I think you need to look at the Saw movies like this: they are Friday the 13th movies with more innovation and creativity, not to mention much more sick gore. Obviously, if you didn't like any Friday the 13th, Halloween, or Nightmare on Elm Street movie, you should stop reading now, because your mind has been made up. You will hate this movie.

In fact, to be perfectly fair, even people who liked the earlier Saw movies will find plenty to carp about here. Saw 3D purports to be the end of the series (oh sure, but we did have several movies after Friday the 13th VII: The Final Chapter), and if it is, it ends on a fairly conclusive note. Then again, Jigsaw himself died early in the series, and that didn't stop further movies from being made, so take that for what it's worth.

I can't review this without some plot points from previous Saw movies, so if you haven't watched any of them and plan to, stop reading. OK, still with me? Let's recap.

Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is the bad guy, having served as Jigsaw's accomplice (blackmailed into it, really), and he has a new game afoot. But complicating matters is Jigsaw's widow, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), who knows of Hoffman's involvement. Jill brings Internal Affairs detective Gibson (Chad Donella) into the mix, so Hoffman's dual goals of running the new game and getting to Jill Tuck drive the plot.

The game involves a man named Bobby (Sean Patrick Flanery) who has profited mightily from having "survived" a Jigsaw trap; he's written a best-selling book and runs a support group and makes the talk-show rounds as well. But is Bobby on the up and up? Duh. As with all of Jigsaw's games, Bobby's games involve atoning for his own sins at the cost of some self sacrifice.

The traps continue to be inventive, although some – like the face trap – make welcome returns. I was reminded briefly of an old episode of the radio serial The Shadow called "The House that Death Built," in which various traps (like a tripwire that triggered a double-barreled shotgun) were strewn about the house to keep people from finding treasure, or something. Bobby must go through several of these, much as victims had in earlier movies. And of course, by doing so he loses his pound or so of flesh, and secrets are revealed. Oh, and Carey Elwes, who played Dr. Gordon in the very first Saw movie, makes a return here – not giving away anything there, of course. He shows up to mock Bobby for having a support group in the first place (something about profiting off misery).

Even though it's pretty important to have watched at least some of the earlier films, Saw 3D does its best to keep you in the loop, reminding us of certain characters and plots of previous films. For example, the support group includes bona fide survivors, such as one who needed to cut off her own arm to save herself.

But for me, the best part comes at the very end, when All Is Revealed. As the movie's denouement approaches and the bodies pile up, you begin to wonder if Hoffman will emerge victorious – or if he's even the only bad guy out there. The ending answers both questions to some degree of satisfaction and helps to fill in missing information from the previous six movies as well. So on the one hand, the movie ends the series in a satisfying manner, and that's good.

On the other hand, the door is left ever so slightly open for more and more Saw films. It's not impossible to believe. In fact, it's more plausible than the Friday the 13th "endings," because no matter how many times and in how many ways Jason was killed, he somehow came back to slaughter more virgins in the next movie. At least the Saw movies follow some sort of logic.

For me, Saw 3D's 3D effects were well played indeed – if you don't mind intestines flying at you, you'll appreciate them. Not so much if you don't. The plot is less convoluted and intricate than some of the most recent installments, and the movie doesn't waste time on character development. Heck, you hardly even see the now-long-dead Jigsaw. The movie flat-out worked for me from a visual and visceral standpoint.

This seventh chapter of the Saw series is billed as "The Final Chapter". Whether the series producers are true to their word (remember, the FOURTH Friday the 13th film carries the same billing) doesn't really matter all that much anymore. The story has been effectively driven into the ground with this terrible effort.

There are so many things this movie does wrong that it's easier to just use a list to describe some of them:

-The acting is atrocious. I'm not just talking in comparison with the other films. The acting in this one is some of the worst I've EVER seen.

-Because it was made in 3D, the graphics are cheesy and the gore effects are all pinkish and over-the-top. The last bastion of reason to watch a Saw film (those brutal trap scenes) are effectively ruined by the 3D.

-Whereas I thought this movie was going to really wrap up the series in a meaningful way, it instead has its own plot line for 80 minutes and lazily wraps up the "big picture" stuff in the final 10. Even the big "surprise" in the final minutes actually turned me off instead of provoking the desired "wow" effect.

Essentially, a franchise that once re-invented and then rule the horror genre couldn't find a way to go out on a high (or even decent) note. The series should have ended after the third part, instead it muddled around in 4-6, and then dropped the final "stink-bomb" here. Avoid this film at all costs and remember the "good times" of the series instead (go re-watch 1-3).