by Philip Lop

Created on: August 28, 2010   Last Updated: May 06, 2012

Jigsaw is dead but at the end of Saw 4 we learnt that his legacy lives on. In the aftermath of the climactic events seen in the previous film, detective Mark Hoffman has been promoted to lieutenant, but somebody knows that he harbours a dark secret. FBI Agent Strahm, released on medical leave, makes it his business to find out more about the mysteries of the infamous serial killer and gradually pieces together the clues. Meanwhile, five unwilling victims wake up in a filthy, isolated room and find themselves thrust into a very dangerous game.....

Financially, the Saw series can now boast the title of the most successful horror franchise of all time. Friday the 13th may have run to considerably more parts (eleven and counting) but the five episodes of Saw (to date) have grossed far more money. A new Saw release is fast becoming a Halloween tradition and doesn't seem to be running out of steam yet.

For part five, apart from the fact that there's a new director (David Hackl in his solo debut after supporting episodes three and four) but otherwise there's nothing new to report. Hackl's directorial style is very typical of the series, largely comprising dark, depressing locations with flashes of action to jolt the audience at regular intervals. The same eerily intermittent music provides a consistent soundtrack and the plot treads similar lines to the previous three episodes, combining the revelation of more of Jigsaw's history alongside a group of selected victims battling to find their way out of unspeakably cruel traps and puzzles. For fans of the series, this may initially sound like a good thing but it's hard not to admit that for the first time so far, the story is starting to run out of steam.

There are varying reasons behind this. Firstly, the series is now so caught up in its own continuity that it would be completely impossible to watch this as a stand alone movie. Revelations from previous instalments (right back to number one) gradually trickle through the narrative and even if you've seen the previous four, you'll find yourself having to think about what it all means. Secondly, and most curiously, there's a marked decrease in the gore quota here. One early gruesome despatch aside, the rest of the film, whilst not exactly tame, doesn't have that same biting nastiness that became most evident in Saw III and there's a worrying suspicion that there's a move towards toning the whole thing down.

There's a complete lack of freshness about episode 5,

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