Saw III (2006)

Grief is the subject of Saw III, and the movie keeps interrupting it to show off machinery. Jeff, a father hollowed out by the loss of his son, should be the center, but Angus Macfadyen mostly gets to glare at empty rooms while the contraptions do the talking. The flashbacks pile up until you need a chart, and the cruelty has become the point, which turns the puzzle box of the first film into an endurance test. Still, there’s a better movie hiding in a hospital bed. Tobin Bell, barely able to sit up, is more menacing in a whisper than any device in the building, and Shawnee Smith gives Amanda a jittery jealousy that makes her the most interesting person on screen. It made $164.9 million worldwide on a reported $10M, and critics gave it 28% on Rotten Tomatoes. A 3.6 because Bell and Smith deserve a story that cares more about people than gadgets. $362.02 says you hear a squeaky tricycle in your neighborhood this week and cross the street.

What works: Tobin Bell’s quiet menace from a hospital bed, and Shawnee Smith giving Amanda a jealous, jittery edge.

What doesn’t: The grief story gets buried under contraptions and flashbacks, and cruelty replaces the puzzle that made the first one work.

Who it’s for: Grown horror fans following the whole Saw story, and pretty much only them.