Needle (2010)

NEEDLE is a film that I'd never heard of before seeing the cover. It intrigued me, looking like a HELLRAISER rip off with a mysterious kind of puzzle box being used to commit evil acts, so I thought I'd try it out. What I uncovered was a surprisingly enjoyable little movie that comes across as very familiar but made for a good evening's viewing all the same.The storyline is indeed HELLRAISER themed, albeit with a few voodoo-themed twists. A bunch of high school students are tormented by a mystery villain who has the power to kill from afar. The horror content is strong stuff indeed, as the film is packed with some very gruesome death scenes which are effectively staged. It's a shame the director hasn't made more films in the horror genre given the strength of his work here.Even better, one of the leads is played by VIKINGS star Travis Fimmel, who's always a delight to see on screen. Fimmel is well supported by the likes of Ben Mendelsohn playing the investigating cop, and in particularly a small but excellent turn from John Jarratt playing the local coroner. The scenes between Fimmel and Jarratt were a dream come true for this viewer, and I can only wish that Jarrett had more screen time. Still, it's enough...

After inheriting a strange box following his parents' death, a teen and his friends are the victims of a series of grisly and brutal deaths by unseen figures and realize the box is being used for revenge against the friends.This turned out to be rather flawed and an overall disappointing effort. Despite this being based around an incredibly enjoyable concept, the main storyline here is so off that it really does the film far more harm by being the way it is, which is all due to the way this plays out. The main killer's motive for targeting the friends is so inherently lame that it's laughed off if heard in real life, and the characters in the film react as such by being unable to take it seriously since it's never once treated as something other than a comical joke when the reasons are revealed so this makes for quite a difficult time adjusting to things if the characters themselves don't take what happens seriously. As well, this ends up making the film's final half come off even more lame and disappointing by subjecting the motivations for the rampage at this section of the film as the reasons for why they're being targeted is never explored at all and it really tends to focus so heavily on this section that the rest of the film is a long, drawn-out series of bland sequences that have nothing to do with the killer's rampage against them as it instead focuses on the strained-brothers angle for the majority of the running time. None of these segments end up doing the film any favors in finding out crucial information about anything here, as the killer is forced to explain their hilariously illogical motivations at the end and the central box itself is such a mystery that the majority of the fear it's supposed to garner is squashed by only one semi-literate sequence where they explain the history and legacy but in such brief, passing tones that it's impossible to really get a handle on what this is and why it's to be feared. Each of these flaws ends up hurting the film quite heavily because there's some rather engaging potential on display, most notably in how the deaths are meted out which are incredibly bloody and gory and offer up quite a lot of carnage that's quite effectively rendered. The bloodshed is made more potent by the fact that the mystery box is capable of striking anywhere so these early sequences leading up to the death are truly chilling and suspenseful and really go a long way towards making this something to be feared. However, the majority of this is so flawed that these segments don't do this much good.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

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.

In the Saint Mary's College, the student Ben Rutherford (Michael Dorman) inherits a strange device from his deceased father. However, the device is stolen and out of the blue his friends are murdered, one by one, in a bizarre way. Ben and is brother Marcus (Travis Fimmel) have been estranged for years, but they get close again and discover that the machine is a tool built for revenge by Rubenstein in the Eighteenth Century. Further they also find that their father had killed his partner Robert Shawn ten years ago and now someone is seeking revenge for the sins of their father. "Needle" is a boring and predictable teen horror movie. I was surprised with the two favorable reviews of this unoriginal film in IMDb, but they are fake and written by "users" that have only one review to promote this flick. "Lost Boys: The Thirst", for example, is promoted the same way in IMDb and I will certainly receive many negative votes and another favorable fake review will be written immediately after this one (this is the usual procedure). My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Força Oculta" ("Occult Force")