Saw VI (2009)

Directed by Kevin Greutert [Other horror films: Saw 3D (2010), Jessabelle (2014), Visions (2015), Jackals (2017), Saw X (2023)]

In my review for the film, I said that Saw V felt largely like set-up for the following film, and while I didn’t hate it, it wasn’t quite up to the Saw standard I look for. I have to say, though, after revisiting this one, if that is indeed accurate, then perhaps some sins can be forgiven, as I found Saw VI a wholly delightful experience.

Before touching on character motivations or the politics clearly on display here, I wanted to talk about the gore. I thought the fifth film largely felt lacking insofar as the gore and traps went. To be clear, the gore itself isn’t necessary – the first film took a far more psychological approach to the story, and it remains my favorite of the franchise – but the fact that the traps in the previous film felt weak was distasteful, to me.

That’s not the case here. An insurance executive (Peter Outerbridge) is forced through a series of traps because of the fact he’s a piece of shit, and he’s forced again and again to make difficult choices and face pain that, if he attempted to get insurance, would be classified as a pre-existing condition. And the traps, and effects, are great here.

Many of the traps are themed around his atrocious existence – at first, he’s pitted against someone, and whoever takes the most breaths gets their sides crushed in. It wasn’t pleasant. He then has to choose whether or not an older woman or younger man live – based on his company’s policy, he should go with the healthy young man. The steamy feelings he has toward his company’s lawyer (Caroline Cave) get personified by the steam of a boiler room, in a painful-looking time.

The carousel, which is perhaps one of the more memorable ideas in the film, isn’t overly gory, but it’s a great concept. Six employees are spinning around, and he has to choose two that live. Enter all the arguing and bickering that’d you’d expect. By this point, Outerbridge’s character is beyond broken, and it’s great to see him get a taste of his own medicine (medicine that he doesn’t have to worry about being denied coverage on).

Oh, and the opening is one of the strongest in the series – two predatory lenders are forced to give their pound of flesh. Whichever one of them gives the most flesh survives. It’s a bloody, painful sequence, as a more robust man begins carving off his stomach while a petite woman attempts to hack her arm off. It was a delightfully gory opening.

As you can tell by the targets in this film – predatory lenders and those who work in the sickening insurance industry – the politics of Mr. Kramer aren’t hard to see. In fact, we get some more flashbacks of John’s life, as he’s denied coverage on an experimental treatment that could have helped him, and was warned that going out-of-system would cause the company to drop him entirely. That, in fact, leads to this great line: “You think it’s the living who will have ultimate judgment over you because the dead will have no claim over your soul. But you may be mistaken.”

As someone who despises the American healthcare industry and people who get rich by giving people loans they can never possibly repay, it was great to see victims of these traps who legitimately deserved it. And given that the traps here were some of the bloodiest, it makes it all the more playful.

Lastly, on gore, there’s a death toward the end that just has to be seen. It involves a body getting injected with flesh-eating acid, and it – well, just watch it for yourself. That was a damn good sequence, and gooey to boot.

Saw V spent a lot of time on the cat-and-mouse game between Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson). Throughout that film, Hoffman was attempting to frame Strahm for Hoffman’s actions, and aggravatingly, it seemed to have worked to an extent. Well, this movie gives us some new insight into that, including a surprise return of a character, and leads to some beautifully tense scenes.

See, the FBI has concerns about Strahm being one of John’s successors, and they’re looking deeper into it. They have some old voice recordings they’re trying to unscramble, and at the audio lab, we’re given a hell of a tense scene between Hoffman and two FBI agents who clearly suspect his involvement. It’s a great sequence, and one I remember fondly from when I first saw this in theaters.

Costas Mandylor is great here. His character got some additional depth in the previous film, but this movie really shows how far he’ll go in order to survive. Mark Rolston (Scanner Cop, the ’96 Humanoids from the Deep) annoyed me in the fifth movie, but he comes in clutch here. Tobin Bell is back with some great insights into his philosophy, and I love seeing it.

Betsy Russell (who first appeared as an unnamed vision in Saw III) plays a larger part in this film than she has previously. In the fifth film, we see her get a large box from John’s will, and here, we finally see what’s in it. Oh, speaking of drawn out revelations – remember that scene in Saw III where Amanda’s reading a letter addressed to her and crying? Well, that’s finally explained in this movie, so buckle up, bois.

Otherwise, Peter Outerbridge (Haunter) was great in his role. Despite despising his character and everything he stands for, I do think he brought some good emotion to the role, and I can’t help but feel bad for the guy at times. Samantha Lemole (who first appeared, unnamed, in the fifth movie) had a good scene or two, and Devon Bostick (Dead Before Dawn 3D), despite limited screen time, kinda goes hard though.

There’s a lot in Saw VI to like. A few sequences are odd – such as the brief sequence early on showing a blurry Amanda and Cecil driving (which may only be in the unrated cut) – but overall, the movie is quite strong. The twists here are mostly decent, and the gore is certainly worth it. I really believe this to be among one of the best movies in the first seven of the series.

8/10