The good people at Lionsgate Films must have known what was at stake with Saw V. A solid hit was absolutely necessary here for a franchise that is financially lucrative but often seen as a one- (or maybe two-) trick pony; especially so since Saw VI has already been announced for Halloween 2009. Having said that, director David Hackl has indeed stepped up to the plate and delivered what may not be a walk-off home run, but certainly a ground-rule double in any case.

The series continues to exceed expectations with its surprisingly smart, complex script and abundance of backstory. As with last year's Saw IV, moviegoers probably expect very little in the way of depth or creativity of plot; "these kinds of movies" have a reputation for being long on gore and short on everything else. Saw V certainly delivers the blood flow, but it doesn't skimp on context and it isn't afraid to revisit its roots. Hoffman's association with Jigsaw, unexplored up to this point, was cleverly and effectively worked into flashbacks, and the madman's past victims (civilians and police officers alike) are given their due as well. Creatively speaking, Jigsaw's contraptions are far more elaborate than would ever be believable; they might take months to construct, but then complete their grisly tasks in a matter of minutes, never to be used again. (Consider that the original "trap" in 2004's Saw consisted of a man chained to an indoor water pipe, and you see how the bar has been raised in terms of design complexity).

Given that cheap production values and speed of sequel crank-out are the hallmarks of the horror genre anymore, the director, writers, and producers of Saw V simply must be commended for putting so much obvious effort into the fifth installment of a series everyone likes to think they've got figured out (they don't). It's true, the characters are hardly the deepest of wells, most of them no more fleshed-out than they were in the previous films, and some of the acting and line delivery leaves something to be desired. We could also do without the fast-forward motion effects used in every Saw film thus far. Overshadowing these quibbles, however, is a film whose overall entertainment value far exceeds at least the last two films in the series, if not three, and fans of the franchise will not leave disappointed. That's the most important part.

Most series that make it to the fifth installment almost certainly experience some kind of downward spiral in overall quality. The Saw films seem headed in the opposite direction, getting ever stronger after the weak-ish Saw III. Let's hope that when next year's Saw VI hits theaters, they've managed to keep this momentum going.

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