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Saw V

The previous entries have bled dry every variation on tormenting a victim

By TOM MEEK | October 31, 2008

1.5 Stars

Set designer David Hackl takes charge of this gore series, but what’s left? The previous four entries have bled dry every possible variation on graphically tormenting a hapless victim. Worse, the original killer, Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), and his sidekick, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), bit it in the third installment. To keep the grim gamesman in the mix, much of Saw V — like Saw IV — consists of flashbacks putting together the pieces of Jigsaw’s motives (he sees his as a judgment of sinners: if they live, they’re rehabilitated, if not, then society is minus one less miscreant) and referring to the anointing of his new protégé (which came at the end of Saw IV, but I won’t divulge). As always, several unluckies get to squirm through a maze of death; meanwhile, a rogue FBI agent (Scott Patterson) tries to make sense of it all. But the real hack work here is behind the camera. Would you believe that a Saw VI is in the works? 88 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Chestnut Hill + Suburbs

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