Overrated and overhyped

Great Film overall

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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

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 decided to watch this movie because it seemed like it would be a horror movie that was somewhat more original than usual - I certainly couldn't think of another horror movie centered around the culture of tattooing. While the movie does have some interesting insight here and there about tattooing and South Pacific cultures, the movie fails in its main intent - being a horror movie. For starters, the movie takes a long time before delivering its first real supernatural horror scene. And once the movie starts delivering horror, there isn't really a feeling of menace. Instead, it feels just as slow and boring as things were in the first part of the movie. It certainly didn't help that the protagonist wasn't that sympathetic. The enterprise also suffers from a low budget. While the special effects actually aren't that bad for a low budget enterprise, the surroundings look and feel like a modestly budgeted episode of a television show. This movie actually took three countries working together to make; it's surprising that the filmmakers actually found enough people who thought this tired script was worth filming.

After inadvertently stealing a tool and applying a native tattoo that holds special significance in their culture, a careless tattoo artist finds those he's marked under attack by a vengeful spirit and must find a way of stopping it's deadly rampage.This was an overall mildly-troubling but still enjoyable effort that really makes a lot of it's strides with the uniqueness of it's traditions and cultures that are exploited. The Polynesian culture is displayed here as being quite exotic and inviting, which is by itself hardly ever explored to begin with, and the foundations laid within make for a hearty and potentially-chilling ghost story that gets showcased here. As well, the fact that it's not a traditional ghost as far as what's commonly been utilized in such films is quite original, and it's scenes of revenge and torment on the characters in the second half gets the best scenes as the bleeding ink, opening wounds and more are quite bloody and really exciting. That said, there's still some problems here and it's mostly the slow beginning which doesn't really let on it's a horror film at all what with it being about tattoos and the such, so those who aren't into that lifestyle might find this one lacking. Also, the fact that the ghost/spirit is a CGI utilized joke takes a lot of the sting out of it's scenes when it looks so putrid and non-threatening, but overall it's still a good bit of fun.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language, Nudity, a sex scene and drug use.

This was an interesting movie. An American tattoo artist finds himself a bit too intrigued by the Somoan art of tattooing, and along the way finds himself, and his tattooed customers, the grim focus of a spiteful spirit, all stemming from his ill-advised "borrowing" of a tainted Samoan tattoo tool. I highly enjoyed this movie, but must caveat that I'm completely enthralled by all things Polynesia, so I am probably very forgiving of any negative elements of the movie. Polynesia notwithstanding, the story was creative, and certainly a break from normal American horror fare. Good (enough) acting, strong production values and interesting scenery make this a highly recommended film.