Needle

I've been meaning to write this review since I first watched it at the "CinfestOz" Premiere in Busselton a few months back. After reading some of the highly critical and unfair reviews I thought I would put in my two cents worth. I support any film made in Perth, particularly if they use WA crews. (I work in the industry, but did not work on this film, unfortunately). "Needle", "Blame" and "Wasted on the Young" are three examples of quality WA films that have been made on low budgets.

The DOP on Needle was Steve Windon and its clear his eye has had a huge influence on the look of the film - it looks very slick. Although I believe this was shot on Digital, it looks like they used 35MM cameras.

The story is very fresh. I admit to being wary about watching an Australian "horror movie" as most have been terrible in the past, but this film is a breath of fresh air. I have never seen a film where the killer uses a machine that makes voodoo dolls. Congratulations to the writers for thinking of this new device. Although the film has the same generic elements of a slasher, the characters, locations and story set this as a quality film with some major unique differences.

The film has a slower pace than most frenetic (and usually bad) US slashers and I noted some of the reviewers have criticized the film for this - they couldn't be more wrong! I loved spending time with the characters and when they started to get killed off I did start to feel the tension gradually rising and rising until the climatic end.

I have noted from their website that they are promoting the murder mystery element of Needle and without doubt this is the strongest part of the film. I certainly did not work out the killer until the reveal and this was a great surprise.

Overall my opinion is that this is a good film, well worth watching. I can't wait to see this again when its released in cinemas in Australia!

Part of what makes us indulge in horror movies is to see death presented to us in a different manner, through a story that compels us. NEEDLE had a wonderful premise with a wonderful little mystery that screenwriters Anthony Egan and John V. Soto (who also directed) could not bring to light.

And that really bothers the heck out of me.

If the pair had really invested in a riveting narrative, this could have comprised the mystery element of the United States based version of THE RING with Clive Barkers HELLRAISER for one potent and unforgettable horror. Instead, after coming up with a wild idea, Egan and Soto clearly didn't know what to do with it. Instead, it became hack-and-slice cinema that offered little stimulation to the senses. By movie's end, the tale had become so old and lame, the climax was abysmal and unsatisfactory. In fact, it cheats the audience and sets up a sequel, though I doubt they'll ever have the chance – unless an intelligent producer with deep pockets comes along and shows them how to do it the right way.

At first, when the lame commercial-hard rock commenced as Ben (Michael Dorman) ran across a college campus, I thought this was going to be typical teen fair. Then the premise was revealed and intrigue set in – only to collapse into typical teen fair. Worst still, Travis Fimmel, who played Ben's older brother, came off as being creepy in one scene, and a determined guy out to solve the mystery in another. Now, this did not leave the audience with an enigmatic character (such as Stellan Skarsgård in INSOMNIA or Ji-tae Yu in NATURAL CITY) but a confusing one. However, seeing how the story imploded into mediocrity, I have little doubt the director had told me to act in this manner. Think of George Lucas directing kids (unless they're stuffed into ewok costumes) and you'll get the idea.

Revenge horrors have become a "give me a break" kind of subgenre, that is a simple and clichéd plot device for writers and directors to use as an excuse to slaughter. NEEDLE reminds us filmmakers need to deliver so much more. And this movie is only worth watching to see how a couple of writers came up with a great idea and didn't know how to make it work.

When a student, Ben, inherit a strange box from his dead father he seeks help from friends and from one teacher to find out more about the box. Suddenly his friends start to die mysteriously.

Nice killings voodoo style, but some times the sequence of the story was strange and the acting in my opinion is not that good. On the beginning my suspicions about the killer went in a very different way, and that´s a good thing , you want to get surprised when you watch a movie..

My opinion it´s an ok movie.

Plot

A killer uses an 18th century machine with supernatural powers to terrorize students at a college.

Cast

Travis "Vikings/Warcraft Movie" Fimmel and John "Wolf Creek" Jarratt star.

Verdict

It wasn't long after this that Australia began knocking it out of the park, great movie after great movie and then it ended as swiftly as it began. My Top 10 Australian movies list is quite impressive and I knew going in that Needle would be unlikely to get on it, and I was right.

It has an interesting enough premise, a remote method of killing such as Death Note but using an antiquated machine. As you can imagine it's your standard formula of introduce the 20 somethings, pick them off one by one and reveal the "Whodunnit" at the end. The trouble is the journey isn't fantastic, it's rather uninspired, it's boring and certain elements left me scratching my head as they made little sense and the rules of the box were a tad inconsistent.

I've seen worse Australian films, but this is one that's highly forgettable which is a shame as the potential was certainly there.

Rants

I've mentioned Death Note so of course have to say it. The Japanese delivered us the Death Note anime and it was a masterpiece, then they hit us with a live action television series of it and it surprisingly really good! Then they gave us 5 live action movies and they varied from very good to excellent. What happened next? That's right boys and girls the Americans came along and decided to give it a go and as is often the case it's as if the writer was given a 10 second presentation on what Death Note is and made a movie off the back of that. It's one of those "It didn't happen" movies which I try and deny the existence of such as the upcoming The Crow remake or Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). For shame Netflix, for shame!

The Good

Premise isn't awful Some visuals are quite good

The Bad

Totally forgettable Bland cast Inconsistent rules of the box Doesn't exactly flow.

It's films like Needle that have driven me to become a genre based filmmaker. While I'm only in my final year of film school I've watched quite literally 100's of films in this genre! I had the opportunity to view Needle at a private screening earlier this year, at first I thought it was another run of the mill teens die movie which it still is, however it was first class in the way that they die, it actually made me go back to my script that I'm writing and look at my own killer and if there are ways I could be more original and creative.

Overall the script was nicely presented on screen however some of the acting in stages seemed underdone (above comment when Travis' character doesn't seemed phased about the gruesome death of someone he knows) and when the killer is revealed seems slightly overacted by the actor (still haven't been able to work out if this is the result of the script, actor or director).

However highly entertaining and refreshing, it showed me there is still plenty of life left in the genre that I love and can't wait to direct!