Brilliant and touching

best movie i've ever seen.

Absolutely the worst movie.

The first must-see film of the year.

Following Jigsaw's grisly demise, Mark Hoffman is commended as a hero, but Agent Strahm is suspicious, and delves into Hoffman's past. Meanwhile, another group of people are put through a series of gruesome tests. Saw V once again feels like the same bad film than most of the Saw installments were plus i haven't seen a worse ending in my entire life than this. This franchise loves to kill the hero and it knows it and unfortunately it also kills any excitement for me to actually enjoy this movies as well. Skip Saw 5 by any way as possible as you can. (0/10)

The fifth installment of the prolific and grotesque horror series picks up where the previous film left off but this time whoever is carrying out the terrible Jigsaw murders is not giving any mercy to the victims even after they comply with the sick rules. Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) stumbled onto the scene of the third film and was set to die but made a last minute decision to puncture his throat so he can breathe while his head is trapped in a box full of water. Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is surprised to see that someone has survived the horrors of Jigsaw. Jill (Betsy Russell), the wife of John Kramer (Tobin Bell), is given a box of John's belongings after his death. Hoffman must cover up his role in Jigsaw latest puzzle even as he receives a note that someone knows his identity. With a hole in his throat healing, Strahm suspects Hoffman of some wrongdoing.The main trap of this film starts with five people tied together. They each have on a collar that will pull their head back into a sharp blade. There are boxes with keys on them that they can only reach if they hurt someone else. Charles (Carlo Rota) seems to know something about the other victims. Mallick (Greg Bryk) goes for the key first but Charles pulls him back and gets his own key first. Four of them make it out while one woman has her head cut off. Dan Erikson (Mark Rolston) tells Strahm to take time off but the FBI agent pursues his investigation of Hoffman learning that the detective's sister was murdered by a man who was sliced in half in the first scene by a scythe. The four survivors learn more about each other. Luba (Meagan Good) is the daughter of a wealthy sports team owner, Charles is a reporter, Mallick a trust fund kid, and Brit (Julie Benz) just has a boring job in real estate.Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com

Jigsaw and Amanda, are dead. But the games continue. Five supposed strangers find themselves in the midst of a game, and believe they are in a survival of the fittest competition. Via his video linked puppet, Jigsaw conveys the message that they should ignore their instincts. Meanwhile, agent Strahm wants to prove that Hoffman is an apprentice to Jigsaw, and pursues him as he continues his twisted games. What Strahm does not know is that Hoffman is testing him, and must pass his test in order to stay alive......After the third (and the weakest of the series) film, it's best to watch all of the films back to back, otherwise you will lose the will to live watching them once a year. Which is why the films dwindled at the box office with each instalment, you really had to be on your toes with this franchise.This harks back to the second movie, with another group of people being offed one by one in more and more grisly ways, and they are your atypical bunch of people who annoy and endear in equal measures.Between this part of the plot, we have Strahm trying to nail Hoffman to the crimes, but the way Mandylor walks really deters from this aspect of the films narrative. It's as if he's desperate to go to the bathroom.It's a so so entry to the franchise, and it really grates when the film goes back to seeing Angus Macfaydan getting shot for the umpteenth time.Do not see it as a standalone movie.

By the fifth instalment of the franchise 'Saw' was infamous; infamous for its abundance of what could be termed sadism. It's no small wonder that the BBFC did not outright ban 'Saw V'. If the British ratings system were tasked with only letting good films be provided to cinemas, then without question 'Saw V' would never have seen the light of day. The creators of the franchise turned not to a Director to complete 'Saw V', but to a production designer for the series. This would account for why Saw V's length feels longer than a month, the acting as torturous as the traps themselves and boring beyond belief. Even the small relief of Tobin Bell's Jigsaw is gone and we are given a dull villain with a complete lack of motivation; horrifying indeed.'Saw V' takes place directly after the events of 'Saw III' and 'Saw IV'. As Jigsaw and Amanda are dead, the only living Jigsaw killer is Detective Mark Hoffman (a grim Costas Mandylor.) He is praised and awarded after saving Jeff's daughter (last seen in Saw III.) However, not everyone thinks him the hero. Agent Strahm (an effective Scott Patterson) becomes suspicious of Hoffman and pursues him. Hoffman is tasked with carrying out Jigsaw's dying request, a further game for more victims. This group of strangers must realise their connection to each other if they are to win their game and survive.How do you rejuvenate a franchise, when its premise is running thin? The answer, you don't. 'Saw V' takes great joy in putting the audience through a test of their own. How many blood splattered set pieces will you endure before you walk out. Watch or leave. Make your choice. Many audience members, even the ones addicted to Jigsaw's twisted traps, will I am sure choose the latter option. You can't blame them. After 'Saw III' I thought I was desensitised to violence. 'Saw V' proves me wrong and shows that I have plenty of puke left. What 'Saw V' does not understand, is that it is the tension and set up that is fascinating in Horrors, not the pay off.Every sickly set piece tries to outdo the other, without creativity, spirit or a brain. Blood is splattered across the walls and all you can think is how worse can it get? As it turns out a lot. Jigsaw is replaced with the unlikable growling Hoffman. He would have been serviceable if the character he was replacing was not so iconic and key to the franchise's success. The supposed story holding together all the gory details is Hoffman's recruitment and eventual loyalty to Jigsaw. But we never feel that Hoffman has the necessary motivation to carry out the horrendous acts of violence that he so frequently does. He is obligated to carry out the tests, but only when Jigsaw is present. Why he continues is anyone's guess. Maybe the screenwriters know?If you thought the acting in 'Saw II' was excruciating, then you haven't seen anything yet. The actors and actresses cannot act, even if they were put in a trap for real, they would be painful to listen to. You get the impression that they were picked up off of the street or the premiere of 'Saw IV'. Horrors are lucky if they have likable characters embedded within them. But when I do not care about the predicament of any of the characters involved you know something went terribly wrong. The only redeeming feature of 'Saw V' is that we see a trap that involves the walls closing in. Gruesome? Obviously.'Saw V' is what happens when you hire a nobody for a Director, leave the casting choices up to a monkey and force random people off of the street to act. The traps sigh inducing, the back story laughable and the film a pain from first frame to the last, Jigsaw it would be best for all of us Horror fans, if you and your apprentices stayed well and truly dead.