Saw V
Another October. Another Halloween. Another “Saw” movie. Since the first film in this instant-classic horror franchise hit screens in 2004 and created the sub-genre known as “torture porn,” the Lionsgate series has been churning out another bloody and complicated entry each year, with writers and directors developing stories that rival “The X-Files” in plot twists and character turns.
Early in my life- when my family was still living in Ohio- I became an early-age horror junkie of sorts, immersing myself into the “Friday the 13th” franchise and taking in Wes Craven’s “Nightmare on Elm Street” to a point where I was writing my own little fan fiction stories for the former- maybe a prelude to my creative impulses now? Suffice it to say, my mother was a little troubled by this, but it wouldn’t last- as I got older, I moved away from the genre to a large degree. Of course, the diminishing quality in the “Friday the 13th” movies- not to mention never-ending sequels- didn’t really help my view on the films.
That’s probably why my appreciation for the “Saw” franchise is so surprising. This takes the gratuitous gore of those ’80s franchises to new levels of sadism and nihilism. But how gratuitous is it? This isn’t Jason or Freddy just mindlessly offing teenagers with no real purpose to it. One of the most intriguing aspects of “Saw” and its’ villain Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is the moral slant on each victim- turning their moral weakness into a lesson to be learned for past transgressions in a sort of trial by fire, which will likely have lasting physical repercussions for the individual.
In the fifth film, written by the “Saw IV” team of Patrick Melton &
Marcus Dunstan, the audience watches as FBI Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) catch each other in a game of cat-and-mouse in the hunt for Jigsaw’s latest accomplice, who’s taken up Jigsaw’s mantle since Jigsaw- known also as John Tucker- died at the end of “Saw III.” (Anyone who’s seen “IV” knows who it is. For the uninitiated, I’ll leave it up to you to find out.) Said accomplice- more like a pupil really- has taken matters in their own hands, from the victim of a swinging pendulum we see at the beginning of the film to the group of five strangers, all connected in tragedy, who are in the middle of his latest deadly game. Can they figure out the lesson to be learned before none of them are left? Will Strahm and Hoffman figure a way out of the traps they find themselves in? And just what did Jigsaw leave his estranged wife Jill (Betsy Russell) after his death?
The people behind the camera may have changed- though still executive producers, original creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell have given way to new blood in the writing/directing departments (this time, “Saw” veteran David Hackl is behind the camera as director)- but the formula, such as it is, remains the same. The same gritty locations covered in shadows. The same frustrated victims too impatient to think through their situations. The same pulsing and propulsive fear music by Charlie Clouser. The same blood-curdling gore. And the same last act twist that turns the entire story on its’ ear. And you know what? The same visceral jolt for fans who can’t wait for the next Halloween to see where Jigsaw takes things next.
