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")

"The Tattooist" tells the story of an American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer,who is a global wanderer who explores ethnic themes in his designs.While he is in New Zealand he unknowingly plays a role in releasing a deadly spirit with a penchant for delivering death by indelible ink as he attempts to learn tatau,the Samoan tradition of tattooing.Tatau is a traditional tattoo worn by males,on the middle of their torsos,starting just below the lat area and continues down to the knees."The Tattooist" has some impressive moments of horror among many boring spots,where literally nothing happens.The film's subject is unusual as is the cultural context and the death scenes are suitably graphic.Unfortunately the character of Jake is barely developed and the first half of the film is pretty dull.6 out of 10.

This is an odd movie about a tattoo artist named "Jake Sawyer" (played by Jason Behr) who gets involved in the Samoan mystical realm of tattoos. He steals a Samoan tattoo instrument at a tattoo convention in Singapore. But when he accidentally cuts himself with it he begins to have hallucinations and nightmares. He then wonders if these dreams and visions are connected to the tattoo device that he stole and begins to consider whether he should give it back. Unfortunately, not long afterward his customers begin to die one by one in a grisly manner. When one particular customer named "Victoria" (Caroline Cheong) visits his apartment and shows what is happening to her, he begins to realize that something is terribly wrong but he doesn't fully comprehend what it is yet. However, as she lies dying in the emergency room he glimpses the evil spirit that he has unleashed and realizes that it is connected to the tattoos he has drawn. Determined not to let the same horrible thing happen to his new girlfriend, "Sina" (Mia Blake) he desperately searches for a solution. After that this film begins to get a little uneven. While the world of a tattoo artist might be peculiar, it's difficult to get enthused about it. It's even more difficult to get interested in weird ancient Samoan tribal rituals. And while the acting was adequate, I thought the plot was just too phony and unconvincing. It almost seemed like they were making up the story as they went along. In summation, this film may be worth a look if you're really curious about it. But it's not something that I would put on the top of my list to see.

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 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.

"He needs a doctor." "No, he needs a tattoo!"

And with that comes the chuckles when the latter line is uttered by Singaporean actor Gerald Chew. The Tattooist is the second New Zealand horror movie to hit our screens here this year (the other being The Ferryman), and this one marks the first Singapore-New Zealand joint venture, with others like Kelvin Tong's Maid sequel being rumoured to be some collaborative effort of this nature as well.

Starring Jason Behr, who resembled Lorenzo Lamas in his previous big screen movie outing with the SkinWalkers, he ditches the long hair and beard for a closer crop, and takes on the titular role as a tattooist who is in Singapore for a Tattoo Exposition, held at the Capitol area. Locals will know that no such area exists (Capitol is just waiting to be refurbished/demolished), and the first 20 minutes of this movie actually had a very sexy vibe to how night time Singapore is portrayed, with its beautiful skyline, and many shots that would have made the Singapore Tourism Board give it its stamp of approval.

Some believe that tattoos give its wearer some mystical properties, as explained in movies like Spider Lilies, and perhaps that's why more than often the creatures drawn on people include fierce ones like tigers and mythical ones like phoenixes and dragons. Rarely, or never at all, do you see a pussy cat, or a rat (if you do, let me know!). Behr's Jake Sawyer earns a living giving tattoos that he hawks as tattoos that can "heal", although being a disbeliever of such prowess, and at the Expo, gets his interest piqued by the Samoan tradition of the art.

OK, so actually he's more interested in Sina (Mia Blake), whom he saw at the Expo, and prior to his journey to New Zealand to learn more of Tatau, he had "borrowed" an old tattoo tool, which to the audience, spells trouble - such stuff can only contain curses, spirits and what- have-yous. And when blessed accidentally with fresh blood from Sawyer's palm, it seems that Sawyer's customers thereafter become victims of strange deaths, spewing tattoo ink and experiencing death by tattoo art. Nonetheless it's up to Sawyer to find out the root cause in a race against time, especially when his lady love is also put at risk.

To add some depth and contribute to the reasons necessary for things that go bump, the theme of shame is examined in the rituals of the Samoan people, which is similar to the value of "face" to the Chinese. Things that bring dishonor to the family is widely frowned upon, and this discrimination brings about unhealthy relationships, especially amongst blood relations. Ultimately, it boils down to interpretation, and the selfishness of man to preserve what is deemed socially acceptable, and the measures taken to preserve mindsets and individual honor.

Director Peter Burger doesn't deliver an outright horror movie, but it seemed more along the lines of a mystery thriller. You don't get the usual tricks like shadowy figures, creaky doors, sudden slamming of furniture, bellowing winds or musical crescendos. In fact, you don't get much of that at all, only the occasional figure seen in a reflective surface, and even then done so low key, it surprisingly doesn't even raise a goose-bump. The way the narrative played out was in the vein of horror movies like Shutter, but without the unexpectedly frightening bits. It was as if the movie was in self-censorship mode, reeling back from full gory details, choosing to let the mind imagine what horrible fates have befallen the unfortunate victims.

And speaking of censorship, I booed at the badly butchered removal of a sex scene. Instead of bowing to box office pressure of an NC16 release, I thought the distributors could have submitted it for a higher rating, thus keeping the movie intact for its inaugural Sin-NZ production, but sorry. The movie boasted excellent production values, so it was a pity to have the experience marred by a bad cut. There were some off-moments in the movie, like the kid-medium and his homies, but taken as a whole, The Tattooist is a surprisingly entertaining mystery thriller that will probably pave the way for more quality (hopefully) collaborations to come.

nothing much to say about this movie really.. was really an OK movie..everything was expected ...i thought the acting was kinda bad,or let me say kinda dull..Jason Behr looked to me like he was reading off paper or something..there was no element of excitement or suspense or anything..it was just one of these ordinary movies that u would only watch if you have nothing els to watch . i personally wanted to watch it because i like tattoos and im into horror movies and supposedly The Tattooist was classified as horror movies,so 2 things i like grabbed my attention about this movie so i was certain its going to be very good BUT the only thing was good about this movie is to learn never have high hopes about any movie by just reading the title :)

While there was great potential here for a very intriguing thriller and horror story, it fell apart with some really poor writing, editing and directing choices - and just purely unbelievable, at times, particularly in nearly all of the story-driving relationships. Now, while horror films do ask us to suspend our disbelief, oftentimes to great extremes, this one expects us to shatter our belief systems entirely in order to accept the progression of things that happen. What did I love about this film? The 'evil' spirit! Some great artistry and film technique used here in presenting it. Kudos. Second, the background of the roots of tattooing (tatauing). Would very much liked to have seen a little more, but from what the film presents about the very spiritual aspect of this art, it is understandable. Then, Jason Behr did his best to pull of a believable title character. Sadly more than a couple of the other actors fail at this. Poor casting, poor acting or just poor directing??? You decide if you watch it.

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.

The movie opens up with father helling at son (Jake) for getting a tattoo and then father then cut the tattoo of his Arm with a Knife.

Then the movie fast forward to 20 or more years and we Jake who now has tattoos all over his body and has become A Tatooist.

Then he find a other place that all do tattoos in different way as steals the stick and it cut himself with stick., then he start get have strange dreams and start seeing thing, they something killing the people he gave the tattoos too.

This was a really interesting horror movie, When i first heard about this movie i thinking it something like The Denstist. I thinking The Tattooist was going to be killer. but it was total different.

Which is a really good thing, there was really good acting in this movie from everyone in the movie., some of the deaths were really good , that one really creepy scenes which i can not not mention(I not going to much) The scenes hospital was really creepy and nasty as the same times, was great made scene.

A really good horror movie, I give this movie 7 out of 10

Make no mistake: This film has low ratings because its script, acting and direction is flawed to the point of ridiculousness. It has very few redeeming factors...if any. It promotes itself as cultural and diverse when all it really does is attempt to get on the non-Hollywood horror bandwagon after a slew of foreign 'subtle' horrors that both precede and exceed it! I am a fan of 'subtle' horrors...foreign or no. I do not believe you need extreme bloodshed and shock to make a good movie...although I do not deny the pull of such tactics. I like shock horrors AND creepy horrors. This film, however, tries much too hard to slot itself into a pigeon-hole that it does not belong in...and to be honest...does not deserve the right to try. Many 'subtle' horrors before this terrible crime on entertainment have left the likes of "The Tattooist" in the back seat, and many since...and for good reason. "The Tattooist" is boring, pointless and quite frankly; crap! It's good for background noise during a film night where the film doesn't matter since all you want to do is talk about your week. But if you're looking for a movie that will both keep you entertained AND take you out of the room? You can do better than this; believe me. Now go get yourself a real movie...not this weak sauce!

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 is a very good thriller film, jam packed with action and suspense. However the disappointing amount of horror involved was a let down. This is classified as horror when yes the theme is revolved around a ghost. However i was not scared at one point during the film.Admittedly it takes a lot to make me scared but no jumps,shocks or gasps were even lifted.

The overall is that yes this film is good and if you like the Gothic genre then give it a try but if your looking for massive scares then this is a no. Good suspense and action compliments on the artwork, but this is not a horror film.

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.

(2007) The Tattooist HORROR

Movie takes place somewhere in New Zealand starring Jason Behr as Jake, a renowned tattoo artist who while hanging around on one of the open markets, follows a girl he's attracted to leading him to a Samoan tribe who uses tattoos as a way of tradition, who uses a particular tool they appear to be the ones who know how to use. But before leaving, he steals one of their tools and accidentally cuts his hand with it upon picking it up off the street. And as the film progresses his hand doesn't get any better as it still continues to bleed finding out later that the cut on his hand was really a hex whenever he does any tattoos on anyone. Although this film does have an ending, it was the ending that killed the credibility of the entire film but it was the result of checking out the deleted scenes which also contained the ending that was cut.

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

Considering the film's low budget, the visuals are very well done. The film has some disturbing images with cringe worthy gore, as well. 'The Tattooist' follows a tattoo artist who must learn the secret of why everyone he tattoos, is cursed and ultimately die horribly. This was in interesting mystery horror thriller with some twists thrown in the mix, as well. The film has a simple plot, so this is easy viewing and fun at that. Jason Behr was very good as the Tattooist.

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 found this to be a pretty interesting type of movie. The story is your standard supernatural mystery, with the main character trying to figure out who his spirit is and why it is killing people who have tattoos from him. It's pretty creative with a movie based on pe'a because it is something that has never been done before and interesting to know the culture of it. After a while, the characters who got the tattoo from Jake slowly get killed in a gruesome way. The pacing is done pretty well with the build-up and him arrival in New Zealand. Now, the whole reveal of the mystery isn't anything too special, but it is interesting to who the spirit really is and what it wants. The movie have pretty good tension during the scenes, with the people slowly dying from something and the effects it cause to them. Also, there's a couple of plot points that feel unnecessary and don't go anywhere in the plot.