Synopsis

Jigsaw has disappeared.

With his new apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith), the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) is unaware that she is about to become the latest pawn on his vicious chessboard. One night, after finishing a shift at her hospital, Lynn is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), bedridden and on the verge of death. She is told that she must keep the madman alive for as long as it takes Jeff (Angus Macfayden), another of his victims, to complete a game of his own. Racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw’s own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both of them…

Official Review

It’s quite amazing what has been accomplished in so little time, here I am two years after SAW pretty much catapulted Lionsgate into the realm of a “real studio” and already a third film in the franchise is being released. I still remember the day I first had the pleasure of seeing James Wan and Leigh Whannell’s SAW like it was yesterday. The only thing I knew about the film was that my brother saw it at Sundance and pretty much hated it – but his opinion was skewed considering he was piss drunk and completely sick. I had taken a trip to LA in May of ’04 to visit some friends and my buddy Sean Keeley over at Lions Gate Films (at the time) invited me to a private screening of SAW and OPEN WATER. All I knew was that Danny Glover starred and at the time thought he woke up in a bathroom chained to a wall. That’s it. After the screening I was mind boggled… I instantly knew Lionsgate had something special on their hands. So when the film made over $500 million worldwide when it was all said and done- let’s just say I wasn’t shocked. I have always had a very close relationship with the franchise and will always have a special place in my heart for it, but it’s kinda scary hearing that a studio is rushing a sequel. In the history of horror cinema, no quality usually comes from a rushed sequel- just more bloodshed, which is what happed with SAW II… so when SAW III was announced for a year later I couldn’t help but cringe just a little- besides the fact it left little room for “hype”. Being a horror writer (every day of my life), I get really, really sick of hearing about a movie by the time it’s released- and here comes Lionsgate giving me no room to breathe. I’m so sick of hearing about SAW that the only reason I was excited about the third entry is because I have a lot of love for Leigh Whannell, who is such a talented writer, and couldn’t wait to see how Darren Lynn Bousman grew as a director. But could the team behind the entire SAW franchise, in honor of the late Gregg Hoffman, pull of a third film in three years without it becoming just another crappy sequel? Quite simply put… yes. …Read More