I realize that headline might seem a little confusing, so here's a simple breakdown: Darren Lynn Bousman, the young filmmaker who co-wrote and directed Saw 2 and Saw 3, is about to start his third project for Lionsgate and Twisted Films. It's called Repo! The Genetic Opera and it sounds pretty wild. The Hollywood Reporter provides us with the scoop as well as this plot synopsis: "...set in the not-so-distant future where an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet, killing tens of millions. As scientists feverishly make plans for a massive organ harvest, a multi-billion dollar biotech company, GeneCo manufactures salvation but for a price, offering easy organ payment plans."

The screenplay was written by Terrance Zdunich and Darren Smith, and is based on their stage play of the same name. Apparently Mr. Bousman fell in love with the script after reading it, and his backers approved the project after sitting through the director's 12-minute promo reel. Post-apocalypse? Plagues? Organ transplants? Count me in. If you're also among the intrigued, check out the official Repo! website.

When you're compelled (by money and ravenous fans) to churn out another Saw movie every single year, you don't have much time to a) write a script, b) hire actors and c) keep everything a big fat secret. Case in point: It's been widely mumbled that David Hackl (production designer on Saw 2 and Saw 3) would be the one settling into the director's chair for Saw 4, and that seems a pretty good move: Get some fresh blood in there, but have it come from someone already inside the Saw family. (Plus it's probably pretty difficult to get an established director who can take a gig and start shooting "like, next month?")

And now comes additional news. IGN Movies is reporting that Ja Rule will appear in Saw 4, but only in the first scene. (And we all know what that means!) Additionally, some guy who allegedly read the Saw 4 script (which we believe was written by Feast scribes Marcus Dunston and Tom Fenton) claims that Angus MacFadyen's character plays an important role -- but Angus Mac hasn't technically signed on for the sequel at this time.

Looks like production is scheduled to begin next month in Toronto, so we should have a lot more information within the next few weeks. In the meantime we can all sit down and enjoy our Saw 3 Unrated Version DVDs, a platter that's presently poised atop the DVD sales AND rental charts. (Interesting note: Not only was Saw 3 the top-selling DVD last week, but its arrival gave Saw and Saw 2 fresh life; they're both back on the Top 20 sales chart this week!)

Brokeback Mountain -- Last year's controversially Oscar-snubbed romance drama earns itself a brand-new 2-disc special edition. Word is that this re-release contains only a trio of new featurettes, so don't be so quick to give in to that double-dip sensation. On the positive side, this edition DOES come with eight Brokeback Mountain postcards ... for that special someone.

The Guardian -- Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher star in a water-logged remake of An Officer and a Gentleman ... or any other military drama of the past 25 years in which a brash and headstrong recruit butts heads with a grizzled old veteran only to rely on the old guy's help when his lack of experience does indeed catch up with him, (Insert yawn here.) Extras include a director's commentary from Andrew Davis, a few deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and a pair of featurettes, one on the production and another focusing on the Coast Guard.

Jesus Camp -- Some people called it a stick in the eye to religion; others called it an impressively objective look at religious zealotry. I call it a pretty fascinating documentary either way. This eye-opening look at one particular religious camp may warm your heart or it could chill your blood, but it's a pretty compelling look at a section of people I don't normally come across, and that's generally a worthwhile way to spend 90-some minutes. Extras include a filmmaker commentary and some deleted scenes.

We Sawfans know the drill by now: Theatrical release in late October / DVD release in February / uncut special edition DVD release in October ... just in time to commemorate the theatrical release of the newest addition to the series. It's a cycle we've grown accustomed to and comfortable with -- and now Lionsgate has to go and jumble things around. But this is actually good news! I think...

According to DavisDVD.com, Lionsgate will release the Saw 3 DVD on January 27 -- yes, less than three full months removed from the (rather successful) theatrical release. OK, so the DVD hits a few weeks early, big deal. But wait, there's more! Seems that LG won't be waiting until October to give its loyal gorehounds the uncut ickiness they really crave: Hitting video stores right next to the Saw 3 theatrical cut will be 5-minute-longer uncut edition! Yay, we get our extra splatters a full ten months early!

Extras will include three separate audio commentaries, a few deleted scenes, three featurettes, some trailers and other assorted doo-dads. (And I'd really love to see the disparity in sales between the R-rated cut and the unrated version; I can't imagine the Sawgeek who'd choose to avoid the newly-added nastiness.)

Oh, and I'll still guarantee you that Lionsgate has something special planned for next October when Saw 4 hits the multiplexes. Perhaps a 5-disc Saw trilogy box set that includes a Dina Meyer action figure with retractable rib cage??

You'd think the news that French censors have refused to allow Saw 3 to be screened in front of minors would throw me into violent frenzy. "How dare they separate free citizens from their god-given right to gore!" is what you might expect from me. But nope; I actually quite agree that movies like Saw 3 should probably be kept away from young kids. What's weird is that the French rule-makers didn't seem to have much of a problem with what went down in Saw and Saw 2.

Yep, bad news for young French horror freaks: Saw 3 has been slapped with the little-seen yet dreaded "18" rating, which I guess means it's been saddled with the French version of the NC-17. So to all you French parents who were planning to bring your nine-year-olds to see Saw 3, I'd recommend something like Happy Feet or Jackass 2. Apparently, the French are notoriously permissive with their movie ratings. According to reliable sources, the last under-18 ban came attached to the 2000 film Baise-moi (aka Rape Me), and IMDb research tells me that the "18" rating is indeed doled out quite sparingly.

Other films deemed "absolutely" unfit for French youth include Caligula (1979), Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and ... The Warriors (1979)? And yet Haute Tension got away with only a "16" rating? I mean, when we're talking about horror flicks, is there really THAT much difference between a 16-year-old viewer and an 18-year-old one? Do those 700 additional days really add all that much perspective? Perhaps, but I've been watching Friday the 13th sequels since I was nine years old, and I grew up to enjoy perfect mental health. At least that's what my brainvoices tell me.

Anyone who's seen Saw 3 knows that it'll be pretty tough to come up with a viable screenplay for Saw 4. Not saying it's impossible, but let's just say the incoming Sawmakers will have to pull a few fancy tricks ... and fast, since Saw 4 has already been scheduled for an October release date.

It's been widely reported that James Wan, Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman participated in Saw 3 only out of respect for their deceased producer/friend Gregg Hoffman -- and while I'm sure the trio didn't exactly complain about their Part 3 paychecks, the guys probably have other things they want to do with their careers besides Saw 17, right? Right. Which is why Lionsgate is presently fielding ideas from a wide array of screenwriters, two of whom (according to Bloody-Disgusting.com) just released their very first horror flick.

Yeah, the two Project Greenlight knuckleheads who wrote Feast are (allegedly) among the running for the Saw 4 gig. Also known as Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, the pair have a variety of projects on numerous back-burners, but a Saw sequel has to seem sort of like a lottery ticket to guys like this.

Also, Feast is a whole lot of wet, splattery, gore-soaked fun. So there's that.

So now comes the third consecutive Halloween with yet another visit from everyone's favorite ironic torture-master -- and the result is a bloody good time for those movie fans who appreciate copious doses of horrific torture mixed in with a satisfyingly dark sense of (very twisted) morality. Yes, it's Jigsaw time again, a brief moment of rejoicing for those who enjoy a "body count"-style horror flick that's got just a little bit extra going on in the brains department -- and in the horror genre, "just a little brains" is a whole lot more than most of the flicks bother to offer.

Probably best recommended only to those who already like Saw and Saw 2, Saw 3 delivers more of the same mayhem, plus an appreciable dose of dark chills, morbid thrills, and just enough in the "ultra-sick morality tale" department to keep the brainier horror geeks happy. And while it's certainly not destined to go down in history as a brilliant piece of filmmaking, Saw 3 represents the closure of a horror trilogy that, hell, manages to stand head and shoulders above most of its contemporaries -- unless you happen to consider the Part Twos of Freddy, Jason and Michael to be really excellent pieces of horror -- which I don't.

If there's one thing the media really loves to do, it's lump a bunch of barely-connected people into an ill-fitting group -- and then give that group a clever name. Whether it's The Rat Pack, The Brat Pack or The Splat Pack, I just get irked whenever a new "pack" makes it into the cultural lexicon. Oh, you're not familiar with that last one? Yeah, it's a moniker that's been given to a bunch of "new" horror filmmakers, one that seems to imply that these guys get together every weekend to smoke weed and watch Halloween 2 together.

According to a recent article in Time Magazine, one that seems to approach horror flicks the same way a prissy schoolmarm would approach some inappropriate comic books, the members of "The Splat Pack" are Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel), Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent), Alex Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes), Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects), and James Wan, Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman of the Saw trilogy. (Apparently Wolf Creek director Greg McLean was part of the original pack, although he goes unmentioned in the Time article, probably because he hasn't made much money yet.)

But what do these guys have in common, really, other than the fact that they all make horror flicks? I see Americans, Brits, Aussies and a Frenchman in the mix, and while some of the guys are fresh-faced and 20-something, guys like Roth have been toiling away in backstage anonymity for years. Plus, c'mon, Rob Zombie is 42 years old, so how exactly does he tie in with these kids? And why is it that Neil Marshall never seems to be quoted in these articles? Is he just included because his horror movies are ... GOOD? Apparently the Splat Pack label was created by Alan Jones of Total Film, and I'm sure the guy's an absolute expert on horror flicks -- but labels create limits, exclusions and oversights. And, ultimately, articles like this one, I suppose. (Either way, I bet Jones bangs out a book called The Splat Pack by the end of 2008.)

The UK's Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance) is young and horror-heavy, so why isn't he a member of The Pack? Shouldn't (Dawn of the Dead screenwriter, Slither director) James Gunn be one of the den mothers? Lucky McKee has made only two feature films (May and The Woods), but they're both downright excellent pieces of horror. Why's he not a member? Uwe Boll's done a bunch of horror flicks that could be accurately described as " laden with torture," so why not throw him an invitation? You want a guy who loves the word splat? Try Jake West, the guy who directed Evil Aliens. Plus I read another article a while back in which Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) was considered a member of The SP! Now, if that guy can be considered some sort of "future of horror," I'll eat my hat.

The common themes among the Splat Packers are ... what? They all like horror movies, they don't shy away from intense chills, harsh themes or copious gore, and they're all carbon-based life forms, I guess. But really: Does anyone out there think the work of Eli Roth is even remotely similar to that of Neil Marshall? Does a Rob Zombie flick remind you of what was seen in, say, High Tension? I mean, if you're going to define a term, then define it. And as a big fan of just about all these movies, I just gotta scratch my head when I hear these guys lumped together in one basket.

And what happens when guys like Ryan Schifrin (Abominable), Adam Green (Hatchet), J.T. Petty (S&Man) Scott Glosserman (Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon), Jon Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane) and Adam Mason (Broken) start to make their way up the ranks? Will we have the arrival of Splat Pack 2: The New Generation? Back in the late '70s/early '80s, did we need a goofy little heading to remember names like Carpenter, Hooper, Craven, Dante, Landis and Cunningham?

Ultimately, I have no real point. I'd just seen the phrase "Splat Pack" one too many times and felt the need to vent. Opposing viewpoints are welcome, as long as they agree with my own opinions.

If I were to approach you during a New Years Eve party and say "Hey, I bet there'll be a New Years Eve NEXT year, too!" -- you'd probably walk away very quickly, or ask me where the bar is. That's pretty much how I feel about this next piece of mini-news:

Saw 4: Next October.

Boasting a track record of consistency not seen since the halcyon days of the Police Academy series, the Saw flicks keep on arriving with remarkable tenacity. Whether or not this is a good thing is entirely up to you, of course -- but I don't see anyone holding a gun to the heads of the squeamish and forcing them to enjoy Jigsaw's evil schemes.

Most recent word is that Jiggy himself, Tobin Bell, has been signed "for five sequels," and also that the Sawmakers are presently scouring Southern California for a few new scribes. (Hey, you try coming up with six horrifically cinematic torture devices every dang year!) Apparently the fate of Saw 4 lies within the box office returns of next weekend's Saw 3 -- but considering that the first two films cost about $6 million combined and have grossed over $245 million around the globe, well, it doesn't take a brain scientist to figure out the math.

In related news, the Saw movies are not for children. Just sayin'.

Movie marketing is out of control these days with folks constantly searching for ways to up the ante and get their advertisements in front of as many eyes as possible. Not for nothing, but I'm just waiting for the day where someone gets seriously injured or even killed promoting a film. While it would definitely be a traumatic event for all involved, I'm sure some evil studio exec would love the publicity.

When it comes to Saw III, Lionsgate is looking to go above and beyond with their latest poster campaign. Instead of simply placing actor Tobin Bell (who plays the serial killer Jigsaw) in a red cloak, they've decided to go ahead and use Bell's own blood to enhance the color. I'm not joking, a vial of blood was drawn from Bell, then mixed with red ink and printed on a poster. (I take it Bell wasn't down for having one of his body parts ripped off instead -- they've saving that for the Saw IV marketing campaign.)

On the bight side, as they've done with previous Saw installments, Lionsgate will hold a blood drive in conjunction with the film's release on October 27. And, if you're interested in one of the posters, 1,000 from the first print will be sold for $20, save for the original which will be auctioned off with all proceeds going to the Red Cross. Seeing as the Saw franchise is known for causing controversy with their bizarre advertisements, the word is still out on who will have a beef with this latest edition. I take it vampires will be first in line with a complaint.