Saw V
Saw V is a 2008 horror film directed by David Hackl (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the fifth installment in the "Saw" film series. The film stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Julie Benz, Carlo Rota, and Meagan Good. The plot follows FBI agent Peter Strahm as he pursues Detective Mark Hoffman after discovering his identity as one of the Jigsaw Killer's apprentices. Meanwhile, with John Kramer's threat that he will not go untested looming over him, Hoffman seeks to  continue John's work and frame Strahm to keep his identity secret. The film also explores Hoffman's backstory and explains how he became Jigsaw's apprentice, while continuing several story lines started in "Saw IV". David Hackl served as the production designer of "Saw II", "Saw III", and "Saw IV" and second-unit director for "Saw III" and "Saw IV" before making his directorial debut with "Saw V". Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, the writers of the previous film, returned to write the film. Charlie Clouser, who provided the score for all previous "Saw" films, also returned to compose  the score for the film. "Saw" creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell served as executive producers. "Saw V" was released by Lionsgate in the United States on October 24, 2008, and received generally negative reviews from critics. Despite this, the film was a box office success, grossing $113.9 million worldwide. A sequel, "Saw VI", was released in 2009. Plot. Convicted murderer Seth Baxter wakes up chained to a table beneath a pendulum blade. He learns that he can release himself by crushing his hands between two presses. He does so, but the blade still bisects him as someone watches  discreetly. FBI agent Peter Strahm escapes from the room he was locked in by Detective Mark Hoffman. He is then attacked by a figure in a pig mask and wakes up with his head sealed in a box being quickly filled with water. Outside, Hoffman delivers Corbett, the kidnapped daughter of Jeff Denlon, to the police and claims they are the only survivors. Strahm, having survived the trap by performing a tracheotomy with his pen, is brought out alive as well, much to Hoffman's shock. Hoffman is promoted and credited with closing the Jigsaw case. Hoffman later finds a  note in his office reading "I know who you are," and learns of Agent Lindsey Perez's death while taking Strahm's cell phone from the police evidence room. At the hospital, Strahm tells Hoffman that Perez's last words were "Detective Hoffman" and questions how he escaped the plant. After being put on medical leave by his boss, Agent Dan Erickson, Strahm, suspicious of Hoffman, decides to uncover his involvement with Jigsaw and takes case files of past Jigsaw victims to research them. In an underground sewer, Ashley, Brit, Charles, Luba and Mallick awaken with collars locked around their  necks, connected by cables to a set of blades mounted on the wall behind them. The keys to the collars are in individual glass boxes across the room. A videotape informs them that they are all connected and that they must "do the opposite" of their instincts if they are all to survive the tests ahead of them. Ashley fails to retrieve the key and gets decapitated. In the second room, which is filled with explosives on a timer, Mallick, Brit, and Luba each retrieve keys to bomb shelters set in the walls, leaving Charles to die when the timer  expires and the explosives detonate. In the third room, Brit kills Luba and she and Mallick connect her corpse to five cables to complete an electric circuit that unlocks the next door. In the final room, Mallick and Brit find a machine fitted with five saws and a beaker requiring ten pints of blood to open the final door. They realize that all prior tests could have been completed without casualties if they had worked together, and figure out their connection: they were all involved in a building fire that killed eight people. Mallick and Brit concede a truce and  each slice an arm in the saws to provide the blood needed to open the final door. Strahm learns that Hoffman killed Seth Baxter years prior. John Kramer abducted Hoffman after the fact, and blackmailed him into helping him set up his future "games". Strahm concludes that everyone was meant to die at the plant except for Corbett and Hoffman. John's ex-wife Jill Tuck claims Strahm is stalking her. After Hoffman tells Erickson about Strahm's theory of a second Jigsaw accomplice, Erickson tries to call him. Hoffman answers on Strahm's phone and hangs up. Erickson has  one of his agents track the phone's signal. Following the signal to the sewer observation room, Erickson finds the phone and his own personnel file, both planted by Hoffman. He also finds the still-living Brit and Mallick and calls for medical attention, before putting an all-points bulletin on Strahm, convinced that he is Jigsaw's successor. Meanwhile, Strahm follows Hoffman to the renovated nerve gas house and finds a tape. In the tape, Hoffman urges Strahm to enter the box, but he stops it short and ambushes Hoffman, whom he seals in the box. Strahm believes he  has finally caught Hoffman, but the door to the room suddenly shuts itself and the walls begin to close in as the box is lowered beneath the floor. Strahm finishes playing the tape, which warns him that if he does not enter the box, he will die and be framed as Jigsaw's apprentice. Safe inside the box, Hoffman watches as Strahm unsuccessfully tries to escape the room and is ultimately crushed to death. Production. "Saw V" was written by "Saw IV" writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, though Darren Lynn Bousman, who had directed all "Saw" films since "Saw  II", affirmed in July 2007 that he would not direct another sequel. The film went into production after Christmas 2007. Principal photography took place from March 17 to April 28, 2008 in Toronto. By mid-July 2008, there had been three photos released of David Hackl at the set of "Saw V". The first trailer, depicting Agent Strahm's box trap, was released at Comic-Con 08 as a short clip and the trailer was also shown before "". The website opened on August 6, 2008. On September 17, 2008, a new clip was available on the "Saw V" website, depicting  the pendulum trap. Release. The film was released in Australia on October 23, 2008, in North America and the United Kingdom on October 24, 2008, and in New Zealand on October 30, 2008. Box office. In its opening weekend, "Saw V" grossed $30,053,954 in 3,060 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking number two at the box office behind "". It grossed $56,746,769 in the United States and Canada, and an additional $57,117,290 in other markets, for a worldwide total of $113,864,059. This was the second film in the series to not be number one at  the box office, the first was the first film. It is Lionsgate's tenth-highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada. Critical reception. The film received generally negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 13% based on 76 reviews, with a weighted average of 2.92/10. The site's consensus states "If its plot were as interesting as its torture devices, or its violence less painful than its performances, perhaps "Saw V" might not feel like it was running on fumes." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 20 out  of 100, based on 13 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale. Elizabeth Weizman of the "New York Daily News" believed that the lack of Tobin Bell's Jigsaw character hurt the film: "Bell's deliciously twisted madman was the lifeline of this series and, without him, we're left watching a routine horror flick that might as well have gone straight to DVD. The series began with two major assets that set it apart: the concept of a brilliantly righteous executioner, and the actor who played him . Now, aside from Bell's brief, intermittent cameos, it has neither. So where the original "Saw" was diabolical fun, this fifth installment is as bloodless as the most unfortunate of Jigsaw's victims." Sam Adams of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that "The virtues of the individual films are almost beside the point, since it's hard to imagine why anyone would want to pick up the thread at this late date, but "Saw V" is a particularly dull and discombobulated affair, shot and acted with all the flair of a basic-cable procedural". Some reviews were positive, however. The  British website Digital Spy rated it 3/5 stars and commended the film for its "solid acting, slick direction and suitably filthy cinematography too", while also stating it will "make far more sense to those familiar with the previous installments". IGN awarded the film with 3 out of 5 stars stating that the film ties up most of the loose ends of the previous 4 installments while also having a more straightforward and less complicated storyline. They also praised the traps for being the most inventive and best that the "Saw" franchise has had to offer. Home media. Unrated Director's  Cut. During an interview at the 2008 Scream Awards, Hackl claimed that his director's cut of "Saw V" (released on DVD January 20, 2009), would run approximately 14 minutes longer than the theatrical cut. Hackl also stated that a number of scenes in the film would be re-ordered and arranged differently than in the theatrical cut. However, only a few changes were made and the extra footage was never released, running only four minutes longer than the theatrical version. Unrated Collector's Edition. An Unrated Collector's Edition is available with exclusive packaging. It features sound effects, a  collector's booklet, and a spinning "saw blade". The features on the DVD itself are the same as the standard Unrated Director's Cut. Soundtrack. The soundtrack was released on October 21, 2008 by Artists' Addiction Records.