THE TATTOOIST has the potential to be a great, off-beat horror production, a one-of-the-kind effort from New Zealand that celebrates the virtually unknown to the West Samoan culture by combining it with a traditional horror movie. Unfortunately, in reality it turns out to be a film that rips off the whole J-horror genre, in which a cursed tattooist finds himself menaced by a cheesy CGI spirit.
THE TATTOOIST has some potential, and indeed the storyline isn't quite so bad. I like how the whole tattoo sub-culture is developed and explored here, and in addition there are plenty of gruesome scenes to keep horror fans satisfied; if anything's going to put you off wanting to get a tattoo done, then this is the film. Sadly, though, in the end this is a film that doesn't really go anywhere, and in the end becomes a series of bloody deaths rather than anything insightful. Some insipid acting - particularly from the lead - drags the enjoyment factor down still further.
THE TATTOOIST has some potential, and indeed the storyline isn't quite so bad. I like how the whole tattoo sub-culture is developed and explored here, and in addition there are plenty of gruesome scenes to keep horror fans satisfied; if anything's going to put you off wanting to get a tattoo done, then this is the film. Sadly, though, in the end this is a film that doesn't really go anywhere, and in the end becomes a series of bloody deaths rather than anything insightful. Some insipid acting - particularly from the lead - drags the enjoyment factor down still further.