The Tattooist

2008 "Evil in ink."
5.1| 1h32m| R| en
Details

American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer wanders the world, exploring and exploiting ethnic themes in his tattoo designs. At a tattoo expo in Singapore, he gets his first glimpse at the exotic world of traditional Samoan tattoo (tatau), and, in a thoughtless act, unwittingly unleashes a powerful angry spirit. In his devastating journey into Pacific mysticism, Jake must find a way to save his new love, Sina and recover his own soul.

Director

Producted By

MediaCorp Raintree Pictures

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Trailers & Clips

Also starring Mia Blake

Reviews

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks
VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
ShangLuda Admirable film.
Cleveronix A different way of telling a story
Woodyanders Ace American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer (a solid and credible performance by Jason Behr) unwittingly unleashes an enraged and powerful spirit after he borrows an old tattoo instrument while delving into the ancient exotic world of Samoan tattoos. Sawyer must find a way to stop the spirit before it eventually kills his new girlfriend Sina (well played by the fetching Mia Blake).Director Peter Burger relates the absorbing story at a gradual pace, makes nice use of the flavorful New Zealand locations, grounds the fantastic premise in a plausible everyday reality, and puts a welcome and admirable emphasis on tension and spooky atmosphere over cheap scares and excessive graphic gore. The fresh and interesting script by Matthew Granger and Jonathan King not only offers a fascinating and illuminating exploration of Samoan culture and religious beliefs, but also provides an extra affecting element of pathos with the whole theme of shame. The capable acting by a sturdy cast holds this picture together: Robbie Magasiva as the leery and apprehensive Alipati, David Fone as the jolly, yet suspicious Mr. Va'a, Caroline Cheong as the spunky Victoria, Nathaniel Lees as the angry Mr. Perenese, Michael Hurst as the hearty Crash, and John Bach as the doomed Lazlo McFadden. Both Leon Narbey's glossy cinematography and the spare shuddery score by Peter Seholes are up to par. A refreshing and different fright film.
harveyrock12 The tattooist is a very good thriller film, jam packed with action and suspense. However the disappointing amount of horror involved was a let down. This is classified as horror when yes the theme is revolved around a ghost. However i was not scared at one point during the film.Admittedly it takes a lot to make me scared but no jumps,shocks or gasps were even lifted. The overall is that yes this film is good and if you like the Gothic genre then give it a try but if your looking for massive scares then this is a no. Good suspense and action compliments on the artwork, but this is not a horror film.
aafrostan This movie no doubt one of the best movies I know of. It got my attention and kept it all the way to the end. The movie also follows my ethnic background, however some of the wordplay and acting gets a little awkward and mediocre at times. Overall though, the movie in itself was very addictive and mind-boggling. It was a movie that I would watch forever.Sometimes I would get annoyed with the history behind the tattoos and what they meant, and other etc as such, but in general there was nothing extremely painful about watching the movie. It has kept the friends of mine that have watched it interested as well. Not perfection, but not terrible either.
Rabh17 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.