With each Saw, the ready-made audience obtains greater insight into the mind of resident psycho John “Jigsaw” Kramer (Tobin Bell). Here that glimpse becomes literal when a surgeon cuts open the top of the cagy killer’s head. Other than that, Saw III is like its moralizing fiend: inert. (At the end of Saw II it was revealed that Jigsaw has a brain tumor, so he’s bed-ridden here.) Those caught in the diabolical gambit are a father yearning to avenge his son’s death (Angus Macfadyen), a doctor who must tend to Jigsaw or her head will blow off (Bahar Soomekh), and Amanda (Shawnee Smith), who made it through the first two installments. Writer Leigh Whannell and director Darren Lynn Bousman return to twist (which is the fate of one victim whose bones burst through the skin) the plot to a tiresome end. At least Bell is on hand to instill a pinch of camp as he invokes death by pig intestine.
On the Web
Saw III's Web site: http://www.saw3.com/
