Well, I guess there's something more frightening than life-threatening, mutilating "games" you're forced to play as you struggle to remain alive.

And according to this film, that would be the state of health care in the United States.

"Saw" screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan have created their own grisly social commentary in the latest segment of this by-now-traditional, grownups-only Halloween franchise that might surprise some blood-and-guts fans with its dark humor and "editorial" content.

There's no way you're going to know what's going on unless you've seen the prior "Saw" installments. If you've seen at least one installment, you are familiar with Jigsaw, played by Tobin Bell (even after his character's demise), who continues his sadistic, judgmental "games" long after his death.

In flashbacks and in "real" time, you will see Jigsaw's accomplice Amanda (Shawnee Smith), his widow Jill (again played by Betsy Russell) and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor reprises his role), all within the same movie. Hoffman is now a suspect in the gruesome slayings that continue despite Jigsaw's absence.

This time, however, Jigsaw is incensed about his lack of health-care coverage. And now that he's dead, it's time for him to seek revenge on the insurance representative (Peter Outerbridge, "Lucky Number Slevin") who denied him benefits for an experimental treatment that possibly could have saved his life.

In order for one subject to survive, he must kill several other people - people he knows quite well - as they are paraded before him on a carousel of death. He also must vie against, and also assist, a woman who is trapped in one of Jigsaw's "games."

The macabre contraptions and setups are every bit as clever and chilling as ever.

You must know that the "Saw" series features unapologetic gore. But this franchise is far more intelligent than a garden-variety torture-porn flick because there's always motivation and character development behind the carnage.

Also, the performances are good. Watch Outerbridge's character as he tries to think his way out of the deathtraps and while he tries to sort through the pleadings and the lives of those he literally has within his grasp.

Bell always has given his character an uber-creepy personality with his serious demeanor and anger seething just below the surface. He still appears on videos and in flashbacks as the raspy-voiced messenger of vengeance and death.

The puzzles continue. And there's no doubt we'll be seeing "Saw VII" this time next year.