Saw VI

I found Parts II, III and IV of the Saw series increasingly tedious, so much so that I left it six years before watching Part V. I was pleasantly surprised, then, to (eventually) find that the fifth instalment marked a turning point, the plot-line becoming a bit more interesting with Agent Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) taking on the mantle of Jigsaw, the gore being even more graphic, and the makers clearly taking matters with a welcome pinch of salt (the extreme nature of some of the gruesome traps bordering on self-parody). I was having fun at last.

The series continues to improve with Part VI, which develops the Hoffman character further, ladles on even more revolting splatter, and steadfastly refuses to get bogged down with trifling matters such as the cash, time, and skill required to build such amazing methods of torture. Part VI simply gets on with entertaining the fans, with a twisty-turny narrative and bucket-loads of the red stuff.

This time around, Jigsaw has assembled a group of despicable life-insurance business-people, and proceeds to teach them that choosing between life and death should not be an easy decision to make. As a result, bodies are blasted, crushed, hung, and, in the film's most revolting scene, melted from the inside with a highly corrosive acid. Meanwhile, the F.B.I. are closing in on Hoffman, although Kramer's wife Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell) also has a surprise in store for the deviant agent. Rather surprisingly, this satisfyingly sick chapter has left me looking forward to more Saw.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

I remember that feeling i had when watching the first Saw movie. At first i walked in with the notion from the trailer that it was going to be some lame "torture" movie... I then remember walking out afterwards going "OMG...OMG....OMG..." When i first heard they were making a second one, i was extremely happy. Then i walked out of Saw 2 feeling empty.. like i had just watched a lame cash in sequel. For whatever reason i kept coming back.. Premiere day... I'd be there to watch the next one. Saw 3 i left feeling way better then the 2nd one.. The 4th one i remember walking out going "Wtf.. what a lame new jigsaw..". The 5th one i had the distinct thought "Omg.. that was just a total filler movie and nothing was gained from it..." Six i didn't exactly have high hopes for...

But Thank... GOD... Saw 6 is not only just a good sequel but its actual a great movie on its own. The moral dilemma William faces as part of "his" game throughout the movie... real powerful choices. The traps (as always..) gory as all hell.. but the emotion behind the decisions and ending of all the traps.. sends a shiver down my spine. And the ending twist AND scene... I wont spoil it but my GOD.. You thought agent Straham had a powerful will to live in that intro scene to 5, You ain't seen nothing yet.

Mainly though.. The story.. One thing this chronicle of the series does nicely as well, is tie up SO many questions that have been still hanging from way back to even Saw 3 (with a couple of new ones added just for the next ones..). I found that even though i thought 4 and 5 were average on their own... After seeing this one, it amplified and made them.. i don't know.. make sense.

Just like a jigsaw.. as each piece is layed down... the entire picture starts to make sense. Bring on Saw 7!!!!!

I didn't really enjoy Saw V. I found it had too many flashbacks and the movie itself just felt like an excuse to make another Saw film.

However, Saw VI was a huge improvement over the last. The story was more interesting and the twists and turns were quite intriguing. One little problem i have with this film is that they went way too overboard with the blood and gore in this one, but i suppose that nowadays, thats what the Saw films are all about, which is a shame, considering the first film started off as a psychological thriller.

Apart from that, the film was quite enjoyable and there's definitely some little secrets that they will be able to use for more sequels. Bring on Saw VII i say!

Finally, the Saw series has regained some of it's previous credibility. Saw VI proved to be a very bloody, but clever mainstream romp.

There were a couple of great twists and turns, the gore was jacked up to a fantastic level of brutal extremity (easily beating the rather tame 5th installment), and most importantly, I, plus everyone in the theatre had a ball with it.

As well as being a valid continuation of the 'Saw' story, it worked well as a standalone film. The main twist actually had nothing do to with the previous movies... but don't get me wrong, you'll get plenty of answers for questions left open from the other films at the same time.

As you'd expect, the acting and production values weren't to flash, but the good screenplay and balls-out sadistic torture made this a vast improvement over the last couple of sequels. Apart from the first, I'm happy to say this is definitely one of my favorites from the series. 7.5/10.

Check it out. I found it to be a pleasant surprise.

"Saw" was never a franchise that was designed to last. The first film made a point of killing off every main character save one who was already dying of an inoperable brain tumor. But, when a movie grosses 100 times its budget filmmakers tend to find untapped wells of ingenuity.

"Saw VI" tells a story that is almost certainly incomprehensible to those who have not seen the previous five films. The entire plot hinges on the reveal of an element first introduced in "Saw III" and details the rise of a character who made his debut as a glorified extra. The entire twist ending is predicated upon one's memory of a secondary character who is never even on screen during this feature except during a brief flashback. It's some straight up "Star Trek" level minutia.

Because of this, a plot summary is useless. You either know what to expect, in which case it is best to see the movie completely cold, or you've already determined that you don't care. Suffice it to say, John "Jigsaw" Kramer and Amanda Young are still dead, (as they have been since part three) and Agent Hoffman is still on the loose, trying to teach more people to appreciate life. Then things get complicated.

"Saw" has always worked under a strange moral code, espousing a bizarre brand of carpe diem philosophy spoken by serial killer who seems to think that he is saving people by throwing them in pits of used needles or forcing them to cut off their feet. This philosophy has long been an albatross for the series because Jigsaw's ideas are, to put it bluntly, completely idiotic. The result of these tests would likely be a crippling case of post-traumatic stress disorder, not a moment of truth.

"Saw VI" works hard to solve this problem. For the first time in series history Jigsaw is shown to be maybe the slightest bit mentally unsound. This is a small but important step as the series makes infinitely more sense and is far more chilling if Jigsaw is taken as a David Berkowitz type instead of some sort of blood and guts Buddha. Simultaneous to this, the filmmakers have finally created a cast of victims who might well deserve their fate. Thinking back, it's actually quite surprising that it took five sequels to get to a trap where loan sharks are forced to contend with Shylock's infamous demand of "A pound of Flesh".

While many have anticipated a jump to the supernatural for several entries, few if any guessed that Saw would ever become a political story. You see, "Saw VI" is just as much about the current healthcare reform debate as it is about soap opera plot twists. In one scene Jigsaw literally says the words "Medical decisions should be made by Doctors and patients" before going on to equate HMO's with murderous thugs. And while the political polemic elements are perhaps a bit overcooked, they do imply a level of effort on the part of the filmmakers that goes beyond the call of duty. The social consciousness of Jason Voorhees' sixth outing began and ended with a happy face symbol made of blood.

Longtime series editor Kevin Greutert moves to the director's chair for this entry and his experience with the franchise shines through. He has clearly been planning for this opportunity for quite some time, and he makes the most of it, combining the indie grunge of the original with the flashy scene transitions of the sequels all while expanding the color palette, steadying the ADHD afflicted cinematography and toning down the ultra-violence.. This is almost certainly the best looking part six the horror genre has ever seen. Keeping pace with the direction is a slick, fast, and occasionally inventive screenplay by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, who handedly outdo their work on the previous two films.

Everything that was wrong with the five previous films is still wrong here. The sets still look like those of a movie made for about a million dollars, the actors are mostly second rate and the logic is tenuous within a real world scenario. The dialogue is occasionally as cringe inducing as the gory set pieces and the script makes excessive use of expository tape recordings in place of legitimate character development. And yet, I had a damn good time.

This film is easily the best since part two, and somehow actually made me want to see part seven. For those already invested in the series "Saw VI" is a Halloween treat. It's smarter than the previous three and it features some of the series most interesting traps. It even gives you a little something to talk about after the credits roll. Most will hate it sight unseen, but those who show up to watch, "Saw VI" is better than it has any right to be.