Saw V is a terrible combination: grisly and tedious. Let's just call it bloody dull.
Saw V (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:11
Fresh:1
Rotten:10
Average Rating:2.8/10
Consensus: If its plot were as interesting as its torture devices, or its violence less painful than its performances, perhaps Saw V might not feel like it was running on fumes.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, language and brief nudity.
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Oct 24, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $56,729,973
Synopsis: Continuing on with its story despite the death of namesake killer Jigsaw in the third installment, SAW V concerns itself with detailing who will carry on with his bloody work. Director David Hackl,... Continuing on with its story despite the death of namesake killer Jigsaw in the third installment, SAW V concerns itself with detailing who will carry on with his bloody work. Director David Hackl, the production designer on the previous three films, retains their familiar charnel house look. Though there are fewer grisly death sequences, faithful viewers will enjoy the creative plot twists. The film opens with a man strapped to a table above a pendulum. As the sharp blade begins swinging over his stomach, he has only a minute to stop it by inserting his hands into a device that will crush them. When the machine malfunctions, it's clear that it wasn't the work of the meticulous Jigsaw. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) continues the investigation he began in the previous film, only to wake up to find himself wearing a glass helmet filled with water. With a minimum of self-mutilation, he escapes and continues his investigation with the hunch that Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is somehow involved in the new rash of killings. Before long, a new group of strangers wakes up in Jigsaw's lair to face a series of brutal tests, and Jigsaw's ex-wife, Jill, is given a mysterious box at the execution of his will. An enormously popular and critic-proof series, SAW gives its fans what they want--creatively executed blood and guts. The fifth installment in as many years, SAW V is more subdued in that department, but the sequences it does contain deliver the goods. Several lengthy flashbacks also allow Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) to make a few appearances. While SAW V isn't the place for beginners to start, those who have stuck with the story this far will find it a fitting entry, happy that SAW VI is just around the bend. [More]
Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell
Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Carlo Rota, Julie Benz, Greg Bryk, Laura Gordon, Meagan Good
Director: David Hackl
Director: David Hackl
Screenwriter: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan
Producer: Mark Berg, Oren Koules
Composer: Charlie Clouser
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for Saw V
Saw V isn't anywhere close to the best Saw movie, but it makes the entire series coalesce a little bit better.
Oh, Jigsaw. Here we go again. You kill. I doze off. Someone at the studio goes 'ka-ching!'
The latest and least of the Saw films is just plain boring and even a little tame -- albeit by the standards of a genre that helped bring the phrase "torture porn" into the lexicon.
The periodic traps set for five new victims, all linked by a rotten real-estate deal, are neither as terrifying nor as yucky as in the earlier films. The only real horror in these scenes, in fact, is the jaw-droppingly bad acting on display.
The creatives behind the franchise clearly have taken pride in their stylistic consistency throughout the series, but here they even fail to deliver enough of the cleverly gruesome Rube Goldberg torture devices that are its raison d’etre.
Thank goodness Lionsgate made another Saw film! Otherwise, how would we as a country get to feel good about ourselves while watching humans suffer through prolonged torture, degradation and death?
It's not a good sign when watching someone stick their hand into a table saw is easier than listening to them recite dialogue.
The torture devices, once so fiendishly adapted to each offender, have become generic excuses to spatter gore. The script is insultingly lazy, and inept direction from newcomer David Hackl hardly helps.
Latest News for Saw V
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October 27, 2008:
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