Saw III

Jigsaw, with his red spiral cheeks and twisted torture schemes, returns for a third installment in this gory, profitable franchise. Tobin Bell again stars as the puppetmaster of pain whose poor health is the root of his relentless evil. An unsuspecting doctor is kidnapped to perform immediate brain surgery with a power drill while an explosive collar around her neck is linked to Jigsaw’s heart monitor. So, if he dies, she dies (or at least gets her medical license revoked). Meanwhile, the doc’s husband falls victim to the madman’s intricate tortures regarding hit-and-run killers and an inexplicably painful machine called “the contortionist.” Shawnee Smith appears again as Jigsaw’s morally questionable assistant, and Donnie Wahlberg makes a brief, unnecessary appearance. Director Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw II also returns to translate the sickening visions of the trilogy’s original writer, Leigh Whannell, to the big screen in classic murky cinematography that viewers will view with morbid curiosity.