THE TATTOOIST
(Review)

The Samoan people believe tattooing is a gift from the gods.
He who misuses this gift brings shame upon himself and his family.
In Samoan culture, to live in shame is a fate worse than death.

Though not entirely a successful enterprise, the premise of Peter Burger’s The Tattooist is nonetheless an interesting variation on the Asian horror film curse: Jake Sawyer (Jason Behr) is a tattoo artist who impulsively filches an ‘au, a Samoan tatau implement, at a Singapore body art expo, a reckless decision that will bring him to New Zealand, and put him at the mercy of the machinations of an unseen, sinister force.

On the plus side, this New Zealand-Singapore co-production gets a number of things right.
The script is informed by some intriguing themes—flesh as biography, as badge of tradition and honour, and sometimes, shame (a theme also seen in David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises)—and the narrative allows the audience a closer look at Samoan culture, elements of which are integral to the film’s plot.
It’s in taking those themes and bits of cultural character and turning them into a series of events in a story though, where The Tattooist doesn’t quite hit the mark.

Save for a pivotal set piece and a number of isolated scenes and sequences, the majority of The Tattooist isn’t terribly tense or suspenseful, which a film of this sort really ought to be.
In addition, the character of Jake also isn’t a fully realized—or even a completely sympathetic—protagonist. This, despite the fact that he actually has a back story that also ties in to one of the film’s themes.
His motivation never really comes across to the audience as a solid, substantial thing, character notes (his penchant for stealing tattoo designs; his curiously mercenary view of his art) don’t quite gel together into an actual person, even his attraction to Sina (Mia Blake, from Without A Paddle) seems superficial.
Yes, Blake is certainly easy on the eyes, but what exactly does Jake see in her beyond the surface? I couldn’t really say.

On the one hand, I could fob that off on Behr’s questionable acting skills, but that would be too easy, and unfair. The script (by Matthew Grainger and Jonathan King) really doesn’t present Jake as a fully (pardon me) fleshed-out character to begin with.
We see the pivotal and traumatic event that informs Jake’s character at the very top of The Tattooist, but how that relates to the narrative is sadly only (pardon me again) skin deep. We can make amateur armchair psychologist assumptions as to how that event has shaped the adult we see on-screen, but that really isn’t dealt with in any substantial way by the script.
More so than the script’s lack of suspense, this is probably the film’s biggest let-down for me. There just seemed so much potential—thematic and psychological—that wasn’t mined properly.

Which is sad, considering The Tattooist had a lot going for it, certainly much more than your average horror movie.
Aside from all the things I’ve mentioned above, there’s also the cool urban oracle sequence (witness the awesome power of hip-hop!), and the great fake tattoos (and bloody special effects) courtesy of Christien Tinsley, who got a Sci-Tech Oscar honour this year, “for the creation of the transfer techniques for creating and applying 2D and 3D makeup known as ‘Tinsley Transfers.’ These techniques allow quick and precisely repeatable application of 2D makeup such as tattoos, bruises and birthmarks, as well as 3D prosthetic appliances ranging in size from small wounds to entire torsos. They utilize self-adhesive material that features an unprecedented combination of tissue-thin edges, resilience, flexibility and water resistance, while requiring no dangerous solvents.”
Tinsley’s work can also be seen in such high-profile films as The Passion of the Christ, Memoirs of a Geisha, and No Country For Old Men, as well as the “Conor McNamara, 2026” episode of Nip/Tuck and William Friedkin’s Bug.

So you see, I would have loved to have loved this film.
If it had been that much scarier, or more thrilling perhaps, or if the screenwriters had explored the story’s themes more fully, then I may have found myself unhesitatingly recommending The Tattooist.
As it is though, the best I can say is, in dressing the skeleton of the Asian horror template with elements of Samoan culture, Burger and company certainly attempt something more valid and vital than the ubiquitous English-language remake Hollywood is inclined to engage in.
In The Tattooist, New Zealand cinema has taken knowledge learned from the Japanese and the Koreans and applied it to a story that stems from their own heritage, something to be rightly proud of.
The fact that the film itself doesn’t quite reach the heights of the best Asian horror has to offer is unfortunate, but shouldn’t negate the effort and intent.

Parting shot: For anyone who can’t get enough of Jason Behr, reviews of Skinwalkers and D-War can be found in the Archive, where reviews of Eastern Promises, No Country For Old Men, Bug, and Abominable (which actually stars Christien Tinsley) can also be found.

(The Tattooist OS and images courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

D-WAR (DRAGON WARS)
(Review)

For a Korean production that’s clearly aiming for wide international distribution, Shim Hyung-Rae’s D-War (Dragon Wars) is certainly an ambitious undertaking; it’s even got the multiple character OS marketing thing going, as well as the short, snappy title for quick and easy recall.
Sadly, the film itself doesn’t deliver on nearly all of the other, more significant levels that it should.

The biggest, most shamed-faced culprit has to be Shim’s script: to call it “scattershot” would be charitable.
The narrative jumps from scene to scene with neither rhyme nor reason, and there are a host of inexplicable developments and decisions that make D-War a simply terrible viewing experience.
And the front-heavy exposition—which takes up the first 20 minutes or so of the film, in an awkward and annoying flashback within a flashback—serves to stop the narrative cold even before it’s had a chance to rev its engine.
There’s talk of good serpents and bad serpents and a 20-year old maiden who is destined to lay down her life so that good will emerge triumphant. There’re also brave warriors and magickal amulets and reincarnation and wisps of the production design spirit of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, rudely summoned and shanghaied for this muddled production.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a film like this, whose narrative operates in a complete emotionless vacuum, where all the pretty pixels in the world (more on that later) cannot save a story that so utterly fails to engage the audience, it may just as well be a non-experience.

Even the presence of Robert Forster (Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, Van Sant’s Psycho remake, and briefly, in Lynch’s Mulholland Drive) as Jack, the reincarnation of the elder warrior who fights on the side of good, does nothing to move things into the plus column: Forster’s not really given much to do beyond narrating that 20 minute block at the head of the film, and not very well, I might add. He also morphs in and out of the proceedings on a bizarrely irregular basis.
The other major players, Jason Behr and Flightplan’s Amanda Brooks, don’t exactly light up the screen either.
Behr, who can’t seem to escape the gravity of genre material after making a name for himself on TV’s Roswell (he’s also been in The Grudge remake and Skinwalkers, as well as the upcoming The Tattooist), doesn’t even seem to attempt to infuse his character of Ethan Kendrick with a glimmer of a personality. There’s nothing there to indicate Ethan is even a living, breathing person, much less the reincarnation of the young, valorous warrior who must ultimately sacrifice his love for the sake of the world.
Brooks fares no better with her Sarah, destined to carry within her the force that will be consumed, by either good or evil, thus determining the fate of the entire human race. There’s no struggle here, no raging against the dying of the light, just a young woman going blandly through the motions: Oh, look, a giant serpent. Run.
Meanwhile, other potentially capable actors like Twin Peaks’ Chris Mulkey and Elizabeth Pena (Jacob’s Ladder and Transamerica), are given nothing significant to do during the limited screen time they actually get.

If there is anything remotely resembling a redeeming factor where D-War is concerned, it’s quite possibly in the CGI.
Granted, this is nowhere near the level of a Transformers, and there are a healthy number of shots where the pixels are still showing. Still, for the most part, the effects are passably convincing, and the final climactic showdown between the good and evil serpents is commendable, and is marred only by the fact that it seems to be taking place not on Earth, but in an environment ripped off from Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. One minute, we’re headed towards Mexico, the next, we’re in Mordor.

This may have the pretty pixels, but at heart, D-War is still a D-grade, low-budget monster movie, complete with head-scratching script and dodgy performances.
Sad, since in the wake of Bong Joon-ho‘s Gwoemul (The Host), I was really hoping Korea would give me another monster movie worth stomping up and down and roaring about. In the end though, all I can muster is an exasperated eye roll and a paltry “Pfffft.”

Parting shot: Interestingly enough, Heroes’ James Kyson Lee (soon to be seen in the upcoming English-language remake of Shutter) is part of D-War’s loop group.
Though he is best known for playing Japanese sarariman/sidekick Ando Masahashi on Heroes, Lee is actually Korean, his real name Lee Jae-Hyeok.

Parting shot 2: Reviews of Gwoemul and Skinwalkers can be found in the Archive.

(D-War OS’s courtesy of younggu-art.com.)

SKINWALKERS
(Review)

As I mentioned in my review of Katja von Garnier‘s Blood and Chocolate, compared to the vampire, the werewolf has always gotten the shorter end of the proverbial stick (and in the case of the Underworld films, both races get screwed).
The latest film to feature our lupine friends, Jim Isaac’s Skinwalkers, is a curious mix of win and loss.

The premise is simple: skinwalkers (werewolves to the midnight movie crowd) exist, and the race is split down the middle; there are those who think of the monthly change as a curse, while others—those addicted to the kill—relish it as a gift.
There is a prophecy (isn’t there always?) of a special child who will hold the destiny of all skinwalkers in his hands.
Rachel (Nip/Tuck’s Rhona Mitra) is the mother of Timothy (Matthew Knight; The Grudge 2), who happens to be the child in question. Ignorant of their pivotal roles in this primeval struggle, widowed Rachel and child are being cared for and sheltered by Rachel’s brother-in-law Jonas (Elias Koteas, seen recently in David Fincher’s Zodiac) and his extended family.
And when skinwalker baddie Varek (Roswell’s Jason Behr) and his hairy homeys track down the prophesied child, Rachel realizes she married into a whole heap of trouble.

First, the cons.
The depiction of both sides of the war is decidedly uneven: while there is some attempt at sketching out the relationships and personalities of the good skinwalkers, Varek and his crew are little more than loping, savage ciphers. Save for one, there is no indication of who these skinwalkers were before they became the cruel hunters they are now, no inkling of motivation other than that they’re addicted to blood. There really aren’t even any tiny quirks to make one stand out from the other.
That’s exacerbated by performances that are rather bland and one-note, sadly a shortcoming that extends even to the goodie skinwalker camp. The only actors who actually register are the always interesting Koteas, Shawn Roberts (from George Romero’s Land of the Dead and the upcoming Diary of the Dead) as Adam, and, to a limited extent, Knight.
Particularly disappointing on this front are Mitra, who doesn’t quite convince as the woman who’s been lied to for thirteen years but must now step up to fight for her son’s life, and Behr, whose Varek isn’t the intimidating baddie this film so desperately needs. Their characters are all surface, with no emotional depth to them, like skinwalkers hiding behind flimsy human facades.

The script (by James DeMonaco, Todd Harthan, and James Roday) doesn’t help matters any either.
It’s a slow starter, taking some twenty minutes to kick into gear, really seriously moving only when Nana (Barbara Gordon), bless her soul, pulls out her piece and starts to shoot up Main Street. Once the narrative’s engine revs up though, it quickly settles into a choppy ride, the film never really quite hitting a satisfying stride.
Additionally, the plot’s surprises aren’t really surprises at all. Skinwalkers is rather transparent; given how the relationships and conflicts are laid out, you can basically see how it’s all going to turn out. And it’s never a good thing, when you can anticipate the beats of a story. (It also makes the characters looks pretty stupid when the audience knows more than they do.)

But there are pros.
One: the creature design by Stan Winston Studios.
Winston, who’s given us everything from xenomorphs to Pumpkinhead to animatronic dinos, delivers lupine bipeds with unsettling facial features, something new to the werewolf catalogue.
Sure, the transformation scenes could have used more bite, but man, those beasties were sure walloped by the ugly stick.

And two: despite my less than enthusiastic response to the film, it does end on a note that actually makes me look forward to a sequel, if one is even on the cards. Skinwalkers wraps on a situation that opens the door to the possibility of a down-and-dirty genre actioneer, with loads of guns and ammo, fangs and fur.

In the end, Skinwalkers isn’t a total loss, and if the right people can come together to deliver a swift and savage sequel, then this flawed effort would not have been in vain.

Parting shot: Jim Isaac’s past directorial efforts include The Horror Show and Jason X, both dismal affairs. Skinwalkers is his best film by far.
He’s also done fx work on such David Cronenberg films as The Fly, Naked Lunch, and eXistenZ, all of which I love.
(It’s safe to say I’m a bigger fan of Jim Isaac the special effects guy, than I am of Jim Isaac the director…)
It’s also interesting to note that Isaac considers Cronenberg a mentor of sorts, and not only thanks him in Skinwalkers’ end credits, but actually cast him in a small role in Jason X.

(Original Skinwalkers OS courtesy of empiremovies.com—the film’s release date was later moved to July; image courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)