The vile sadism of the Saw movies has been replaced by decorative references to Saint Augustine and Immanuel Kant, and there's a beautiful but brainy police profiler (Justine Waddell) on hand to dispense a thick layer of psychobabble.
There's precious little in the way of clammy tension or mounting apprehension as Thr3e plods toward a climax that is startlingly absurd, yet not entirely illogical.
Mallrats mixes clever bits and an appealing quirkiness (which goes a long way) with gross-out practical jokes, needless repetition and obvious padding, since it has no real plot.
The movie has a few amusing '70s references and there's a wonderfully weird sequence featuring a topless fortune-teller. Overall, though, moviegoers can find much better deals.