

[woodward526 · 10/10 · 26 October 2014]

Keep a look out for this team of brothers! The Al-Safar Bros are one to watch. Their stylistic approach the filmmaking including their work on "The Jigsaw" is phenomenal.

The story is simple with its approach, just the way short films should be. Man stumbles across old jigsaw puzzle, store owner teases of demise, man brings puzzle home and all hell breaks loose. All-in-all, the film is highly effective and will leave audiences with a sense of an "A-ha" moment right before the final reveal / scare. It's so effective in fact that each time the ending rolls around, the audience gasps is terror, leaving them silent, dissecting what they just saw throughout the credits.

This film is one that will stick with you long before it's over. Visually speaking, the Al-Safar Bros have found their knack and have discovered a way to bring high Hollywood grade filmmaking to the short film setting with a limited budget. These dudes are children at heart which forces creativity to run wild. Seemingly, no shot was too big, no edit was too doctored and no action was too perceived. It was just perfect.

Neither scared, nor entertained and thus not impressed

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 18 October 2017]

"The Jigsaw" is an 8.5-minute short film from 2014, so still relatively new. It was written and directed by Basil and Rashad Al-Safar, presumably brothers judging from the title of the film's production company. This award-winning short is probably their biggest success at this point. It is a little horror/mystery film about a cursed puzzle game that an old bearded man buys from a vendor at a shop and the latter says it always returns to him, so there we know already something is pretty strange. But honestly, I was not well entertained here watching this one, in the second half even less than in the first. It's not a failure, but there were several deficits, like nothing about the horror aspect and ending really tells us why it had to be a puzzle. And near the end, the film was also more on the loud and ambitiously atmospheric side than really convincing in any way. I think it is a piece defined by style over substance. Don't watch.

Brilliant work

[joekramos · 10/10 · 25 October 2014]

Excellent short movie.

Great story, well directed, intense and very interesting from the beginning till the end. Brilliant job in directing from the Al Safar brothers. The story grabs you from the first moment. Mystery, suspense, magic all the components for a good thriller or horror movie are there. Good acting. In general a very good surprise, a movie a do recommend, in the future we hope to see few more works from this team, Al Safar Brothers. With a small budget as 3000£, that is a brilliant job , relation, price/quality, excellent price and outstanding quality. Congratulations for the producers and directors, and all the team involve. This is a movie you cannot miss.

A delightfully scary piece of film making

[ghbbrown-1 · 10/10 · 2 July 2017]

This is visually stunning, tautly told,with a real surprise at the end. An unidentified man buys a dusty box of jigsaw pieces and takes it home despite discouragement from the man who sells it. Hours fly by. Then the final tiny piece slips into place and....A book is ALWAYS a less risky choice for an evening's entertainment. It took me a while to recollect a similar written tale. I finally hit on the horror/ghost stories of M.R. James, an early 20th century master of creepiness and odious apparitions. I used to think James' work was overwrought. Now, with THE JIGSAW in mind, I may go back to revisit.

One the best Short Film's ever I've seen

[are13162810 · 10/10 · 24 January 2015]

Saw a screening at the Screen Stockport Film Festival and I can honestly it's one of the best short films I have ever seen! The thought behind it is also incredible in how a small idea can have a large impact. Brilliantly unique and so unexpected as a storyline, who could have thought the use of a innocent Jigsaw as a weapon could make a great short film. Would love to see this as an actual feature horror film someday! Was my first ever time at a film festival and for me it was the most memorable film of the whole day. Unfairly though, it didn't win at the festival but for me it was the winner of the whole festival!