Live or Die

Saw VI Solves the Health Care Issue
By Morgan P Salvo
3 1/2 stars

Saw VI’s gory beginning has a pair of contestants in a game with contraptions on their heads, hacking away at their flesh to save their own lives. This installment in the episodic franchise takes off where the previous chapters hung, and doesn’t let up. Let’s just say it's an impressive entry for a series that constructs its own chronology as it goes. The interwoven subplots in VI that connect the dots to Saws I-V are done in exceptional form. Please note these aren’t sequels: these are episodes. You seriously cannot see any of them without seeing all of them as they’re interconnected. Therein lays the genius of Saw. Though Saw IV & V seemed like missteps for the series, they clearly laid the groundwork for Saw VI, which feels more back on track with the intricate mind games that began with Saw III.
Saw VI delivers on all levels except for the blatantly obvious “6th” victim. All other twists ands turns are brilliantly hidden until the end. Orchestrated by Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) from beyond the grave, the tests of morality and fairness through extreme torture and sadism continue non-stop. Once again it’s about the contraptions and grisly torture by a puppet master putting victims through savage moral tests. It’s easy to identify with the victims and to feel sorry for them, though knowing their immoral past actions it’s also easy to feel they get what they deserve.
Cleverly tackling contemporary political issues, the main victim/protagonist is a health insurance agent, William (Peter Outerbridge), whose job is to approve or deny medical claims. Through a miniscule loophole he denied Jigsaw’s application for a cutting edge cancer treatment and threatened to cancel the policy if he paid for it independently, essentially sealing Jigsaw’s fate. He pays the price by having to play the ultimate game of choosing who lives or dies, sacrificing people to save his own life. There’s also a timely segment in which mortgage brokers who convinced people to sign up for mortgages they couldn’t afford are tortured to extract their own pound of flesh. Bernie Madoff got off easy.
First time director and editor for 1-V, Kevin Greutert does a solid job, keeping the story clear, the suspense taut and the gore supremely gory. Keeping editing an essential ingredient, Greutert continues the excessively frenetic style. Writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton do a solid job reminding the audience of past events and spinning them in absorbing new directions.
Bell is nothing short of mesmerizing once again as the enigmatic Jigsaw. Reprising roles via flashbacks, most characters have ample screen time. As Jigsaw's victim-turned-weirdly subdued doormat/vindicator, Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has significantly less screen time, which some might consider a good thing. Jigsaw’s wife Jill (Besty Russell), doesn't do much more than prepare for a larger part in next installment. Yes this is a cliffhanger. Yes there will be a Saw VII and yes I will be there.
Although Saw VI offers redemption for the series and the potential for a power struggle over Jigsaw's legacy, the franchise seems to be loosing its attraction. The novelty is wearing thin, as proven by Paranormal Activity kicking its box office butt last weekend. Jigsaw's message is getting somewhat muddled and convoluted what with four potential villains all existing between present day and flashbacks. Too many blood-splattered cooks may spoil the broth…or is that just what they want us to believe? In Saw’s never-ending torture porn chess game, maybe we, the audience, will be the last victim. . We will never know when this is over until they release the final…ummm… cut. But diehard fans will return year after year until the final drop of blood oozes from the last snapped bear-trap like gizmo. Good or bad, make your choice.

Saw VI
Starring Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Shawnee Smith, Peter Outerbridge Betsy Russell
Directed by: Kevin Greutert