Saw VI   Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell and Mark Rolston Lions Gate Home Entertainment RRP: £19.99 LGD94210 Certificate: 18 Available 08 March 2010

The notorious Jigsaw killer is dead. Or is he? The elaborate moral games of death continue. The police have recently suspected an accomplice from within their ranks, but possessing no real proof, they are obliged to relent and include the detective in on their findings. Jigsaw's wife has been left a box containing 'unfinished business.' And in a secret location, an unscrupulous insurance executive is being forced to undergo a maze of potentially fatal tests...

The first Saw film was original to a large extent, and was probably single-handedly responsible for the sub-genre rather unkindly dubbed torture porn. There were some clever ideas, not too much was revealed too early (a common problem with horror sequels), and the killer had a very real moral reason for his actions. The idea was that if you can play games with people's lives, then I can play games with yours. The victim would find him/herself attached to some deadly mechanical contraption, and were challenged to prove them self worthy of continued existence by escaping the trap. The second film was quite good, but by the third one I was losing interest. It had quickly turned into a franchise without the fun of the pre-Rob Zombie Friday 13th and Halloween films, or the Child's Play movies.

Suddenly, it was much more about inventing new and different mechanical traps; the story itself was secondary at best. Consequentially, I gave films 4 and 5 a miss. Now the tendency will be for anybody wishing to contest my points to say that I've missed part of the story and so haven't understood what I've seen. That is entirely the issue; it is necessary to have seen each film to truly follow the plot points with any accuracy. In fact, Saw has become a police procedural like C.S.I. or certainly a Messiah-like mini-series. It's telling that the Lionsgate press release for this describes the film in two short sentences, in small font at the bottom of the page, so intent is it on advertising the new Saw theme park attraction.

Extras include: two Commentaries, Music Videos, and the featurettes - The Traps of Saw VI, Jigsaw Revealed, and A Killer Maze (Making Saw: Game Over).

4

Ty Power