Needle

I happened to be in LA during Screamfest (really enjoyed the festival had a great atmosphere!). I tagged along with a group of friends who are die-hard horror/thriller fans, while myself I tend to steer away from the genre, mainly because it's a genre that has seen it all.

But I found Needle to be highly enjoyable, a device that allows a killer to kill their victims without physically killing them is a highly refreshing concept.

While I would of loved to have something more in the deaths (after the first two dying similar deaths) it still captivated me as I tried to work out who was picking apart this group of friends and why (I genuinely didn't pick the killer till the reveal at the end).

The cinematography was fantastic and was surprised to learn that it was actually a horror film produced entirely in Australia. Well worth seeing, can't wait to take my girlfriend to it and watch her squirm at the deaths! ☺

When a student, Ben, inherit a strange box from his dead father he seeks help from friends and from one teacher to find out more about the box. Suddenly his friends start to die mysteriously.

Nice killings voodoo style, but some times the sequence of the story was strange and the acting in my opinion is not that good. On the beginning my suspicions about the killer went in a very different way, and that´s a good thing , you want to get surprised when you watch a movie..

My opinion it´s an ok movie.

Estranged brothers Ben and Marcus come together ( like the "Hardy Boys") to solve the systematic killing of Ben's school chums.

This movie is basically a "murder Mystery". The only thing that set's it apart from most is the method the murderer is using to off his victims. Let me say right here that I don't believe describing the murder weapon in some detail spoils anything for you (Boloxxxi NEVER spoils; not intentionally anyway). But if you believe it does, then STOP RIGHT THERE!!! Advance to the next reviewer and collect $200.00.

Made or acquired in the 1800's, the instrument of death is a "revenge" machine that operates on voodoo principles in that it uses a wax figure and photo of it's victims. It has a side drawer that holds a crank that is inserted in a special slot that "winds it up" or get's it going once these steps are taken: (1) A wax image or symbol is made of the victim; (2) blood is drawn from the avenger and poured into an ornate circular receptacle at the top; (3) a retractable viewer of some kind is pulled up from what looks like a "coin" or "card" slot and a small photo of the unlucky bastard --sorry, "victim" is placed in it and pushed back down into the machine; (4) a long needle is selected from a collection in a drawer of the machine to be heated and used with the wax figure (Positively fiendish, what?)

I liked this movie as a simple, solid murder mystery. So though I thought the revenge machine was an interesting take on the voodoo idea, the way it's victims died was not that interesting to me; that is to say, no more so than if a gun or knife were used. What was interesting to me was who was doing it and why. That is what kept me going. Before I saw the movie I thought it was going to be another of those typical young people horror films. You know; clueless, beer-guzzling, libido-driven, party loving teens getting knocked off one by one. I was surprised how straight forward this movie was played out as a murder mystery (sans a lot of "teen antics") with brothers Ben and Marcus playing detectives.

Finally, though not exceptional, this movie is a solid murder mystery from the perspective of young people around whom the story revolves; it is methodical and sober as Ben and Marcus try to get over their differences and solve the killings at the same time. So if you are looking for horror or want to be "horrified" this is not your movie. But if you want to be "mystified", it is (though you could stay home and achieve the same effect by going through some of the bills you owe). Love, Boloxxxi.

I've been meaning to write this review since I first watched it at the "CinfestOz" Premiere in Busselton a few months back. After reading some of the highly critical and unfair reviews I thought I would put in my two cents worth. I support any film made in Perth, particularly if they use WA crews. (I work in the industry, but did not work on this film, unfortunately). "Needle", "Blame" and "Wasted on the Young" are three examples of quality WA films that have been made on low budgets.

The DOP on Needle was Steve Windon and its clear his eye has had a huge influence on the look of the film - it looks very slick. Although I believe this was shot on Digital, it looks like they used 35MM cameras.

The story is very fresh. I admit to being wary about watching an Australian "horror movie" as most have been terrible in the past, but this film is a breath of fresh air. I have never seen a film where the killer uses a machine that makes voodoo dolls. Congratulations to the writers for thinking of this new device. Although the film has the same generic elements of a slasher, the characters, locations and story set this as a quality film with some major unique differences.

The film has a slower pace than most frenetic (and usually bad) US slashers and I noted some of the reviewers have criticized the film for this - they couldn't be more wrong! I loved spending time with the characters and when they started to get killed off I did start to feel the tension gradually rising and rising until the climatic end.

I have noted from their website that they are promoting the murder mystery element of Needle and without doubt this is the strongest part of the film. I certainly did not work out the killer until the reveal and this was a great surprise.

Overall my opinion is that this is a good film, well worth watching. I can't wait to see this again when its released in cinemas in Australia!

I watched most of the horrors at Screamfest and I saw this with my BFFs. I was impressed with the look of Needle...visually its pretty much perfect...definitely not a film for the hardcore gorehounds, as there isn't much blood, instead there are some good scares with some cool spfx...two of the kills were impressive.

I really enjoyed this film for two main reasons, firstly it uses a new killing device/machine which i've never seen in a horror film before and secondly because of the great acting. I have seen Travis Fimmel in the Beast and he's way better in Needle...the other actors are great too.

My ratings are as follows;

Story - 8/10 Acting - 8/10 Visual - 9/10 Efx - 7/10 Score - 7/10 Blood & gore - 6/10

I guess overall I'd give it an 8.

Definitely worth seeing, I can't wait for the DVD!