"Saw VI" should've been rated an 'NC-17' for gore. It is easily the most violent horror film since "Hostel Part II" and certainly the most graphic in the series. Having said that, there is a political statement in the movie regarding medical insurance companies that is quite scathing. However, it mainly plays second-fiddle to all of the over-the-top bloodshed. During the climax, I begin to think how the best "Saw" films (the first two) worked mainly because they were really puzzle movie/thrillers first and torture porn movies second. Starting with "Saw III", the franchise began to emphasize the torture trap mechanics and the thriller aspects went downhill due to a heavy leaning on the backstory. It should've been the last one, but there I was again at the movie theater on opening night (for the fifth year in a row!).

First off, I loved the original "Saw". It was one of the most memorable horror films I had ever seen in a jam-packed theater. I watched it on opening night and was just breathless at the conclusion of the picture. Director James Wan (and writer Leigh Whannel) had broken new ground and commended for taking the police procedural aspects of Fincher's "Seven" and giving it a geniunely nightmarish horror setting. The movie was downright scary, but it also had a brain. "The Usual Suspects" for the horror crowd, I'd like to say. A year later, Darren Bousman's stylish follow-up stuck close to the movie's original formula, but also wisely expanded on it be introducing Jigsaw as real character. It was a taut police thriller that expertly wove in aspects of the macabre with an intriguing portrait of the killer's motives. Concluding with not only one, but two ingenious twists (Jigsaw's simple test on Matthews and the real timeline of the filmed captives), "Saw II" was about as good as the first, if a little different. It wasn't as scary, but equally intriguing. I loved it and believed James Wan and the Twisted Pictures/LionsGate were very happy with the quality sequel.

However, as stated before, "Saw III" really dropped the ball by emphasizing on the gore. Despite being directed by Bousman (and based on a story by Wan), the movie dropped the thriller aspects and introduced absurd torture mechanics such as "the Rack". "Saw VI" follows that movie's formula by placing a character into a darkened facility (a zoo, in this film) and testing his morals by giving him the choice of which captives are to live and which are to die. I was glad that the movie ties up the loose ends from "Saw V". Ultimately, the movie is a very ugly one. It's not for the weak of heart as the murders that take place are extremely gruesome. People are shotgunned to death at close range, a woman amputates her own arm and a man is pumped full of acid with syringes. We also see the crushed remains of Special Agent Strahm early in the film in graphic detail. 

One of the surprises is the return of (SPOILER) Agent Perez. She and her boss Erickson investigate the Hoffman killings and the movie kicks into high gear when they close in. The scene is pulse pounding and clearly showed me how good the series can be with the thriller elements, not the torture porn. As I said before, I was really taken in with the first two movies because of their intriguing storytelling and police thriller moments. The gore/traps were just the icing on the cake and Wan knew this and peppered his movie with a great horror movie atmosphere. Unfortunately, this sixth movie is just excess for excess sake. It's a gross movie, not a scary one. And for the first time in the series history, I can say that I think am done with it. "Saw 7" in 3D will be out next year, but the thrill is gone. It has been for awhile, but as for me, I'm no longer excited about this series. Part 6 should've been the last one.