Bad ghosts stories are, unfortunately, quite commonplace in the horror genre. With the exception of a few stunners (eg, The Haunting, The Changeling, The Amityville Horror, The Sixth Sense etc) the large majority of titles made internationally are painfully mediocre, suffering more often than not form derivative storylines, idiotic logic and far too many false scares. Another film that suffers from such middling treatment is Peter Burger’s The Tattooist, a movie with an interesting concept at its heart that is severely undermined by a wholly uninteresting murder mystery structure.
American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer (Jason Behr) wanders the world, exploring and exploiting different ethnic beliefs and themes through his ink designs. Whilst at a tattoo expo in Singapore, Jake is taken back by the exotic designs of the traditional Samoan cultures and, foolishly, steals a sacred tattooing instrument with the intention of imitating their practices. When he unwittingly unleashes a powerful angry spirit, Jake must travel to New Zealand in order to understand the repercussions of his actions and put a stop to the evil forces intent on making his life a living hell.
The Tattooist is definitely a slow-burn horror tale, taking almost a full hour for anything remotely interesting to occur. Matthew Grainger and Jonathan King’s screenplay seems more intent on using the world of tattooing and the visual allure of the artwork in order to trail the activities of a frustratingly dull protagonist investigating a by-the-numbers detective plot that, in the end, feels totally devoid of significance or satisfaction. The film relies extensively on exposition told on behalf of the supporting characters in order to communicate the whodunit puzzle pieces, those of which are patched together just barely enough to convey a coherent narrative. In fact, much of the explanation for the terror that ensues is communicated through a young 'psychic' boy who can only channel the films' forces of evil by listening to blaring hip hop and speeding 100klm/hr in a suped-up commodore(!) Needless to say, one comes to realize after a while that there really isn’t much substance to the story at all, at least from a dramatic point of view.
One aspect of The Tattooist that must be commended, however, is the lengths to which the filmmakers go in order to portray the Samoan people and their sacred culture as a whole. The movie was indeed shot in New Zealand and includes many local extras and a genuine attention to the details of their indigenous beliefs, albeit diluted by the banality of the story. This is a real shame because had the film utilized the unique nature of the world it strived to posit in a truthful way the end result might not have felt so weak in its delivery. It's almost like the telling of a legitimate horror story became an afterthought.
Ultimately, the outcome that is The Tattooist is a missed opportunity; a lazy screenplay coupled with some undercooked characters and a languid approach to the scares blur the ink beyond any recognition. If you’re looking for a real horror movie about cursed tattoos, go check the botched jobs running rampant in your local red light district.
Dir: Peter Burger
Writers: Matthew Grainger & Jonathan King
Cast: Jason Behr, Mia Blake, David Fane, Robbie Magasiva, Caroline Cheong
Country: NZ
Run time: 92mins
Rating: MA15+
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