'Saw VI' review

Tanedra Howard (Credit: Steve Wilkie/Lionsgate)

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Where were we … Oh, right, Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) took over as chief murderer in the absence of deceased serial killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), who refuses to go away thanks to a never-ending series of flashbacks/reminders of the awful nonsense that came before. While we sit and wait for the cops to figure out the obvious, a health insurance executive faces grisly moral tests as punishment for denying coverage. Ooh, topical!

The buzz: The latest installment to combine metal, screaming and stunning feats of engineering comes from yet another first-time feature director and the same writers as the last two zero-star “Saw” sequels. No one’s expecting an influx of logic or sensitivity amidst the carnage, but the slightest increase in imagination (and lighting) would go a long way.

The verdict: Uh, whether or not someone breathes is not a moral choice, Jigsaw, but “Saw VI” throws in a few dilemmas about the value of human life that feel like an improvement from the low bar set by the series’ usual empty-headed unpleasantness. Yet all the killers, no longer the least bit scary, just become more preachy and annoying with every movie. (Ditto for the desensitizing squish of organs and indifferently delivered bellows of “Why are you doing this?! What do you want?!”) The series has done worse, but on the Annual Tradition Fun Scale “Saw” still ranks somewhere between filing taxes and throwing out old, rotting pumpkins.

Did you know? As the lucky winner of VH1’s “Scream Queens,” Tanedra Howard earned the right to play a regretful loan officer who chops off her own arm. Who wants to win love or money on a reality show when you can get an opportunity like that?

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