Plot

A killer uses an 18th century machine with supernatural powers to terrorize students at a college.

Cast

Travis "Vikings/Warcraft Movie" Fimmel and John "Wolf Creek" Jarratt star.

Verdict

It wasn't long after this that Australia began knocking it out of the park, great movie after great movie and then it ended as swiftly as it began. My Top 10 Australian movies list is quite impressive and I knew going in that Needle would be unlikely to get on it, and I was right.

It has an interesting enough premise, a remote method of killing such as Death Note but using an antiquated machine. As you can imagine it's your standard formula of introduce the 20 somethings, pick them off one by one and reveal the "Whodunnit" at the end. The trouble is the journey isn't fantastic, it's rather uninspired, it's boring and certain elements left me scratching my head as they made little sense and the rules of the box were a tad inconsistent.

I've seen worse Australian films, but this is one that's highly forgettable which is a shame as the potential was certainly there.

Rants

I've mentioned Death Note so of course have to say it. The Japanese delivered us the Death Note anime and it was a masterpiece, then they hit us with a live action television series of it and it surprisingly really good! Then they gave us 5 live action movies and they varied from very good to excellent. What happened next? That's right boys and girls the Americans came along and decided to give it a go and as is often the case it's as if the writer was given a 10 second presentation on what Death Note is and made a movie off the back of that. It's one of those "It didn't happen" movies which I try and deny the existence of such as the upcoming The Crow remake or Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). For shame Netflix, for shame!

The Good

Premise isn't awful Some visuals are quite good

The Bad

Totally forgettable Bland cast Inconsistent rules of the box Doesn't exactly flow.

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Needle" (R - 2010 - Australia)

Sub-Genre: Paranormal/Slasher

My Score: 6.1

Cast=4 Acting=5 Plot=8 Ending=7 Story=7 Scare=5 Jump=6 F/X=7 Creep=6 Blood=6

An archaeology student inherits an 18th century mechanical device known as "Le Vaudo Mort". At a party he flaunts the machine in front of his closest friends and discovers that the machine has a sinister past.

Your fate has been chosen, but that doesn't mean you have to watch this movie. It looked like it was trying to be "Hellraiser" at first, but the voodoo element was pretty fun. It tries to be a mystery, but I don't think they succeeded there. I liked the premise...it was my favorite part of the film. They could have done more with it, but it's worth a watch like it is! Either way, it's better than a hot needle in your eye!!

The plot of the movie was just ok. The characters were basic, no one was interesting. The storyline has some similarities with the movie "Polaroid" (2019). The kills were unexpectedly gory, they were nice. Even though, the idea of a cursed machine that kills people was kinda stupid, it was portrayed well.. It wasn't scary. The ending was unexpected, it was kinda silly. However, it does makes sense. Overall, it's just an enjoyable movie that keeps you intense from start to finish.