9/27/2019

Saw III (2006) - Good performances in Bousman's grisly third trappings



+ Best Gore Movie of the Year


Unauthorized dental procedures are promised on this unpleasant poster for Darren Lynn Bousman's Saw III


The vengeful Jigsaw killer is free again, but dying from cancer. Assisted by sadistic ex-junkie Amanda, he continues his Christmas games of orchestrating general mayhem; this time focusing on a revenge-set father of a boy killed by a drunk driver, as well as his own head tumor operating doctor.

Saw III is written by Leigh Whannell (The Mule (2014)), with James Wan (Stygian (2000)) contributing story elements, and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II (2005)).
Tobin Bell (Sophie's Choice (1982)) returns as the severely self-important, power-tripping super-sadist Jigsaw, and he and Shawnee Smith (The Almost Guys (2004)) are both credible as mad psychopaths. Angus Macfadyen (Alias (2005-06)) uses a gifted performance to make the vindictive father Jeff become an exciting character to follow: Can he forgive this or that person? And in time?
The traps are inventive and as gruesome as ever, SPOILER particularly the 'rotten pig grinder' and the so-called 'rack trap' are macabre and affecting.
The narrative style is still not based on building scary, intense atmospheres, but instead on attacking with horror and fast cutting without stop. The dark, tawdry, hopeless aesthetic is also carried on as a torch.
Saw III is generally good for fans of the horror franchise. SPOILER The ending invents an outer twist layer, which is very hard to believe in, (if Jigsaw is maintained as a man and not the devil), and it cannot avoid feeling anti-climactic, - although it does effectively plug a fourth chapter in the series.

 

Related posts:

 

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]








Watch a clip from the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 164.8 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 16.48 times its cost)
[Saw III premiered 26 October (Slovenia) and runs 108 minutes. Development started immediately following the successful opening of Saw II (2005). Shooting took place for 27 days in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The bathroom set used in Scary Movie 4 (2006) to parody Saw was used. The pig carcasses were made of foam, latex and rubber, and covered in live, disinfected maggots and honey. The budget was significantly increased; from Saw's (2004) 1.2 mil. $ and Saw II's (2005) 4 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 33.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#4-#5) and grossed 80.2 mil. $ (48.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 16.7 mil. $ (10.1 %) and Germany with 7.5 mil. $ (4.6 % ). The film is the highest-grossing over-all in the franchise, which now spans 8 films. To market the film, Lionsgate produced 1,000 posters that were colored with printing ink mixed with a small amount of Bell's actual blood. Blood drives were also pushed at some theaters as part of the marketing, which collected more than 23,000 pints of blood. The film sold more than 2.5 mil. units at the North-American home video market, accruing more than 25.77 mil. $ more. The Saw franchise ended with Jigsaw (2017), but is set to be rebooted with Organ Donor (2020), directed by Bousman, based on a story by comedian Chris Rock, starring Rock and Samuel L. Jackson. Bousman returned with Repo! The Genetic Opera (2006, short) and theatrically with Saw IV (2007). Bell returned in 2 videos and a TV-series before he hit theaters again in Boogeyman 2 (2007) - and later that year in Buried Alive (2007) and Saw IV. Saw III is rotten at 29 % with a 4.23/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Saw III?

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