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QUICK TAKE:
Horror: A bad cop continues the work of a deranged serial killer who uses elaborate and deadly traps to try to teach unscrupulous people about the error of their ways.
PLOT:
With the serial killer John "Jigsaw" Kramer (TOBIN BELL) still dead, police Det. Mark Hoffman (COSTAS MANDYLOR) continues to stage his elaborate and deadly traps to try to teach bad people about the error of their ways. He is assisted by John's widow, Jill (BETSY RUSSELL), who hides from him the identity of Jigsaw's final victim.
The main victim this time is William (PETER OUTERBRIDGE), an executive with a health insurance company who denied John coverage for his cancer and has made a career out of putting dollars in front of clients' health. He is forced to survive a series of gruesome challenges in which he has to choose who lives and dies among people he knows, works with, and loves. Among them is Pamela Jenkins, a hard-charging reporter (SAMANTHA LEMOLE); Debbie (CAROLINE CAVE), the company's attorney; and nearly his entire research staff at the firm.
Meanwhile, FBI Agents Erickson (MARK ROLSTON) and Perez (ATHENA KARKANIS) close in on Hoffman with a potentially incriminating audio recording.
OUR TAKE: 1.5 out of 10
Our reviewing policy for films that aren't shown in advance to critics (or are done so late the night before they open) is that we'll only provide a paragraph or two about the film's artistic merits or, more accurately, lack thereof. After all, life is too short to spend any more effort than that on a movie that even the releasing studio knows isn't any good (which is why they hid it from reviewers before its release).
As long as the Powers that Be make "Saw" films for $10 million and they gross at least $50 million at the North American box office, these gruesome torture flicks will continue. But we are far removed from the days when this sort of twisted sister of a motion picture used to attract the likes of Danny Glover and Cary Elwes. Instead, former '80s vixen Betsy Russell and the amazingly dull Costas Mandylor now carry these pictures.
Even the filmmakers seem a bit bored this sixth time out, though. About 80 percent of the film takes place in an abandoned industrial facility with people being skewered, crushed, shot, melted and otherwise maimed. I'll give the film a point or two for being topical. The main victims this time are evil mortgage lenders and mustache-twirling health insurance executives, who are put through the ringer in order to be taught the "value of life." Puh-leze! "Saw VI" is just an exercise in ponderous brutality. As a result, it rates just a 1.5 out of 10. (T. Durgin)
Reviewed October 23, 2009 / Posted October 23, 2009
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