Needle (2010)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

"You're running out of friends." An "ancient curiosity", built as a "tool of vengeance", by a French artist, Rubenstein, who named it "Le Vaudou Mort", finds its way into the possession of a college student named Ben (Michael Dorman) after his father dies. His estranged brother, kind of a black sheep, named Marcus (Travis Fimmel), has become a crime photographer. Marcus and Ben reconnect after two years apart since their pop's accident, and because the former has been photographing the crime scenes of the latter's friends, it does allow the two to figure out why this is all happening.Kind of a nifty concept (an antique "kill box" that, when a photograph is provided in this little slot, builds a wax figure which, when damaged, tortures and kills the person on said picture), with a detective story (who is behind the murders of Ben's friends and why?) that utilizes it in the way of the slasher. The violence can be quite potent and shocking (particularly the death of Luke Carroll, portraying college news reporter, as his body shows internal burning cuts and ongoing breaks), while the story regarding a box that kills for a particular person using it based on revenge is not the standard slasher mainstay the genre is accustomed to. As the friends die, and the numbers dwindle, only a few suspects could possibly exist: think Clue, with a supernatural box as the weapon instead of the candlestick or wrench, and suspects/killers are college kids. Even the college professor of archaeological studies doesn't last long due to her knowledge of the machine: a big no-no.The "sins of the father" aspect that happens from time to time in murder mysteries, giallo thrillers, and slashers returns, as Ben's friends die not necessarily because of anything he's done as much as what his pops might have. Marcus is an unusual kind of hero as he has this swagger and cock in his walk while Ben is uneasy and shaky during their investigations into the murders and the box. The "brothers bonding as they go after the murder" aspect is a nice addition to what could have been the standard issue "final girl must discover the killer" routine.Cast includes Trilby Glover and Jessica Marais as lesbian lovers, Nathaniel Buzolic as the jock, Tahyna Tozzi as Ben's love interest, and Khan Chittenden as the pal pining for Marais. John Jarrett as a coroner is a hoot, with a coffee/espresso addiction. Being behind the murders of those you were supposed to care about is a rather morbid touch. Tozzi is the kind of babe most guys aren't too unaware of regarding her interest in them; this does resort in many of us rolling in our eyes, but these things happen in slasher movies. Attractive movie, and it has good special effects, even if the reasoning behind the murders is a bit old-hat and shopworn.

Actually, this wasn't a bad little film.The plot is that the sons of an antique dealer who murdered his rival find his home Voodoo Doll machine, and promptly lose it. Their friends start getting picked off one by one.The mystery is slowly unraveled by the protagonists in an encouraging way while the subplot of the unresolved anger between the two brothers also unwinds. So it's a good film all around.The performances are pretty good, although I think some of the characters are underdeveloped and only there to be victims. Still, worth a rental if you still have a blockbuster in your neighborhood.

In John V. Soto's Needle, a killer uses an 18th century box with extraordinary and deathly powers to rein havoc on a group of friends at Saint Mary's College. The box is the size of a jewelry case and when a picture of someone is put into a secret slot, a wax figure of the person is created to where the killer can stick pins, break off limbs and just make life miserable for the person the figure represents.We get introduced to the box when student Ben Rutherford inherits the relic from his recently deceased father. But before you can say, "Oh my god, I am bored", the device is stolen and soon an unidentified killer begins to use the machine on Ben's group of friends leaving them butchered, blind and bleeding with nothing more than a few pin pricks.Ben (Michael Dorman) and his brother Marcus (Travis Fimmel) figure out the sinister nature of the device and begin a search for the killer while attempting to warn their friends of their impending deadhood.Needle is a get-in-line movie. It got in line with stereotypical characters, a half-descent story that fails to execute on the premise and a bunch of forgettable characters and situations leading up to their eventual demise. And the story of the sins of the father coming back to haunt the children was just…well – stupid.This is OK if you don't aspire to be anything more than another horror film entry with above average DVD cover art. But Needle drops the ball by taking the fun out of the idea. And the ending which reveals to us the evil Wizard behind the curtain, was poorly played and filled with a bunch of 'now why would they do that' situations and discussions.I really wanted to like Needle. I sure as hell want the device that was used in the film (I have a neighbor that might find himself with a few less limbs if I had the opportunity). But throughout the running time, I was just bored. The kills were OK (we loved the hand coming off), but we recognize that within a week, this film will find itself into the recesses of the brain where you can't distinguish this title from any of the other horror-of-the-week type entries.www.killerreviews.com

I found this movie shallow. The plot is thin, and generally "dumbed down", with the acting mediocre. Actor Travis Fimmel (the estranged brother and photographer) came across as quite unconvincing, as if he was hardly affected by the scenes of gore, and his expressions were often incongruous. Michael Dorman (his brother) started well, but his acting in the scene of desperation near the end was lame (reflecting poor directing) and poorly executed.I suppose the little bit of sexual titillation (played by the two attractive female students) was deemed likely to increase the ratings and to create some side interest. All in all, the movie doesn't really "work".