SAW V review
If movie cycle history has taught us anything it's that its never a smart idea to promote your production designer to helm your latest. They may be able to dress a scene up smartly but does this really qualify them take over the reins of the entire production? Remember Joe Alves? He went from Oscar winning glory on CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, to equally impressive production design work on JAWS, and later JAWS 2 to suddenly helming a severely rubbery sequel with the failed novelty trick that was JAWS 3D. Following on from James Wan's solitary stint on the opening chapter, to Darren Lynn Bousman's deft assurance on the three sequels that followed, the SAW creators make the similar mistake of enlisting their own PD to do the dirty work on their fifth film. Anyway it is now up to the newly promoted David Hackl to stamp his print on the series and one has to be willing to give this guy a least a fleeting chance. Unfortunately, as one would suspect, Hackl is more concerned with how his film looks on the outside rather than nurturing what goes on the inside: This is ultimately why SAW V remains a giddy experience and leaves you with the impression that while you may have been left somewhat unsettled by the gloomy backdrop you never quite felt the threat that took place there. Like all subsequent SAW sequels, this edition picks up from the events of the last while interweaving informative flashbacks to jolt you into recalling what these previous events were. Thus, now with both Jigsaw and Amanda dead it is up to newly promoted forensics expert Lt Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) to carry the torture chamber legacy and ensure that John Kramer's (Tobin Bell) worthy intentions are kept well and truly alive - while attempting to protect his own secret identity. Trouble is there was a survivor from the previous onslaught: Agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson), who suspects his colleague Hoffman is behind the ordeal and will stop at nothing to reveal his identity to the world. If you come into the auditorium prepared for more intricate death traps of the grisly kind and more revealing back-story then you will probably get what you bargained for (love the pendulum blade opener guys!)- just don't expect anything more than this! For while the film delivers on all of the above, it fails to present us with anything new and merely serves as a repetition of the familiar format, while throwing in another minuscule part of the puzzle. Another problem with the film is that, due I suspect from the withering directorial hand, there was never at any given point that SAW V got the heart pace soaring. The film tumbles ago quite nicely for a swift 88 minutes but never quite convinces as a true out-and-out horror film that provokes moments of gruesome terror or suspense. This was an aspect that was forever present in the series;that feeling that something hides within the remote corners of the frame and that could leap out at you at any given moment. But here the shocks are delivered predictably through anticipation not through manipulation. For a film that promotes the tag-line 'You won't believe how it ends' I was expecting more from the (da da da) climactic turn of the screw and instead the film gave me what I expected rather than presenting me with more. At a time when horror films are still dominated by cheap remakes and unimaginative rifts on the genre it is somewhat disappointing that a series that sprang up surprises during even the most mundane entry has finally run out of what made it all worthwhile in the first place: a decent twist revelation. SAW V is as good as what has come before but lacks any worthwhile continuation to the story. If you have remained faithful to the four-year series so far you will probably believe how it ends but you might not feel so comfortable sitting here this time next year. Don't forget to check out our exclusive interview with Tobin Bell and Costas Mandylor!