The Tattooist

If you are like me, you use this site to Gage what to rent. I am shocked this movie got such a low rating (5.1 stars when I checked), in fact I almost didn't rent it because of that, I only picked this up because fangoria gave it a great review. My best advice is to watch the preview, and if you think it looks good then watch it. The preview is not misleading at all, and the movie has much more to offer. I was happily impressed with this movie. The Acting was great, the scenes were visually enticing, and even brought you into a different culture. The idea was truly refreshing and also pulled off very well. I have seen plenty of movies with great ideas, but it was too hard to pull off, which ruiend the movie. This however, was not one of them.

Now with this review you are probably wondering why I didn't give more than 10 stars. That is because the first 45 minutes were slow, and at the time almost seemed irrelevant. Turns out (of course) they are not all irrelevant. There were just some funny things I noticed, like a guy comes into his shop and he just starts tattooing the guy without asking what he wanted. Overall this movie was great and I strongly recommend it to any true horror fan (that means if you like movies such as "The Titanic" and dislike horror films, don't rent this to give it a bad rating.) This movie will not have you at the edge of your seat, or give you nightmares, or make you jump, but it will make you realize that they still make great creative horror movies that are truly a treat to watch

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")

180629: This film takes on two of my passions, one being the horror genre the other art in general; tattooing in particular. It's a fun idea, especially considering the lesser recognized, for North Americans, Samoan perspective. Though featuring not exactly the best acting or storyline, this film does offer a few catchy special effects, about the only reason I'd ever want to look back upon it. Worth watching if you're a horror aficionado but don't expect to be thrilled often.

I thought that the Tattooist was quite a good horror movie. It was about an American tattoo artist called Jake Sawyer, who travels the world, exploring different ethnic themes in his tattoo designs. At a tattoo expert 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 journey into Pacific mysticism, Jake must find a way to save his new love, Sina and recover his own soul. This ended up being a good horror film and i would strongly recommended it to viewers. And it also gave a good look into how Samoan tattoos are made.

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.