Still continuing my trek through the entire _Saw_ franchise as a lead-up to Halloween this year (2023). Seems like we went from a drought of traps in _Saw V_ to an overabundance of them here in _Saw VI_ . Not necessarily a "bad" thing (most of the traps here were pretty awesomely gruesome and violent) but in a sense, it almost detracted from the "story" that was supposed to be unfolding. _Saw VI_ almost seems preoccupied with fast-forwarding through the story in a rush to get the viewer to the next "trap", instead of incorporating the multiple traps into the story itself, as was so beautifully done in _Saw_ , _Saw II_ , and _Saw III_ . As I mentioned in my review of _Saw V_ , it seems _Saw VI_ follows the same hobbled attempt to simply outdo (and granted, it did) the cruelty and brutality of its preceding film. Instead of building a great STORY, the writers/producers built better traps and stapled the _Saw_ brand on it in an effort to continue building on the franchise that's gotten them this far. Kind of disappointing because there's not much substance AT ALL here (in the way of story). Additionally, the acting was - with the exception (of course) of Tobin Bell - subpar at best. The most painful (and I don't mean "trap" painful; I'm referring to the horrid acting) to watch was Peter Outerbridge (as "William") not even able to sell any kind of emotion in watching his own staff and colleagues being decimated. The "maze" that his legal secretary is caught in should have at least elicited some sobbing, crying, horror-stricken grief at what had just happened but he couldn't even sell that. Not even close. Not much better can be said for any of the rest of the cast here; some of them seemed like they were either phoning it in or were just more interested in getting their face in a movie that had a chance at being seen. The acting was really a disappointment here.

That being said, however, if you're looking for gruesome and "blood and gore", this one will probably rank as one of your favorites, at least as far as the _Saw_ franchise goes. It actually borders on the ridiculous, however. [spoiler] How can a man get his entire body, vital organs an all, pumped full of hydroflouric acid (and according to some sources, HF acid is not nearly as corrosive as the film depicted but since I'm not a chemical engineer I couldn't attest to that) yet remain not merely alive but completely coherent while his internal organs are dissolving and his body "melts in half"?[/spoiler] I did like the way this one ended, however, as it leads us into our continuing journey along this macabre pathway of psychotic bedlam. To coin a phrase, _"Let the games continue..."_

PS: Betsy Russell (aka "Jill Tuck" in the films) appears, from her head shot, to be an attractive woman; I'm wondering if she deliberately chose to wear black contacts or something in these films because her eyes just totally creep me out. Yuck... She looks like a corpse trying to force a smile. Yeesh...