Saw VI: Unrated Director’s Cut (2009/Lionsgate DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C- Extras: B- Feature: C-
In 2004, Saw made waves in the horror
genre. While many denigrated it as just
another “torture porn” flick, it’s original concept and killer twist paved the
way for a series of sequels. By the
sixth Saw film though, the series has veered in the direction of classic
slashers in their characteristic obsession with the series’ iconic killer.
It’s been
several films since John Kramer, the original Jigsaw Killer, died. His disciples though, have been carrying on
his work, and health insurance executive William Easton is the next target for
their game.
It’s
interesting to see the almost soap opera-ish twists and turns that the series’
plot has taken. John Kramer is long
since dead, but he is still undoubtedly the star of this film. Appearing in flashbacks, Kramer sets up the
back-story to Easton’s
capture and further develops his own narrative in retrospective, while the rest
of the characters busy themselves fulfilling his final wishes and arguing over
“what he would have wanted.”
The
picture quality is not helped by the darkly lit scenes and is presented in a
standard 1.78:1 widescreen format. The
audio is similarly sub-par and can be set to either stretched-out Dolby Digital
EX 5.1 or tired Dolby Digital 2.0.
This
release comes packed with a ton of special features including 2 separate
commentary tracks and four music videos.
There are also three featurettes, one on the film’s traps, one on the
Universal Studios attraction SAW: GAME OVER, and one about actor
Tobin Bell’s portrayal of John Kramer.
As an added bonus, this release contains a second disc with the original
2004 Saw, including all of the extra features the film was originally released
with.
Like so
many other long running horror franchises, the Saw series has developed a dedicated following. For fans of the franchise, the Unrated Director’s Cut is a goldmine of
fantastic extras. General filmgoers and
horror fans though, will see a series that has veered away from its innovative
roots and sunk into the simple-minded mediocrity so common in sequels.
- Matthew Carrick
