Much like death and taxes, the annual appearance of yet another movie in the incredibly popular Saw series is inevitable.
The sixth entry in the franchise opens today but the blood spattered Saw legacy first hacked into the collective pop culture consciousness back in 2004 with James Wan and Ligh Wannell’s original film — a grim, deadly serious psycho thriller about a serial killer named Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) who dispatches his victims with diabolical traps.
Saw VI is helmed by long time series editor Kevin Greutert. His aim with Saw VI is to return to the wince inducing levels of gore that have made the series such a success … and then surpass them.
“There is a bigger cast this time, and yes, a bigger, bloodier body count,” he says. “I can’t give you the exact number of deaths, because then people will count them down and be like, ‘Oh man, only one more guy to die!’
The film follows the further of adventures of Jigsaw’s disciple Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), who has taken over the murderous reigns with delight.
But one thing that is common knowledge is that — despite his being killed off in Saw III — Bell’s Jigsaw once again looms large, thanks to an endless spate of flashbacks.
“A Saw film must have Tobin, that’s it,” says Greutert. “He’s totally involved and he demands there be integrity in the script and to his character. His face is and will forever be, associated with the series and he has tremendous pull with the producers.”
