Gripping visceral entertainment.

Rating: 7/10 (7 October 2012)

Third entry in the popular Lionsgate franchise of intense and graphic "torture" films catches us up to speed before soon diving into another insane Jigsaw mixture of heavy handed moralizing and brutal punishment. This time, we get two main concurrent story lines, as Jigsaws' protégé Amanda (Shawnee Smith) kidnaps a weary doctor, Lynn (Bahar Soomekh) whose purpose is to keep his sorry ass alive for as long as possible, and the latest in the line of unwilling game players turns out to be Jeff (Angus Macfadyen). Jeff lost his son when the latter was killed by a drunken driver, and he's been consumed with rage and a need for vengeance ever since. So, as we can see, Jigsaws' latest lesson to a slow learner is not to let hatred poison ones' heart. These story lines create a pretty compelling story that keeps one glued to the screen, and things get just mean spirited enough to appeal to some tastes if not all. Of course, the torture devices get more and more elaborate and sadistic, which will absolutely delight gore fanatics, as various extremely unpleasant things happen to a succession of victims. There's a strikingly detailed brain operation, a head that blows up real good, a body being drowned in pig innards, throats being sliced, body parts being mangled, bloody gunshot wounds, etc. The "rack" is particularly insidious, especially as it twists body parts around. One unfortunate thing is that assorted flashback scenes tend to bog the story down; they're good for establishing character, but also slow the pace too much. This is a noticeably long entry in the franchise, the theatrical cut running 108 minutes and the uncut version running 13 minutes longer than that. Another thing that could trouble some viewers with this franchise is a lack of sympathetic characters, although others may appreciate the fact / point that the people in these stories are markedly flawed and not perfect. The crew, including production designer David Hackl and cinematographer David Armstrong, once again prove up to the challenge of shooting in some claustrophobic sets, and things look as grim and grimy as they ever have. The cast is deeply committed as per usual, including Tobin Bell as the sickly Jigsaw, hot 80s icon Betsy Russell in the first of her performances as Jigsaws' wife, and series regulars like Dina Meyer, Costas Mandylor, and Lyriq Bent. Series fans should like what they see, while the faint of heart and weak of stomach should stay far away. Seven out of 10.