SAW III (2006)

Ahhh yeah sk8er boi, after being left to die in that crummy bathroom at the end of part 2, Detective Donnie Wahlberg brings a whole new definition to the term “footloose” and manages to escape...or does he? Fast-forward a few months and there’s some new Jigsaw games popping up, but this time they’re different: they don’t have a guaranteed escape like the older traps did. Could there be a copycat Jigsaw killer on the loose? Meow?! At the same time, a doctor is mysteriously kidnapped from a hospital and a real Jigsaw victim wakes up in a box. Eeek!

Maggot-covered pig corpses, a slower pace than in part 2, less interesting new characters (the doctor character was boring!), Jigsaw still preaching that bullshit lie about how being alive is a good thing, mild blood, zero sex, a larger suspension of disbelief required than in the previous films.  SAW III is a step down from the two previous films, but not by much and it's still enjoyable.  It moves the overall story along without getting too jumbled up.

Worth watching, but nothing to get overly excited about.

Part 1 - Saw (2004)
Part 2 - Saw II (2005)
Part 4 - Saw IV (2007)
Part 5 - Saw V (2008)
Part 6 - Saw VI (2009)
Part 7 - Saw 3D (2010)
Part 8 - Jigsaw (2017)
Part 9 - Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Part 10 - Saw X (2023)

THE CONJURING (2013)

Written by the twins from RAD (yes, including the one that grabbed his own ass while dancing), THE CONJURING tells the story of a family - husband, wife, five daughters - who move into a old house out in the country...a haunted house.  The normal stuff happens at first (creaking doors, cold chills, rancid meat smells, pictures falling off the walls, etc.), but when the hauntings become more violent, the parents bring in a husband and wife team of paranormal investigators.  The standard haunted house exorcism movie stuff follows.

Despite the the fact that the story is totally 100% unoriginal, I actually enjoyed THE CONJURING mainly thanks to the leadership of director James Wan who, as you can see in the extras, really turns this average story into a thoroughly entertaining film.  Good pace, mature scares (none of that annoying 4,000 decibel jump scene bullshit), excellent production values, impressive cast (I really enjoyed Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson), strong camerawork and some seriously creepy situations.

THE CONJURING is a good film, but in my personal opinion I really wish the tension would have just kept building and building until it finally exploded into a grand finale of pure unrelenting blasphemy, gore and violence beating the audiences brains to death.  But that's just me.  As it is, it's still a fun, light-weight haunted house movie.  I'm looking forward to seeing what else this series brings.

Part 2 - The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Part 3 - The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Annabelle spin-off 1 - Annabelle (2014)
Annabelle spin-off 2 - Annabelle: Creation (2017)
Annabelle spin-off 3 - Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
The Nun spin-off (2018)
The Nun II (2023)