Movies
[Review] ‘Saw 6’ (‘Saw VI’)
“In the end, SAW VI is faithful to the franchise and the twist/finale are 100% satisfying. SAW fans WILL walk out of the theater with their fists in the air with the feeling that they’ve reclaimed their beloved franchise.”
After six years and six movies, you’re either a fan of SAW or you aren’t. In the nine years that I’ve been running Bloody Disgusting my one major discovery was the first SAW film, and to this day I have always felt a personal connection to the franchise. Up until last year, I couldn’t believe four (rushed) films managed to keep true to the original and somehow take it one step further. SAW V hurt, it really, really hurt. While each and every “good” SAW movie felt like an accidental blessing, I never expected the fifth to be as bad as it was. It was so bad that it removed me from the franchise; I couldn’t have cared less if SAW VI was even made. Yet, comes another Halloween, another SAW… who is going to say “no thanks”? With expectations already at rock bottom, SAW VI opens in such a fury that within five minutes time I leaned over to Andrea (Mrs. Disgusting) and exclaimed, “This is already better than SAW V.”
Explaining the plot and going over the previous films is a nightmare, so we’ll keep this short. Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton returned once again to pen SAW VI and have done something they have never done before as they bring a real-world political situation into the fold. As you all know, Jigsaw was dying of brain cancer, and well, his insurance company didn’t see it in their best interest to help him find a cure. Let’s leave it at that. The movie focuses on William (Peter Outerbridge), a man who denied Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) the chance to live, thus, he must learn his mistakes through four rigorous challenges (traps) that will lead to his potential salvation.
There are a few key elements that brought SAW VI together into a solid package of blood-curdling goodness. First and foremost, I would like to congratulate director Kevin Greutert for having some f*cking balls. SAW V was shot in the laziest, safest way I have seen in nearly any movie (unless you count Hallmark specials). On the other hand, SAW VI blends elements from SAW, SAW II and SAW IV; you get some flash cutting, while there are also some beautiful establishing shots and even handheld work. Greutert was really paying attention and learned from Darren Bousman, who delivered the engaging pacing of SAW II, the mind-bending experience of SAW III and the flashy delicious gore of SAW IV – SAW VI has a taste of it all.
While Greutert was the man behind the camera, what he really did was bring justice to the screenplay by Dunstan and Melton, who proved to the horror Gods that they actually listen to the fans. The major problem with SAW V is that Jigsaw and Amanda were nearly non-existent, and even Hoffman’s (Costas Mandylor) character was extremely underdeveloped. In SAW VI, Jigsaw once again is the protagonist (or anti-hero if you will; in fact, you’re pretty much rooting for him from square one) and plays a major, major role in the unrolling plot. Even Shawnee Smith returns as Amanda and brings together a major twist you’ll have to see to believe. But more remarkable is the rise of Hoffman, who somehow goes from zero to hero in a measly hour-and-a-half. He has personality, depth and drive; and for the first time I saw him as an intricate part of the SAW world. In addition to the character development, Dunstan and Melton bring the viewer an engaging, suspenseful and coherent story that opens with a bang and leaves you screaming (pun intended) for more.
While the film has its share of issues (mostly in the acting department) and other technical flaws, in the end what it delivers is pure entertaining. What more can you ask for from a fifth sequel?
In the end, SAW VI is faithful to the franchise and the twist/finale are 100% satisfying. SAW fans WILL walk out of the theater with their fists in the air with the feeling that they’ve reclaimed their beloved franchise.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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