Picking up from the end of the last chapter, but with numerous flashbacks to weave the narrative into earlier episodes in the franchise, Saw VI concerns itself with the FBI closing in on Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) while John Kramer (Tobin Bell) gets to play one 'final' game from beyond the grave.
Hoffman is still trying to shift the blame onto the late Agent Strahm, but his injured partner Perez (Athena Karkanis) is back on the case - with Agent Erickson (Mark Rolston) - and she clearly has doubts about Hoffman from the get-go.
Although the opening "pound of flesh" sequence of Saw VI leans heavily towards gratuitous torture porn, the remaining 'tests' adhere more to the old school appeal of the original couple of entries in the franchise.
John - aka Jigsaw - has arranged for the man who refused his insurance cover, William Easton (Peter Outerbridge), of Umbrella Health, to be put through a series of 'games' which involve life-and-death situations for members of his staff.
This whole sequence is one of the best exemplars of the point that Jigsaw has been trying to make, and while I could never condone his methods, the perverse nature of America's health insurance system never fails to boggle my mind (coming from a country rightfully proud of its National Health Service).
Taking place in what appears to be an industrial maze under an abandoned zoo, there are elements of Freddy's boiler room in the atmosphere of these scenes, and eventually - that is, until the final twist (because there's always one) - you almost begin to feel sorry for William.
That storyline ends in gross death, but, for once in this franchise, it manages to go so over the top as to cross into the dark humour of Grand Guignol.
Meanwhile, the other plotline continues to fill in John's backstory, putting more of the plot in the hands of his ex-wife, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), as we learn the contents of the mysterious box that John bequeathed her in his will (in Saw V).
I was also pleased to see the return of the first of John's accomplices, Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) in these flashbacks, as she was always more charismatic - even if totally bonkers - than the oily and unlikeable Hoffman.
Her unmasking as one of Jigsaw's team was a shock, whereas Hoffman might as well as having walking around with a placard on his chest proclaiming his guilt.
I have to confess that after the uncomfortable nature of the last film, Saw VI is something of a redemption - at least for the moment - for the franchise as, by having the traps set up by John and 'operated' by him posthumously, it moves back towards the modus operandi that made the first film a surprising hit.
Hoffman is still trying to shift the blame onto the late Agent Strahm, but his injured partner Perez (Athena Karkanis) is back on the case - with Agent Erickson (Mark Rolston) - and she clearly has doubts about Hoffman from the get-go.
Although the opening "pound of flesh" sequence of Saw VI leans heavily towards gratuitous torture porn, the remaining 'tests' adhere more to the old school appeal of the original couple of entries in the franchise.
John - aka Jigsaw - has arranged for the man who refused his insurance cover, William Easton (Peter Outerbridge), of Umbrella Health, to be put through a series of 'games' which involve life-and-death situations for members of his staff.
This whole sequence is one of the best exemplars of the point that Jigsaw has been trying to make, and while I could never condone his methods, the perverse nature of America's health insurance system never fails to boggle my mind (coming from a country rightfully proud of its National Health Service).
Taking place in what appears to be an industrial maze under an abandoned zoo, there are elements of Freddy's boiler room in the atmosphere of these scenes, and eventually - that is, until the final twist (because there's always one) - you almost begin to feel sorry for William.
That storyline ends in gross death, but, for once in this franchise, it manages to go so over the top as to cross into the dark humour of Grand Guignol.
Meanwhile, the other plotline continues to fill in John's backstory, putting more of the plot in the hands of his ex-wife, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), as we learn the contents of the mysterious box that John bequeathed her in his will (in Saw V).
I was also pleased to see the return of the first of John's accomplices, Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) in these flashbacks, as she was always more charismatic - even if totally bonkers - than the oily and unlikeable Hoffman.
Her unmasking as one of Jigsaw's team was a shock, whereas Hoffman might as well as having walking around with a placard on his chest proclaiming his guilt.
I have to confess that after the uncomfortable nature of the last film, Saw VI is something of a redemption - at least for the moment - for the franchise as, by having the traps set up by John and 'operated' by him posthumously, it moves back towards the modus operandi that made the first film a surprising hit.
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