Follow @screenit

"SAW 3D" (2010) (Chad Donella, Sean Patrick Flanery) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Moderate Extreme None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate None Extreme Extreme Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: A cop tries to find a former detective who's taken over a series of grisly and lethal morality-based traps from their originator, all while the first killer's widow hopes to avoid the wannabe and a former reported victim must contend with a new series of traps intended for him. PLOT: With a vengeful killer known as Jigsaw (TOBIN BELL) long since dead, former detective Hoffman (COSTAS MANDYLOR) has taken up the slack of creating elaborate, morality-based traps, torture devices and otherwise deadly contraptions in which people who've done wrong or squandered their lives find themselves trapped. With a clock usually ticking down and Jigsaw's voice and occasional video of a puppet explaining the particulars of the trap, those stuck in them are forced to make hard and often maim-inducing choices if they're going to have any chance of getting out alive. One such person who claims he's done that is Bobby (SEAN PATRICK FLANERY), who's now out on a PR tour with his wife, Joyce (GINA HOLDEN). They're promoting his book detailing his experience and visiting support groups for other survivors that include the likes of Dr. Gordon (CARY ELWES), one of Jigsaw's first victims who managed to survive. Another person hoping to stay alive is Jill (BETSY RUSSELL), Jigsaw's widow, who tried to kill Hoffman but must contend with him now coming after her. Internal affairs cop Gibson (CHAD DONELLA) -- who had a past rivalry with Hoffman before the latter became a Jigsaw imitator -- and his partner, Rogers (LAURENCE ANTHONY), hope to keep Jill alive while they're hot on Hoffman's trail. But they must race against time to prevent him from killing even more people, including Bobby and Joyce who find themselves in yet another of the sadist's elaborate and potentially deadly traps. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of any of the other "Saw" films, they might be interested, especially with this one being presented in 3D. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: COSTAS MANDYLOR plays a former detective turned serial murderer who's taken over (from the original killer) creating elaborate, morality-based traps, torture devices and otherwise deadly contraptions in which people must maim themselves in hopes of getting themselves and/or others out alive. He also has a vendetta against Jill and spends most of the film trying to get his hands on her. BETSY RUSSELL plays that woman, widow of the original killer, who tried to kill Hoffman but is now on the run and under police protection. CHAD DONELLA plays the Internal Affairs officer who's trying to find and stop Hoffman's spree. LAURENCE ANTHONY plays his partner with the same agenda. SEAN PATRICK FLANERY plays a self-admitted Jigsaw survivor who's now out promoting his book about that experience. Since he's been lying about that, however, he and his accomplices find themselves stuck in potentially deadly traps. He uses strong profanity. GINA HOLDEN plays his wife who's similarly trapped, but was unaware of his ruse. CARY ELWES plays a real former survivor who shows up from time to time, with a secret of his own. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated horror film. Profanity consists of at least 54 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. What sounded like one sexual use of the "f" word is present, as are a few views of cleavage. Violence consists of many people being murdered and/or maimed via various ways (stabbings, shootings and various sadistic contraptions and booby-traps). Most of that has extremely bloody, gory and grisly results. Those scenes and moments of potential peril could be quite unsettling, suspenseful and/or scary for viewers, especially if they don't have the stomach for the gore. Some of that behavior might be enticing for kids to imitate, while the perpetrators obviously have bad attitudes (as do others). There's tense family material, some drinking, and a brief drug-related comment. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, some of that occurs from flashing police car lights. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's some camera movement from time to time in the film (when seen in 3D the effect might be exacerbated). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Miscellaneous people drink in a bar. There's talk of a place frequented by junkies (but no use is seen). BLOOD/GORE We see a flashback to Dr. Gordon, crawling and dragging himself across the floor after having sawed off his own foot. We see that bloody stump as well as a trail of blood on the floor. Upon finding a hot steam pipe, he cauterizes the end of that wound on the pipe, causing him great pain. A woman and her two lovers find themselves in an elaborate trap in a huge and sealed display out on a city street. A three-bladed saw device is situated below the woman (with one blade pointed up at her), while the other two ends point out at the two men who are strapped to the device. They're informed that one must allow the other to die via a saw blade to the chest or else the woman will be lowered toward her spinning blade. The contraption then starts running, with the three panicking and the men pushing the device back and forth. One partially gets it in the chest, vertically slicing him (with bloody results), but the woman keeps dropping down closer until the blade starts ripping through her belly. That causes her to bleed there and from her mouth, eventually resulting in her intestines being cut out and falling to the floor, killing her (with grisly/bloody results, including her blood sprayed onto the two men and the glass cage). Jill zaps Hoffman and then has him with some sort of hinged trap on his head that's designed to rip off part of his face when it activates. He manages to rip if from his head before it does that, but he cuts himself badly doing so (with bloody/gory results), and we next see him stitching that up himself. Bobby talks of his past experience with Jigsaw and having to ram large hooks through his chest in order to survive (and mentions all of the blood). Jill finds herself in a short dress strapped at the end of a rail system where she's standing with her hands and feet tied apart. Hoffman then sends a small rail car contraption at her and it tears through her body, ripping her apart and sending blood and meat everywhere, while some pieces still hang from the straps. She then wakes up from that nightmare. Hoffman's next victims find themselves in a trap located in a junkyard warehouse. One is shirtless, already somewhat bloody, and glued to the car seat, while a woman is below the car (that's on jacks), another has his arms and head chained to the car, and another is chained to a wall in front of the car. The first man must pull his back away from the seat and pull a lever before a timer runs out in order to save himself and his friends. Accordingly, he starts straining to pull himself away from the seat, resulting in great pain as his skin separates from his body (in a grisly fashion). But he's too late as the trap activates and the car drops off the jacks, with one tire squashing the woman's head (with grisly results) before running over the rest of her body. It then yanks off the one man's arms and part of his face (similarly grisly) and slams into the guy on the wall, blasting through it and him. The car then races out in the junkyard and crashes into another vehicle, sending the first man flying through its windshield, killing him (and we see his skinless and very bloody back). We see a flashback to a man and woman holding onto bars above many spinning blades beneath them. The woman then kicks the man off and he falls into the blades. We don't see the impact, but do see his blood splatter onto her. We then learn that he was her abusive husband or boyfriend. We see a flashback to a woman who had to chop off her arm to get out of a Jigsaw trap. We don't see the actual cut, but do see blood, including on the large cleaver. Bobby opens his shirt to show others some scars on his chest. We see part of a human corpse in a coroner's office, very bloody and gross-looking. Police investigating the above junkyard trap scene find bloody and mangled bodies and bloodied objects around them. Bobby finds his publicist strapped into a trap where four metal spikes are aimed at her throat and the key to stop them is in her stomach (or esophagus), tied to a string. Bobby is informed he must remove the key within a short amount of time, but that a certain decibel level in the room will cause the spikes to advance toward the woman. He then proceeds to try to yank out the key (on its fish hook) from inside her via her mouth, causing her great pain (and thus screams that move the spikes closer). This goes on until he yanks out the key (with blood and meat on it) and he races to stop the trap with the key, but the spikes then impale her in the neck, killing her (with very bloody results). Bobby finds his lawyer in the killer's next trap. She's horizontal in a contraption that will slowly lift her upright and thus into contact with three metal spikes (two for her eyes, one for her mouth). To stop that as the timer runs down, Bobby must lift a heavy contraption with his arms and shoulders, but in doing so that sends metal spikes into his sides, causing him pain and bloodying him. He succeeds but then isn't strong enough to hold that until the timer runs out, so it starts and stops, each time sending the woman closer to impalement. It eventually gets her, with the spikes piercing her eyes and mouth, with very bloody results. We see a flashback to when a junkie hits Gibson who then kicks that man away, but the junkie then grabs his gun and aims it at him. Hoffman then arrives and makes the junkie drop the gun, but then shoots him several times in the back, killing him (with bloody results, including on Gibson). Bobby is informed the next level of his trap is that he must yank out several of his teeth on which numbers for a door lock combination are located. He then takes pliers and does just that, with lots of pulling, yanking and snapping, all causing him pain and great deal of blood loss (we also see the teeth). Cops find some of the dead, bloody and grisly victims listed above. Bobby finds his wife chained to a platform, but when he goes to rescue her he comes into contact with various electric lines surrounding her that shock him. He then learns he must place hooks into his own chest and then hoist himself into the air to attach two hanging cables that will shut off Joyce's trap. He does just that, ramming the hooks through his chest (with bloody results) and then starts hoisting himself up, causing more pain and blood. Just when he's about to succeed, the hooks rip out and he falls to the floor, landing hard. A figure believed to be Hoffman is knocked to the floor, but it's a corpse from before, bloody and missing part of its jaw. We see a flashback to Hoffman pulling a dead and bloody corpse from a body bag. An automated machine gun pops up and shoots various cops, presumably killing them, with bloody results. Hoffman pops out of a body bag and stabs a coroner in the throat, killing him (with bloody results). He then stabs another person in the throat (with the same results), and then another (ditto). Hoffman stabs and kills another cop (bloody results) and then shoots another through a large window, killing the man (with bloody results on him, a pool of blood on the floor behind his head, and some of his blood on Jill who's a bystander). A large metal contraption encloses Joyce, with large flames then set off on the outside of that. Bobby tries to get to her, but is shocked again by the electric wires surrounding all of that. We then see Joyce, her skin all blistered and bloody, collapse and succumb to being cooked alive. Hoffman bangs Jill's head three times to a table, further bloodying her. He then straps her to a chair, puts the same hinged trap on her head that she earlier used on him, and then watches as it snaps and yanks away part of the front of her face, killing her (with bloody/grisly results). We see quick flashback views of past deaths and maimings from some of the previous "Saw" movies, including Dr. Gordon starting to saw off his leg (with initially bloody results). Hoffman finds himself chained in a long-abandoned bathroom where a rotted corpse is still chained, while a skeletal foot (the one Dr. Gordon sawed off himself) is also seen. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Hoffman is a former detective who obviously has a bad attitude for kidnapping people and then putting them in elaborate traps that will maim or kill them. We later learn another person is also involved. A man refers to a woman as a "stupid bitch." A person states that a woman looks "crazier than a sack full of cats" (some viewers might not like the analogy). Another set of Hoffman's victims are noted as being racists. We see a flashback to a man and woman holding onto bars above many spinning blades beneath them. The woman then kicks the man off and he falls into the blades. We don't see the impact, but do see his blood splatter onto her. We then learn that he was her abusive husband or boyfriend. We learn that Bobby lied about being a former Jigsaw survivor, just so that he (and his lawyer, publicist and best friend) could profit from that. We see a flashback to when a junkie hits Gibson who then kicks that man away, but the junkie then grabs his gun and aims it at him. Hoffman then arrives and makes the junkie drop the gun, but then shoots him several times in the back, killing him (with bloody results, including on Gibson). We then hear that Gibson turned in Hoffman for excessive force, but that the latter was promoted instead. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. That's particularly true of the various deadly traps, contraptions and such listed in detail under "Violence." After trying to kill Hoffman, Jill hides from him after he frees himself. Bobby finds himself in a metal cage that's then lifted upright above an array of blades on the floor. The bottom of the cage then drops open and he dangles from that before getting it to swing back and forth so that he can jump to safety. Bobby is informed he has sixty minutes to make his way through the killer's maze of traps in order to save his wife who's held elsewhere in the building. He then slowly makes his way through the hallways and rooms, unsure of where the next trap might be. Gibson slowly proceeds through the killer's lair with his gun drawn, just like other cops with him. Hoffman comes at Jill who then stabs something into his neck, flees, and tries to hide. He slowly goes looking for her, and her sounds give away her location. He then kicks her hard. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Shotguns/Machine guns/Various elaborate torture devices and traps: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. Gibson (armed with a handgun) and Rogers (with a shotgun) burst into a place. Cops burst into a place with handguns and shotguns at the ready, followed later by S.W.A.T. guys armed with automatic weapons. Gibson breaks a mirror with the butt of a shotgun. Gibson slowly proceeds through the killer's lair with his gun drawn, just like other cops with him. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "What the f*ck /is this/are you doing (here)/was that?" "F*cking lying," "What are you f*cking staring at, you m*therf*ckers?" "Oh f*ck," "F*ck you," "You f*cking asshole," "You f*ck," "F*cking do it," "F*cking p*ssy," "F*cked up," "Shut the f*ck up," "Don't f*cking move," "Oh f*ck (me)," "F*ck this," "You can't f*cking do this to me," "A bunch of bullsh*t," "I'm about to lose my sh*t," "(Stupid) bitch," "Crazier than a sack full of cats," "Tell 'em to haul ass" and "Shut up." It's possible some kids could be enticed to copy or come up with their own elaborate traps for others. A shirtless man sports various tattoos while in one of Hoffman's traps. JUMP SCENES Jill is suddenly grabbed. Bobby is suddenly grabbed in a parking lot. There's a sudden and quite large explosion in a junkyard. A cage with a puppet in it suddenly crashes through glass. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 54 "f" words (1 used with "mother," 1 possibly used sexually), 4 "s" words, 1 slang term using female genitals ("p*ssy"), 3 asses (2 used with "hole"), 2 hells, 1 damn, 10 uses of "Oh my God," 5 each of "G-damn" and "Oh God" and 1 use of "My God." SEX/NUDITY A woman and her two lovers find themselves in an elaborate trap where she's strung up above them, showing some cleavage. When the men are told one of them must die in order for her to live, there's what sounded like a sexual use of the "f" word in conjunction with her. Jill finds herself in a short dress strapped at the end of a rail system where she's standing with her hands and feet tied apart. No nudity is seen and this turns out to be a nightmare. A shirtless man sports various tattoos while in one of Hoffman's traps. We see miscellaneous cleavage. Bobby opens his shirt to show others some scars on his chest. A woman shows some cleavage in a bar. We see Bobby shirtless as he prepares to ram hooks through his chest. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We see a flashback to a man and woman holding onto bars above many spinning blades beneath them. The woman then kicks the man off and he falls into the blades. We don't see the impact, but do see his blood splatter onto her. We then learn that he was her abusive husband or boyfriend. Bobby is informed he has sixty minutes to make his way through the killer's maze of traps in order to save his wife who's held elsewhere in the building. He then slowly makes his way through the hallways and rooms, unsure of where the next trap might be. At various points the two can see and hear each other (and the danger they're in) via video monitors. Joyce is shocked to learn that Bobby lied about his past Jigsaw ordeal. Bobby finally finds his trapped wife, but ultimately is unable to save her and he watches her die. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Torture porn as a cinematic genre. Sadists. How the traps are supposed to be designed to make people pay for their sins and/or reassess their lives. VIOLENCE We see a flashback to Dr. Gordon, crawling and dragging himself across the floor after having sawed off his own foot. We see that bloody stump as well as a trail of blood on the floor. Upon finding a hot steam pipe, he cauterizes the end of that wound on the pipe, causing him great pain. A woman and her two lovers find themselves in an elaborate trap in a huge and sealed display out on a city street. A three-bladed saw device is situated below the woman (with one blade pointed up at her), while the other two ends point out at the two men who are strapped to the device. They're informed that one must allow the other to die via a saw blade to the chest or else the woman will be lowered toward her spinning blade. The contraption then starts running, with the three panicking and the men pushing the device back and forth. One partially gets it in the chest, vertically slicing him (with bloody results), but the woman keeps dropping down closer until the blade starts ripping through her belly. That causes her to bleed there and from her mouth, eventually resulting in her intestines being cut out and falling to the floor, killing her (with grisly/bloody results, including her blood sprayed onto the two men and the glass cage). During all of that, some bystanders are pushed around trying to get a closer look and when police arrive and shove them out of the way to try to help. Jill zaps Hoffman and then has him with some sort of hinged trap on his head that's designed to rip off part of his face when it activates. He manages to rip if from his head before it does that, but he cuts himself badly doing so (with bloody/gory results), and we next see him stitching that up himself. Hoffman smashes a cell phone. Jill is suddenly grabbed. Jill finds herself in a short dress strapped at the end of a rail system where she's standing with her hands and feet tied apart. Hoffman then sends a small rail car contraption at her and it tears through her body, ripping her apart and sending blood and meat everywhere, while some pieces still hang from the straps. She then wakes up from that nightmare. Hoffman's next victims find themselves in a trap located in a junkyard warehouse. One is shirtless, already somewhat bloody, and glued to the car seat, while a woman is below the car (that's on jacks), another has his arms and head chained to the car, and another is chained to a wall in front of the car. The first man must pull his back away from the seat and pull a lever before a timer runs out in order to save himself and his friends. Accordingly, he starts straining to pull himself away from the seat, resulting in great pain as his skin separates from his body (in a grisly fashion). But he's too late as the trap activates and the car drops off the jacks, with one tire squashing the woman's head (with grisly results) before running over the rest of her body. It then yanks off the one man's arms and part of his face (similarly grisly) and slams into the guy on the wall, blasting through it and him. The car then races out in the junkyard and crashes into another vehicle, sending the first man flying through its windshield, killing him (and we see his skinless and very bloody back). We see a flashback to a man and woman holding onto bars above many spinning blades beneath them. The woman then kicks the man off and he falls into the blades. We don't see the impact, but do see his blood splatter onto her. We then learn that he was her abusive husband or boyfriend. We see a flashback to a woman who had to chop off her arm to get out of a Jigsaw trap. We don't see the actual cut, but do see blood, including on the large cleaver. Bobby is suddenly grabbed in a parking lot. We see Joyce chained by the neck to a platform. At several times in the film, that chain yanks her down closer to the platform in sudden jerks. There's a sudden and quite large explosion in a junkyard. Bobby finds his publicist strapped into a trap where four metal spikes are aimed at her throat and the key to stop them is in her stomach (or esophagus), tied to a string. Bobby is informed he must remove the key within a short amount of time, but that a certain decibel level in the room will cause the spikes to advance toward the woman. He then proceeds to try to yank out the key (on its fish hook) from inside her via her mouth, causing her great pain (and thus screams that move the spikes closer). This goes on until he yanks out the key (with blood and meat on it) and he races to stop the trap with the key, but the spikes then impale her in the neck, killing her (with very bloody results). We see surveillance footage of Bobby being grabbed and hit in a parking lot. Bobby finds his lawyer in the killer's next trap. She's horizontal in a contraption that will slowly lift her upright and thus into contact with three metal spikes (two for her eyes, one for her mouth). To stop that as the timer runs down, Bobby must lift a heavy contraption with his arms and shoulders, but in doing so that sends metal spikes into his sides, causing him pain and bloodying him. He succeeds but then isn't strong enough to hold that until the timer runs out, so it starts and stops, each time sending the woman closer to impalement. It eventually gets her, with the spikes piercing her eyes and mouth, with very bloody results. Bobby finds his best friend, hooded and with a noose around his neck on the other side of a room with almost no flooring. Bobby is informed he must verbally guide that friend to traverse the few planks and pieces between them, while Bobby must do the same to retrieve a key to unlock the noose before a timer runs out and the friend is hanged. They then try to do that, with the hooded man gingerly stepping his way across the planks. But one breaks and he falls and dangles, while Bobby must jump and grab hold of one of those beams. He manages to get the key, but with time running out he tries throwing it to his friend who has to try to make a blind catch. That misses, the timer runs out, and the man is yanked upward, struggles, and is hanged to death. We see a flashback to when a junkie hits Gibson who then kicks that man away, but the junkie then grabs his gun and aims it at him. Hoffman then arrives and makes the junkie drop the gun, but then shoots him several times in the back, killing him (with bloody results, including on Gibson). Bobby is informed the next level of his trap is that he must yank out several of his teeth on which numbers for a door lock combination are located. He then takes pliers and does just that, with lots of pulling, yanking and snapping, all causing him pain and great deal of blood loss (we also see the teeth). Gibson breaks a mirror with the butt of a shotgun. Bobby finds his wife chained to a platform, but when he goes to rescue her he comes into contact with various electric lines surrounding her that shock him. He then learns he must place hooks into his own chest and then hoist himself into the air to attach two hanging cables that will shut off Joyce's trap. He does just that, ramming the hooks through his chest (with bloody results) and then starts hoisting himself up, causing more pain and blood. Just when he's about to succeed, the hooks rip out and he falls to the floor, landing hard. A figure believed to be Hoffman is knocked to the floor, but it's a corpse from before, bloody and missing part of its jaw. An automated machine gun pops up and shoots various cops, presumably killing them, with bloody results. Hoffman pops out of a body bag and stabs a coroner in the throat, killing him (with bloody results). He then stabs another person in the throat (with the same results), and then another (ditto). S.W.A.T. team members are gassed and fall to the floor unconscious or dead. Hoffman grabs a female cop and breaks her neck. Hoffman stabs and kills another cop (bloody results) and then shoots another through a large window, killing the man (with bloody results on him, a pool of blood on the floor behind his head, and some of his blood on Jill who's a bystander). Hoffman comes at Jill who then stabs something into his neck, flees, and tries to hide. He slowly goes looking for her, and her sounds give away her location. He then kicks her hard. A large metal contraption encloses Joyce, with large flames then set off on the outside of that. Bobby tries to get to her, but is shocked again by the electric wires surrounding all of that. We then see Joyce, her skin all blistered and bloody, collapse and succumb to being cooked alive. Hoffman bangs Jill's head three times to a table, further bloodying her. He then straps her to a chair, puts the same hinged trap on her head that she earlier used on him, and then watches as it snaps and yanks away part of the front of her face, killing her (with bloody/grisly results). Bobby pours gasoline all around his lair, ignites that, and then walks out as that comes into contact with released gas that then causes a huge explosion. Three men attack and hit Hoffman, with one stabbing him in the neck. We see quick flashback views of past deaths and maimings from some of the previous "Saw" movies, including Dr. Gordon starting to saw off his leg (with initially bloody results). Reviewed October 28, 2010 / Posted October 29, 2010

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2016 Screen It, Inc.