The opening sequence of Saw VI is almost as revolting and as terrifying as an edition of Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies. Not something you want to be watching while chomping on your mechanically rendered meat in a bap. Not that there is any seeming lack of appetite for this ongoing gory franchise, with torture devices more fiendish than those of the Spanish Inquisition, eponymous rides in theme parks on either side of the Atlantic and the recently unveiled Saw Live Maze in the UK.
And the morality of deceased Jigsaw Killer John Kramer (Tobin Bell), who lives beyond the grave through his acolytes, is almost as twisted as that of the Inquisition. Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has survived as the bloodless sociopathic heir to Kramer’s legacy. Quite how he isn’t rumbled by FBI profilers as the nutcase he clearly is remains a mystery – although the world-weary detective who has seen it all before is likely as good a cover as any for said bloodless sociopath. But Saw VI, like any other Saw film, isn’t about verisimilitude, it is about rearranging the jigsaw of disgorged human viscera of some acceptable targets: predatory money lenders and a pack of health insurance agents being the latest wolves in wolves’ clothing led to the slaughter in this one.
When William Easton (Peter Outerbridge) is kidnapped from his office and placed in a Jigsaw Killer conundrum, he’s forced to do what he does best: play God with peoples’ lives, while his wife and son are held ransom in a room with only a big vat of hydrochloric acid rigged to a sprinkler system and closed circuit TV monitoring Easton’s gory progress for company. Meanwhile, the FBI, led by Dan Erikson (Mark Rolston), is closing in on the killer and Hoffman knows it. With the aid of Kramer’s ex-wife Jill (Betsy Russell) Hoffman is compelled to carry out the culmination of Kramer’s plans. And that’s about it, barring the requisite last reel twists of the franchise – lots of horrid rooms with horrid tortures for generally horrid people. The film has pace and plenty of the familiar, peculiar empathy from others towards the monstrosity that is Kramer. Like all the Saw films, the strength of Saw VI lies in daring you to not look away and to keep that mechanically rendered meat down your gullet. Nothing quite matches the success of the opening scene in that aim. But for those partial to it, Saw VI serves up a decent dollop of bloody horror mincemeat for Friday night consumption. The extras include commentaries, a ‘The Traps of Saw VI’ feature and another about the ‘Game Over’ horror maze in the US.
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