Saw VI (2009)

Movie Info

This is the start of a pretty bad day…

Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has framed the now deceased Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) as Jigsaw’s assistant and is working to cover his tracks.  There is a problem however in Jigsaw’s wife Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell) who knows what her husband knew about Mark’s past and could become a threat.  As the police led by Lindsey Perez (Athena Karkanis) close in on Mark, Mark tests an insurance dealer named William Easton (Peter Outerbridge) who once slighted Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) and is now set to pay the ultimate price.

Directed by Kevin Greutert, Saw VI is a torture horror movie.  Following 2008’s Saw V, the film (like a majority of the series) was panned by critics, and the movie also showed a drop off in attendance despite continued strong returns at the box office.

I bet all the people on the merry-go-round would laugh he started humming “Merry-Go-Round Broke Down” right now…

Saw (which never was a favorite) has really fallen by this film.  It shouldn’t be called Saw and should just be called Flashback because that all the film feels like.  As soon as the story gets some traction a flashback (usually not adding much to the narrative) kicks in and the story loses direction.

The series really needs the real Jigsaw.  Tobin Bell was a half-way interesting villain and his death in Saw III really hindered the series.  When basing the series around a terminally ill character, it never was going to be easy, and the filmmakers’ attempts to spin off Hoffman as the new Jigsaw just doesn’t really work.  Bell was a distinctive looking guy and Hoffman’s character’s motivation and generic look don’t help the picture.  I do however admire that the series continues to build on past movies instead of just being an essential restart every time a new film is made…this is different than a lot of horror franchises which play fast and loose with events of previous films.

He might be seriously considering who his friends are

What continues to be the draw of Saw is the creator’s clever deaths.  This series continues the trend (it also continues the trend of none of the characters even attempting to avoid physical harm while freeing themselves).  The twist endings that used to thrill, now plod, but at least Easton’s acid death and Hoffman’s escape also was rather exciting and some of the more grueling moments in the series.

This might be the worst Saw.  I have never been on the Saw boat and always thought the first Saw was pretty bad (I guess if I had to pick, I’d say Saw II was probably my “favorite”).  The movie has lost what creativity the series had and needed to be put down.  The lower than expected box office returns led studio execs to decide to end the series with the follow-up film Saw 3D in 2010.

Related Links:

Saw (2004)

Saw II (2005)

Saw III (2006)

Saw IV (2007)

Saw V (2008)

Saw 3D (2010)

Jigsaw (2017)