From first time director David Hackl comes the fifth installment in the Halloween horror franchise, Saw. In the previous movie, Jigsaw was definitely dead and Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has locked Agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) in the room with the Jigsaw’s dead body revealing himself as the new killer. In this film, Hoffman finds out Strahm survived and must cover his tracks so no one finds out what he has done. All the while, flashbacks to all the previous films are shown to show Hoffman’s involvement. The movie was a mess. You basically have three things you have to follow and they’re all jumbled together. Saw used to be straightforward with a twist at the end. Now it’s a clusterfuck of mind games on the audience for cheap surprises. I am no longer a fan.
The three things you have to follow are… Flashbacks of Hoffman and Jigsaw planning all the traps from previous films, Strahm finding clues and trying to reveal that Hoffman is the new baddie, and a new trap set for 5 people as they travel through different rooms of a torture house. Saw is no longer a unique look at torture horror. It broke the doors down in the original and came off looking impressive. But the annual installments have made the general premise of the movie stale. They try to blast you away with a big twist and it’s either hit or miss. It can ruin the movie or save it. A 50/50 chance is not worth it in the long run. Shyamalan knows a thing or two about that.
The traps have always been a bit over the top but now 6 years later, they’re just absurd. Jigsaw must have been a master architect to think of all these crazy devices, rooms, and even puzzles because he seems to never run out of ideas. The new “funhouse of horror” is just so totally out there that its unbelievable to think anyone could ever construct it. I’m sick of these traps and I’m sick of Jigsaw still finding people who are not worthy to live their lives. Its neverending. That’s why these movies could possibly go on as long as other horror franchises until everyone in the world laughs at them. COUGH Jason X COUGH!
Personally I was a fan of the Saw movies. I thought the first was unique and a cool new twist on the horror genre. The acting was horrendous but it was made up for with a cool twist to surprise viewers. The second one was not so good. A funhouse of traps is quite ridiculous and the mostly no name actors didn’t do much to bring the acting up to par. The third one kind of got lost in the shuffle. I don’t remember it at all so that’s definitely not a good thing. And I must admit I enjoyed the 4th film because the twist was very fresh. I only saw it once though and may have just been in a Halloween horror mood at the time. But this new one is lackluster and makes me wish the series would just end. But its not over, next year again… if its Halloween, it must be Saw. Yaaaaawn.
IMDB – 6.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 13%
Movie Wiseguys – 4/10
