Do health insurance companies have too much power? Are voters and politicians powerless to stop them? These are tough questions, and Michael Moore has never shied away with his politically charged documentaries. Alas, this isn't a review of a Michael Moore movie; it's a review of the next installment in the Saw series.

When did Saw become politically charged? When John, a.k.a. "Jigsaw,” attempted to seek experimental treatment to fight his disease, and found his request denied by the insurance provider. This happened, of course, years ago -- John has been dead since Saw III.

Jigsaw's legacy lives on, however, through his widow (Betsy Russell) and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), who also happens to be handling the case. In Saw V, Hoffman framed another cop for the killing spree, and then literally crushed the evidence. Currently, there's nothing pinning him to the crimes, but the other detectives suspect that Hoffman may have been involved.

Hoffman dismisses the suspicions. He captures insurance executive William (Peter Outerbridge), who denied John's claim. William awakes in an abandoned building filled with obstacles, cages, mazes, steam rooms, acid vats, and barbed wire. Hoffman has also kidnapped employees from William's firm -- from the maintenance guy to the lawyer to the research team. It is time for the entire gang to pay.

With what's going on in America right now, it's hard to imagine a more socially relevant topic for the Saw series to tackle. Screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan revel in their attacks on insurance providers, and seem passionate about their cause.

Thank God, because after the last two Saw films, the series needed a defibrillator. From III to V, the movies were operating on auto-pilot. Saw VI injects life back into the series with a creative edge, clever irony, ingenious twists, and heart-stopping violence. This is the best entry since Saw II.

Director Kevin Greutert hasn't helmed a lot of films in the past, but he did edit all of the previous Saws. As it turns out, his mastered craft lends well to directing. He spins a taut, tight, concise web of terror and surprise. There are no unnecessary subplots or distracting characters. He keeps the film focused and on track.

When released in 2004, the original Saw changed the landscape of modern horror by reviving a forgotten genre: torture porn. Films like Hostel and The Hills Have Eyes followed, and also spawned sequels. As a result, the genre has since lost some of its shock value. Saw VI feels that loss; the graphic violence and gore don't have the same impact as they did five years ago.

Nevertheless, Saw VI doesn't lack fun, grisly moments. In one scene, a wall of needles impales a man in the back and injects flesh-eating acid into his body. Slowly, his body comes apart and melts into a pile of unidentifiable liquid. Out of the dozens of death sequences featured in the Saw movies, this scene has to take the cake for stomach-churning gore.



Damn Pilates.