The Tattooist

I am guessing that a lot of the low ratings have more to do with the fact that this movie does not immediately start splattering the audience with buckets of blood and splitting your ears with crescendoing screams.

This movie is NOT following the normal Hollywood script. There's no "Oh yeah-there's the Monster" There's no parade of "Oh Yeah, the A-hole is gonna get it"

This is Horror from the Suspense side of the formula. It's a story of a Guy who does something wrong in the pursuit of his art. And something is unleashed in return. Consequences and collisions occur in the context of a different continent and its own cultures and messy histories.

No, it's not a DEEP movie, but it's an interesting departure from the usual fare. Nor is it a non-stop splatterfest.

Watch this when you're in the right mood-- somewhere in the middle where you just want a good movie to fill the time and give you a story from a different place besides Hollywood.

This is an odd movie about a tattoo artist named "Jake Sawyer" (played by Jason Behr) who gets involved in the Samoan mystical realm of tattoos. He steals a Samoan tattoo instrument at a tattoo convention in Singapore. But when he accidentally cuts himself with it he begins to have hallucinations and nightmares. He then wonders if these dreams and visions are connected to the tattoo device that he stole and begins to consider whether he should give it back. Unfortunately, not long afterward his customers begin to die one by one in a grisly manner. When one particular customer named "Victoria" (Caroline Cheong) visits his apartment and shows what is happening to her, he begins to realize that something is terribly wrong but he doesn't fully comprehend what it is yet. However, as she lies dying in the emergency room he glimpses the evil spirit that he has unleashed and realizes that it is connected to the tattoos he has drawn. Determined not to let the same horrible thing happen to his new girlfriend, "Sina" (Mia Blake) he desperately searches for a solution. After that this film begins to get a little uneven. While the world of a tattoo artist might be peculiar, it's difficult to get enthused about it. It's even more difficult to get interested in weird ancient Samoan tribal rituals. And while the acting was adequate, I thought the plot was just too phony and unconvincing. It almost seemed like they were making up the story as they went along. In summation, this film may be worth a look if you're really curious about it. But it's not something that I would put on the top of my list to see.

Considering the film's low budget, the visuals are very well done. The film has some disturbing images with cringe worthy gore, as well. 'The Tattooist' follows a tattoo artist who must learn the secret of why everyone he tattoos, is cursed and ultimately die horribly. This was in interesting mystery horror thriller with some twists thrown in the mix, as well. The film has a simple plot, so this is easy viewing and fun at that. Jason Behr was very good as the Tattooist.

The American tattooist Jake Sawyer (Jason Behr) travels around the world researching tattoos and tattooing clients. While in Singapore, he steals a tool that belongs to the Samoan family of his acquaintance Sina (Mia Blake); however he has a problem with a client that expected that his tattoo could heal his sick son and Jake accidentally cuts his palm with the tool. Jake returns to New Zealand where he meets Sina again and has a cold reception from her family that knows that he has stolen their tool. They visit a Samoan family that has been living in shame since their missing son did not finish a traditional ritual with the tattoos. Sooner Jake finds that his recent clients are chased by a fiend that is somehow connected to the Samoan tool, and he discloses a dark secret in the Samoan community.

"The Tattooist" is a weird horror movie for those like me that are not used to the Samoan rituals and traditions, more specifically to the Traditional Samoan tattooing of the pe'a, body tattoo. I have found many articles about this subject in Google (for example, http://www.samoa.co.uk/tattoos.html) that helped me to understand the plot. Therefore, in my opinion, this movie fails for not providing a better clarification of the Samoan tattoo history. If the viewer clearly understands this matter, the horror makes sense and "The Tattooist" is an original movie of this genre. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Tatuador" ("The Tattoist")

"The Tattooist" tells the story of an American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer,who is a global wanderer who explores ethnic themes in his designs.While he is in New Zealand he unknowingly plays a role in releasing a deadly spirit with a penchant for delivering death by indelible ink as he attempts to learn tatau,the Samoan tradition of tattooing.Tatau is a traditional tattoo worn by males,on the middle of their torsos,starting just below the lat area and continues down to the knees."The Tattooist" has some impressive moments of horror among many boring spots,where literally nothing happens.The film's subject is unusual as is the cultural context and the death scenes are suitably graphic.Unfortunately the character of Jake is barely developed and the first half of the film is pretty dull.6 out of 10.