Saw VI

There is no horror franchise quite like the Saw movies: whereas the likes of Halloween, Friday 13th and Hellraiser let a few years pass between installments (usually because the original writer/director has little, if any, involvement), James Wan's 2004 hit has spawned one follow-up every year, with a new one already behind the corner despite dips in quality and the distinct feeling that the writers have run out of ideas (case in point: the main attraction of the upcoming Saw VII is that it will be shot in 3D). Expectations were particularly low following the disappointing Saw V, but then came a surprise: as preposterous as it may sound, Saw VI is in fact the best of the sequels.

You know the drill by now: although he died three installments ago, John "Jigsaw" Kramer (Tobin Bell, still a creepy presence in the convenient flashbacks) isn't finished with certain people he wants to test, and so a new deadly game is set in motion. This time, the main victim works in health insurance, and it's his questionable method for choosing clients (basically, anyone with short life expectancy is ignored) that will be tested. In the meantime, the killer's apprentice, Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), must keep covering his tracks, having successfully eliminated (and framed) Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson). Also, Jigsaw's widow Jill (Betsy Russell) must deal with the late psychopath's last wishes...

This time, the directorial job has been handed to the franchise's editor, Kevin Greutert, who uses his skills in the best way possible when it comes to creating a claustrophobic, tense atmosphere, something that was severely absent (along with a healthy dose of gore for genre fans) in the previous chapter. Another improved aspect is the writing: even if the announcement of a seventh entry sort of took away credibility from the tag-line "In the end, all the pieces will come together", Saw VI does act as a perfect closure for the series, tying up all the loose ends, granting every character (including the deceased Amanda) a moment in the spotlight and delivering two final twists that are, for once, genuinely surprising and refreshingly nasty.

But that's not the only reason this installment is worth seeing: while previous entries have been analyzed because of Jigsaw's use of torture as a way to understand people, this episode follows the blueprint of Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell by sticking it to people whose jobs aren't very popular in the US nowadays: the first two victims, seen in the pre-credits sequence, are loan-sharks (cue a neat Shakespeare reference), and the main target, as said earlier, works in health insurance. This isn't just torture porn (though there is plenty of it), it's also a genre spin on Michael Moore's work.

Smarter-than-usual writing, interesting social commentary, enough blood to keep gore-hounds happy: Saw VI is the ideal conclusion of the series, having the right elements to satisfy almost everyone. Of course, one question remains to be answered: aside from the 3D, will there be any real reason to watch Saw VII?