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Jason Behr

A talented tattoo artist (Jason Behr) discovers that his attempt to master the Samoan tatau tradition has awakened a vengeful supernatural force in a first-time feature filmmaker Peter Burger's New Ze... read more read more...aland-based horror film. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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40% liked it

2,822 ratings

R, 1 hr. 29 min.

Directed by: Peter Burger

Release Date: November 29, 2007

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DVD Release Date: June 24, 2008

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Stats: 474 reviews

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The Tattooist Jake and Sina observing a traditional Samoan tatau ceremony!
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Flixster Reviews (474)

  • jmanard52
    August 13, 2008
    jmanard52
    This had far better acting than I expected and a unique plot for a horror movie. A solid thriller done by a joint venture by New Zeland and Singapore show that not all movies have to come from the USA. Worth watching.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    September 15, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    The Tattooist is an elaborate and interesting horror yarn that unfortunately falls flat after the first forty minutes. The film fails to really be engaging because the performances given by the actors aren't that good. I think that's unfortunate because The Tattooist has got a ve... read morery good idea for its plot. But unfortunately the film low budget prevents it from being elevated to a terrific horror film. Many previous horror films have had mediocre budgets, and they were able to pull off something frightening, unique and memorable on-screen. This film had a terrific idea and an elaborate plot, but it quickly lost its fire due to a not so good script. That's a real shame because The Tattooist could have been quite the horror film. It's clear that the script and budget are factors for the mixed results of this horror film. The ideas presented on-screen fall flat due to a mediocre script, and the ideas, though elaborate don't flourish. The film could have been much better than it is and with this type of story, it could have one awesome horror film. Unfortunately The Tattooist ends up being a dud and never fulfill its potential. The film, as I've has an elaborate and interesting plot, but halfway through the film, you realize that the film is going nowhere. The Tattooist might have been an elaborate film, but the execution is very poor and the performances by the cast are questionable. Overall this is a mediocre horror film that doesn't really satisfy the need for good terror.
  • 76Majikat
    October 22, 2010
    76Majikat
    Culturally interesting, but ridiculously plotted. The spiritual tattooing is believable in a mystical way, but was pushed way over the top, poorly acted byt the main character and I failed to see which kind of audience the film was aimed at.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 15, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    Better than I expected.
  • SilentWarProductions2009
    September 27, 2007
    SilentWarProductions2009
    Directed by: Peter Burger.
    Starring: Jason Behr, Mia Blake, Michael Hurst.

    Only released in New Zealand for now (being co financed and made here) and possible chances of worldwide releases next year, I can see why I had to add this page to Flixster. I... read more had hoped to make the page to show people that this could possibly be a good film, but even the moments of potential can't make up for other things.

    The story follows an American tattoo artist (played by Jason Behr....I guess to make the film look better) who explores the world, taking ideas from ethnic tattoo designs. When he stops off in Singapore and finds the traditional Samoan art of tattooing, he is instantly fascinated by not only the designs, but the young cousin of one of the tattooists. He decides to steal one of the traditional tools and accidentally stabs himself with one, this gives him something like a curse, where every person he tattoos from then on, an unknown force finishes it. The concept of the Samoan tattoo tradition appears silly at first, but it comes out as quite interesting, this is where part of the potential is. The writers slowly build the film, only giving us ideas to start off with, this works in parts, others it doesn't, but from there, any chance of going indepth and drawing the eeriness and horror from the concept is ruined by many things. Although the ideas of these rituals are interesting, they don't expand from it, instead they go down a cliché path with there storytelling (guy tries to find source before close one dies, blah blah) and they don't leave from it. Me living in New Zealand, I see what maoris can be like, most are rude and come across as terribly dumb, to keep the NZ audience entertained (I guess that was the plan), they give us some of these characters to inject humour, problem is, you can't help but want to hurt yourself by the way they act on screen. Each other character is nothing worth mentioning, they are very much 'cardboard cutouts' and they never build on them to make us care. Visually, the film is stunning in parts, director Peter Burger does show promise by giving us some interesting scenes setups and he works well with the great visual effects, but like the writers, he ruins any potential to make the film different by not fully grasping the concept and drawing anything chilling from it, instead, its slow buildups with little tension and loud noises. The acting is nothing great, Jason Behr isn't exactly the best actor, but he is clearly the better in the film, Caroline Cheong, an unknown Singaporian actress gives colour to some scenes, some sub-actors give average performances but its every other NZ 'step in' that ruin many scenes with terribly wooden acting. One actor in particular does do well (Michael Hurst), but he is on the screen for no longer than 5 minutes in the first half hour, then he magically disappears.

    The film showed potential in scenes, due mainly to the interesting concept, some visually excellent CGI and cinematography, but the filmmakers don't expand upon this great concept, they aim to make a horror film out of this, but they take it down the wrong path. And with some terrible NZ moments to 'try' and make the audience laugh....and the out of place music (why couldn't they use traditional Samoan music to build some eeriness?), this film goes to waste. If you see this film released in your country, don't expect much.
  • ascordeiro108
    December 2, 2010
    ascordeiro108
    jason's looks made the movie watchable, but no big deal
  • Yinali
    January 17, 2008
    Yinali
    Nice movie. Kind of weird, but nice.
  • trisarahtops22
    October 26, 2010
    trisarahtops22
    I only watched about 20 minutes of this. I couldn't really get into it....it didn't look interesting to me.
  • DrLappos
    March 1, 2009
    DrLappos
    Greatly dissapointing, very droll and not really worth the effort it will take to get to the video shop and get it.................shame I had great hopes.
  • leekyle1968
    August 11, 2008
    leekyle1968
    When the wife brought this home i figured a b movie at best, it was still a b movie but a damn good one. Great story line that even had us watching the extras on the dvd to see the ancient samoan tattoo actually being applied to a samoan villager

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Critic Reviews

Urban Cinefile Critics
June 18, 2008
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile

An eerie tale against a backdrop of Samoan tattooing superstition, The Tattooist opens our eyes to a different kind of ghost story. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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