Third Time the Charm

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2008)

Saw 3 (2006)
*** (out of 4)
Jigsaw is on his death bed and kidnaps a nurse to help keep him alive. If he dies so does she. Also on hand is another man who must play Jigsaw's game. To say anything else would pretty much ruin several surprises that happen towards the end of the film. I'm not a fan of this series and while I found the first two film very well made, I think they crossed the line that no horror film should cross in the fact that they were mean spirited and sadistic. I was worried at the start of this film because we once again entered that sadistic violence but thankfully this ended after the first thirty minutes and when the "game" started we actually got a pretty good little thriller. The torture scenes are a lot tamer and take a back seat to the story, which is why I think this is the best of the series. The character of Jigsaw has always been an interesting one but we really didn't get to know anything about him in the first two movies. He's on full display here and it was interesting to see him interact with the people playing the game. I viewed the unrated DVD and I'm not sure how much is different from the R-rated theatrical cut but the brain operation scene is certainly well done.