Saw V

Not as good as the first, similar to the second, definitely an improvement over the third and surprisingly better executed than the fourth. Sound confusing? Than you may want to pass on the latest entry in the wildly popular “Saw” franchise because you’re bound to get lost in the tangled story line where some ends never meet and as usual, nothing is what it seems. However, the bad story telling didn’t really interfere with my experience and I’d be lying to you if I told you I didn’t have a blast, because I did. This is what the third film should have been. While there’s definitely a fair share of flashbacks here, at least they’re interesting. Finally, we’re back in the same position we were during the first two flicks, disgusted beyond belief but enjoying every minute of it.

The traps are more innovative than ever in “Saw V”. From the deadly pendulum to the room of doom where the walls come together, crushing any helpless body stuck inside, it’s hard not to wonder how much fun the filmmakers had during production.

While the cast consisted of some familiar faces, hardly any of them were notable. Tobin Bell was as sinister as ever, but failed to receive enough screen time to make his performance memorable. Agent Straum (Patterson) spends so much time talking to himself that his character just becomes down right annoying. Hoffman (Mandylor) was exceptionally convincing as was Meagan Good, but outside of the two, I would say their gruesome demises were well deserved.

I wasn’t expecting much as far as the traditional twist-ending we’ve come to anticipate from “Saw”, but needless to say, I got more than I’d bargained for prior to entering the theater. In fact, there are two notable shockers which is merely unbelievable seeing that this is the fifth go around for the series and most would have thought the filmmakers would have run out fresh ideas by now.

The editing isn’t what most would call stunning, but I thought it was well presented. With the familiar, eerie instrumentals used in every “Saw” flick to date (you know, the one by Charlie Clouser?) overlapping the final twist, the latest entry is a solid addition to the franchise.

While it certainly doesn’t fall in the category of best serial killer pictures consisting of tremendous titles like “The Silence of the Lambs”, “Seven” and maybe even the first “Saw”, it’s one of the better sequels in the franchise that most would have expected to have been dead long before a fifth entry was ever announced. It may be because we haven’t seen many good genre releases this year, but “Saw V” is an entertaining gore-fest and a perfect horror picture to see this Halloween.