DVD Reviews

Saw 6

• Rating:
• Director: Kevin Greutert
• Starring: Costas Mandylor, Peter Outerbridge, Tanedra Howard, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith
• Details: US/90mins 18

Another Halloween, another Saw sequel. This one is just as awful as you'd expect.
Much like its villain, Jigsaw, Saw is the franchise that just won't die. Made with a relatively paltry budget, each effort in the series has returned a profit of such magnitude, that there is now a sixth one. Defiant and inexplicably loyal fanbase aside, most blow-ins to their local multiplex will find their stomachs suitably turned, and the context for the countless slayings a stretch to say the least. As with some of the other sequels, flashbacks are rampant here, as the filmmakers attempt to conclude unresolved issues from previous instalments. It goes without saying that Jigsaw himself manages to turn up, as does partner-in-slaying Amanda. But core character this time is William, who is forced to make some agonising decisions to save his own life, and the lives of others. It would be foolish to think that the Saw movies were anything other than critic-proof at this point, as frankly, the box-office and preceding reviews both speak for themselves. But as someone who is a genuine fan of horror - from the classics, to the more overtly slicker contemporary efforts - these are nasty films that appeal only to the gore hounds. Any production that uses flashbacks as prominently as they are here to clean up previous gaping plot-holes, is obviously grasping at straws also. Sure, the traps are innovatively assembled, and the production design and score are impressive, but the script is atrocious and every single character merely walking meat, awaiting slaughter. Hardcore Saw fans will, somewhat predictably, revel in the limb-removing regardless, but for everyone else, this is just as bad as the last few sequels.

Review by Mike Sheridan