In theaters

SAW II, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, written by Bousman and Leigh Whannell, 91 minutes, rated R.

Darren Lynn Bousman’s “Saw II” is an ugly, joyless horror movie that deserves to be tossed into the business end of 1988’s “Woodchipper Massacre.”

From a script he co-wrote with Leigh Whannell, who wrote and co-starred in the first film, the movie is the sequel to last year’s “Saw,” a restroom bloodfest featuring two unlikable types chained at the ankle in a moldering men’s room thanks to the handiwork of a nasty little serial killer zealot named Jigsaw.

For them, the only way out of their unhappy situation appeared to be by dancing through the trickiness of self-amputation. In order to slip free from the chains that bound them, they needed to saw off the lower half of their legs.

The film’s initial scenes of nicely done suspense were ditched in favor of focusing on two characters for whom it was impossible to root. As such, the movie came down to base elements of degradation, amputation, humiliation and murder. Is there fun in that? Maybe for the sadist, or perhaps for those unaware of how effective a great horror movie can be. But really, “Saw” was designed to be gore for the sake of gore, with the increasingly hysterical performances clanging throughout.

“Saw II” begins on a similar note and then supersizes it to the point of implosion. In the opening scene, a young man wakes in a dungeon to find his right eye bloodied and his head strapped to a contraption that resembles a bear trap – albeit one with a few hundred teeth, all aimed at his face.

He’s given one minute to find the key to unlock the trap, which just happens to be surgically implanted behind that bloody eye. Does he value his life enough to dig out his eyeball and retrieve the key, or will fear prevent him from doing so and thus allow the trap to spring loose and pierce his head?

For Bousman and Whannell, these are the situations that burn through their minds.

What ensues is the film’s real focus – eight quarreling, previously imprisoned folks locked within an abandoned house. There, Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) has rigged the air vents to leak poisonous gas that will rot the lot from within. To stop their lungs from filling with blood, they must either break free from the house, which proves impossible, or piece together a puzzle that will allow them access to an antidote, the likes of which is hidden within a series of death-inducing traps.

With Donnie Wahlberg and Dina Meyer as the detectives on the case and Frankie G, Shawnee Smith and Glenn Plummer among the house’s scrambling inhabitants, nothing that’s wrong with “Saw II” comes down to the acting, which is fine for what it is. But some might wonder what pleasures there are to be had in a horror movie that eschews suspense and ghoulish humor in favor of unrelenting torture. Is this enough to keep the franchise going? The box office says yes, so expect a third film.

Grade: D-

On video and DVD

STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH, written and directed by George Lucas, 140 minutes, rated PG-13

George Lucas’ “Revenge of the Sith,” from the director’s script, completes his prequel trilogy with a sense of mischief and fun before it dissolves into predictable rhythms of darkness and ruin.

There are few surprises here, but that’s beside the point. The film exists to seal the deal between 2002’s “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” and the movie that started it all, 1977’s “Episode IV: A New Hope.”

Some will view “Sith” as only a means to an end, but it is a crucial means to that end, at last offering a stage in which to view Anakin Skywalker’s intoxication with the Dark Side, his struggle to accept it, and his ultimate transformation into Darth Vader as a result. The film opens with a fantastic battle sequence that boils along the edges with exploding ships, smashed bodies and burning droids while the core steams with energy and wit.

All of this could have been another rote space battle for Lucas, but the director, employing the full weight of his computer graphics skills while peppering the action with genuinely clever touches, rises to the challenge and gives this space battle a fresh blast of life. For a moment, it’s as if he’s a young man again, but not so young that he has forgotten to tend to the family store. These scenes, after all, are tailor-made for video game replication, which will net the billionaire Lucas several more millions in sales.

In the film, a coup is underfoot to form an evil galactic empire that will overthrow the Republic. Anakin (Hayden Christensen) is lured into the coup by the duplicitous Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid),who encourages Anakin’s gifts, strokes his ego in ways that the Jedi council won’t, and promises to give him the power he seeks.

Several elements favor the film, particularly Lucas’ decision to give Anakin an extreme makeover. He is older here, somewhat wiser, and while there still are traces of a whine in his voice, especially when things don’t go his way, that is overshadowed by a new confidence that carries the movie into its terrific ending, which cleanly and satisfyingly locks into the dock of “Episode IV.”

It’s here, on the volcanic planet of Mustafar, with the hell of lava erupting around them and the planet metaphorically splitting apart, that Anakin and Kenobi come to throws. It’s the best part of the film, as dark as Vader’s cape, with one man felled and the film’s PG-13 rating earned. Watching it, you realize that sly Lucas has created his own coup. He has stolen this trilogy back from the brink of disappointment and ended it with an intergalactic bang.

Grade: B+

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the new archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays in Discovering, Fridays in Happening, and Weekends in Television. He may be reached at christopher@week

inrewind.com.