Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood. - skip ad - Genres: Suspense/Horror and Sequel Running Time: 1 hr. 31 min. Release Date: October 23rd, 2009 (wide) MPAA Rating: R for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture and language. Distributor: Lionsgate Cast And Credits Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell, Shawnee Smith and Peter Outerbridge Directed by: Kevin Greutert Produced by: Daniel J. Heffner

Has there ever been a movie franchise as user-friendly as the “Saw” films? “Saw VI,” the latest installment, may have a new director (Kevin Greutert), but the writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, collaborating on their third straight “Saw,” make sure it’s as customer service-oriented as ever.

Once again, significant chunks of the previous movies are repeated, even expanded upon, to help fans keep track of the complex and ever-evolving narrative. And warm feelings are inspired by the reappearance of old friends, even those who had their faces ripped off or their intestines ejected several films ago.

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the series’s first artisanal torturer, was killed in “III” and autopsied in “IV,” but he’s still hanging around in “VI,” smiling that crinkly smile in the never-ending flashbacks.

There are some new wrinkles in “VI,” which again stars Costas Mandylor as the detective-villain. The film goes all trendy in its selection of victims: instead of being punished because they take their lives for granted, which had a certain classicism to it, they’re now punished for being mortgage lenders or health-insurance adjusters.

Worse, the quality of the torture machines and the importance of the rules that the subjects of the torture “games” must follow continue to decline.

The “Saw” films have always been more about the gruesome toys and the puzzles than about the scares. In “VI” one test involves dodging hot steam. That’s quite a comedown from the good old days of being drowned in liquefied hog carcasses or having to remove your own foot with a hacksaw.

“Saw VI” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Tripe, most of it human.