Review of Saw VI (2009) by Chads. — 27 Oct 2009

This "Saw" is topical; it makes a point about the true meaning of "exploitation", relative to the filmic sort. The gore remains the same, but here, the blood and guts are placed in a social context, which makes the latest entry in this puerile franchise, a little less pointless than the four preceeding sequels.

Real horror is not two people hacking away at their own limbs and entrails in a survivor type contest; real horror is a HMO claims adjuster who says, in so many words, that your insurance policy is worthless.

Erikson(Mark Rolston), who denies coverage to a dying man, supplants Jigsaw(Tobin Bell) as the real "Sicko", since the dishonest strategems of an insurance company kills far more people with its profit-based model than a serial killer ever could.

Although Michael Moore, more or less, fights the good fight against the HMOs in his 2007 documentary, as is often the case, grandstanding undermines the filmmaker's advocacy, like when he takes a speedboat to the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, in a disingenuous attempt to secure health care for his documentary subjects.

Jigsaw(or John), on the other hand, couldn't be more antipodal, more low-key and self-effacing; he takes on the health maintenance organization from beyond the grave. The sadism in "Saw VI" is a little, a LITTLE more cerebral this time around, as Erickson, an arbiter of life and death, sees for himself, representationally, the after-effects of his rulings.

It's hamfisted, but effective, and for some, dangerously cathartic.