Saw III (2006) **1/2

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2009)

I saw this installment originally in the theater, but this is the first time I watched the extended "Unrated" version. I hear there's also an even longer third version that's a "Director's Cut", but this is getting confusing. In the third chapter, Jigsaw is literally at death's door, so he has his devoted assistant Amanda (Shawnee Smith) kidnap a young female surgeon named Lynn to force her to operate on him to save his life. The doctor and her husband Jeff are currently facing a rocky road in their marriage, so Jeff is now simultaneously forced to undergo a series of tests in Jigsaw's maze of horror and death contraptions, with Lynn's own survival hinging on the outcome. Jeff has also been living a life full of anger and bitterness ever since a drunk driver killed his son, and his journey through Jigsaw's torture chamber may hold the key to confronting the man who was responsible. This entry has a few good ideas and boasts some of the most inventive death traps in this series, and we also get to feel some sympathy for Jigsaw and his dedicated apprentice Amanda. A slight drawback may be that - at least with the extended Unrated Edition - there is way too much over-abundance of blood, gore, and guts, to the point where it takes a little away from the effectiveness of the film as a whole, even for a SAW sequel. However, this is a SAW movie after all, and all things considered it's a strong enough entry that should satisfy fans of the series to one extent or another. **1/2 out of ****