Marquis de Sade would have been so proud of James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the creators of the sadistic Saw franchise. Each of their films is a tasteless exercise in gruesomeness and brutality. Indeed, the gore level just gets higher with the Roman numerals.

In this third instalment, mad killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) tries to cure his inoperable cancer by kidnapping a gifted female surgeon (Bahar Soomekh) and locking a deadly contraption around her neck. If he dies, she dies. Meanwhile, Jigsaw has also invented a cruel game to teach a grieving father (Angus Macfayden) a lesson or two about getting over the death of his son.

Images of broken limbs, torn ribcages and exploding entrails abound. Gorehounds will no doubt be satisfied, but for the rest of us, Saw III is just dumb and repetitious. Although the first Saw film was rightfully praised for its cleverness, the whole conceit is getting tired. We already know why Jigsaw does what he does �� to teach his victims to treasure their lives more �� so there are no real surprises anymore.