Saw VI (2009) Dir: Kevin Greutert

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The sixth film in the seemingly never-ending 'Saw' saga, this time directed by Kevin Greutert, continued, much like the others before it, directly on from its predecessor, and was set to greet me with yet more bonkers, and hopefully creative, traps for its victims to fall prey to. I was not watching these films for good quality storytelling - I had long since given up on that front - but I had been enjoying the hilariously over-the-top nature of the traps that have made the franchise so infamous.

At this point, the traps were what people really cared about, and this film had more than its fair share. Some of them were really creative too, in fairness. They were as inventive as they were sadistic, which is pretty much the aim. Some of the traps might be extremely silly and overkill, but it has become all part of the entertainment in these films. If this was a standard crime thriller with less creative kills, I can assure you, there would not have been six of these films, let alone ten.

The story was not as strong as the previous film, in my opinion, but it was still pretty entertaining, despite its cheesy and rather basic writing. The constant flashbacks, looping around, and trying to tie up every thread, has made the overarching arc of the franchise a bit ridiculous, but it did make me chuckle seeing everything unfold in such messy yet enjoyable fashion.

Costas Mandylor may not be the best actor, but he was still able to really take up the mantle of lead actor in this franchise, this time a little more convincingly than the prior film. I still wouldn't say it was a brilliant performance, but, again, that's not really what these films have needed. Tobin Bell's voice has become one of the most recognisable in the horror genre, and he provided plenty of it across this film's runtime, despite his character's pretty permanent predicament. I wouldn't say his acting was that great, even compared to some of his previous outings, but it was as good as it needed to be, either way.

The various supporting faces; Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell, and Shawnee Smith, all had their moments, but, honestly, none of them were that great, which I expected, to be honest. Perhaps surprisingly, the only supporting actor who did have some halfway decent scenes was Peter Outerbridge, who made his character feel a lot more endearing than he had any right to be, all things considered.

Overall, I found this to be another enjoyable, if extremely flawed, entry into the similarly enjoyable but flawed 'Saw' franchise. Even with the abysmal writing, I can definitely understand why so many people love these films; they are so dramatic, so over-the-top, and so creative in their goriness. The story had very much gone off the rails by now, but the entertainment value still remained - it has certainly kept me watching.