Saw V (2008)

June 28, 2024 3:30 PM

[TRAILER} Following the grisly demise of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is commended as a hero, but Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) is suspicious, and delves into Hoffman's past. Meanwhile, another group of people are put through a series of gruesome tests.

Also starring Betsy Russell, Julie Benz, Meagan Good, Mark Rolston, Carlo Rota, Greg Bryk, Laura Gordon, Joris Jarsky, Mike Butters.

Directed by David Hackl. Screenplay by Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan. Produced by Gregg Hoffman, Oren Koules, Mark Burg for Twisted Pictures. Cinematography by David A. Armstrong. Edited by Kevin Greutert. Music by Charlie Clouser. Distributed by Lionsgate.

13% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. (52% audience score.)

Currently streaming in the US on Hulu. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total)

Two and a half stars out of five.

Component score card:

Direction - Inoffensive but lacking style
Cast - Better than the last few, if only because of Julie Benz and Meagan Good
Kills - solid but none stick out as particularly clever or brutal
Jigsaw - still dead but increasingly seen via flashback
Morality rating - big penalty for torturing the shit out of a suicidal man to teach him "respect for life" BUT the central machines/victims setup is very good because it's one of Jigsaw's most moral; they're terrible people and they were given a way out that would have made for zero loss of life and not a lot of injury if they'd been decent to each other
Villain situation - Jigsaw is pretty omnipresent for a guy who dies two movies ago, but Costas Mandylor's only facial expression is "Punch me"
Mythology - okay sure, Jigsaw planned all of this, too, whatever
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:34 PM on June 28 [1 favorite]

It's also impressive that Jigsaw got better at constructing moral games after his death. You don't generally see a lot of moral growth at that point.

Also did I miss Saw 4?
posted by miss-lapin at 3:09 PM on June 29

Apparently the heat has gotten to me, and I somehow forgot I read the Saw IV post yesterday. I'm sorry about that.

One other point, I do feel badly for Julie Benz and Meagan Good. They deserved a much better film than this one.
posted by miss-lapin at 3:12 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]

Also: why does Julie Benz have a wig in this?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:24 PM on June 29