James Wan has made a tremendous impression on the horror genre and even though titles like Saw and The Conjuring gained major acclaim, his scariest movie, Death Sentence, masquerades as an action film.
Both James Wan made a very big entrance with his debut feature film, Saw, which has gone on to become one of the most popular modern horror franchises. The Saw sequels can get a little out of hand, but the original is a tight and smart take on the genre. Wan would go on to also helm the first two entries in both the Insidious and Conjuring franchises, the latter of which has spawned its own connected cinematic universe.
Wan has grown into a major filmmaker that’s been given tent pole action franchises like Furious 7 and Aquaman, but he’s someone who continually returns to horror as a source of inspiration. The horror genre comes through in Wan’s work, even when he’s playing around in a different genre. Wan followed up Saw with the unsuccessful and compromised Dead Silence, but before he turned to The Conjuring or Insidious franchises, he directed an action movie called Death Sentence.
Death Sentence Is Shot Like A Horror Movie
Death Sentence is billed as an action film, but so much of the way in which James Wan choreographs and orchestrates scenes reflects the staples of the horror genre. One of the biggest moments in the movie is when Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) takes his first life. The lighting becomes more extreme and the score becomes intimidating and reminiscent of a horror movie. It tries to conjure that same energy with its cinematography because, at that moment, Nick’s life has become a horror film.
This approach is maintained throughout the movie wherein every fight is legitimately scary and brutal. The contrast surprises the audience because this isn’t supposed to be a horror movie. At one point, Nick even suffers from a nightmare that’s specifically shot in a manner that’s similar to the Saw films as the camera becomes more frenetic and a green tint takes over.
Arguably the best scene in the movie is the chaotic foot chase and shoot out that takes place on the streets and in public. It’s a sequence that’s far more frightening than the public danger that takes place in The Purge movies and others like it. The violence in Death Sentence is presented in a realistic and unflinching way that’s deeply terrifying. Wan masterfully shoots the scene in a sprawling, uninterrupted take that frequently shifts perspectives. What makes this approach so frightening is that it’s never clear where every character is and who has the advantage at the moment. It makes the audience as exhausted and tense as Nick.
Death Sentence’s approach to its environment also tries to generate the most fear out of all of these locations. The den that the gang hangs out in is lit in a dank way where it looks like a torture room from Saw. Later on, the building where the gang makes their drugs looks like a disturbing, haunted funhouse. These spaces are full of evil people, but Wan makes sure that every aspect of production design creates unease.
The Horror And Violence Come From A Real Place
James Wan’s horror films are all very successful at what they’re trying to do, but the Saw films can sometimes feel like Jigsaw/John Kramer is a super villain due to how over the top the traps and level of planning are. Insidious and The Conjuring are supernatural stories that revolve around evil spirits rather than people. Death Sentence involves regular human beings who are at the end of their ropes; this makes the danger and fear more visceral. Both Nick and Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund) are fighting over lost loved ones, and it’s easy to feel the weight in that. It’s hard to not be moved by such an emotional tragedy.
Kevin Bacon doesn’t hold back in his performance, and so much of Death Sentence has him doing raw and painful work. It’s a devastating destruction of the human soul, and at a certain point, a light just goes out in him. Death Sentence intentionally juxtaposes how Nick used to be to what he’s now become. His dark behavior seeps through into his everyday life. There are some incredibly powerful scenes that involve Nick trying to do his job at the Fortune 500 company that he works for as everyone gawks over the changes that he’s experienced. Wan’s horror films typically just live in their haunted environments, but this allows for a deeper level of reflection.
Death Sentence Capitalizes On Disturbing Imagery
The subject matter and the way in which it’s presented in Death Sentence is very frightening, but the movie even narrows in on disturbing visuals and set pieces that feel like they belong in a horror film. Nick gets delivered a package at work from the gang that looks like the kind of thing that Jigsaw would design. The personal nature of the package’s contents push Nick over the edge. Death Sentence is an extremely violent movie, but the violence depicted is exaggerated like in a horror film. The movie lingers on limbs being blown off and doesn’t pull back. Consequently, the first Saw film actually cuts away from a lot of the iconic violence, opting to leave more to the imagination.
The circumstances that get Nick involved with the gang in the first place are triggered by him unintentionally engaging in a gang initiation by flashing his headlights. This apocryphal situation feels like it’s right out of Urban Legend, and the imagery around these seemingly innocent gestures creates a deep level of anxiety and fear over what’s going to happen.
The Ending Is Among Wan’s Darkest
Nick’s rage ultimately gets the better of him, and he exacts his revenge on Billy Darley and his gang. By the end of all of this, both Nick and Billy are a bloody mess. Billy even marvels at Nick’s transformation and tells him, “You look like one of us. Look what I made you.” The scariest ending possible is that Billy is right and Nick is now on even ground with him. He’s become just as big of a monster, a blunt object with nothing left. What’s even more chilling is that if he had just left things alone, he’d still have a life with his son. Instead, he’ll succumb to his injuries and leave his boy orphaned with little money left.
In a sense, this idea of metamorphosis and degradation is also present in the Saw sequels as other people follow in John Kramer’s footsteps, but Death Sentence’s ending is even bleaker. James Wan leaves audiences in pitch black territory, which is perhaps why the movie didn’t connect with audiences. Wan’s films are still scary, but he doesn’t allow the darkness to win in quite the same way anymore.