Very well executed

Good movie but grossly overrated

As Good As It Gets

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Needle is written well both story and characters. This film has a 1990's vibe so if you're fan of Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Halloween H2O,etc etc then this worth checking out. The murder weapon -the voodoo- is well thought of since using a gun or knife has been used countless times so well done to the writers Anthony Egan and John V Soto. Filmscope have casted well with rising stars Michael Dorman and Travis as brothers ( Ben & Marcus) Luke Carroll (Nelson), Nathaniel Buzolic (Ryan), Khan Chittenden (Jed), Trilby Glover (Isobel) and Jessica Marais (Kandi) have been perfectly casted as his college friends. Veteran actors Ben Mendelsohn and Malcolm Kennard have small parts playing Detectives Meares and Reddick and good to John Jarratt as quirky Paul the coroner makes a welcome change from his Wolfcreek character.

Needle is one of those so-called horror flicks that you easily can watch with your teenagers. It is not all about the red stuff or a slasher or whatsoever. It's more about who's the killer. Oh yes, there are a few red herrings but still, it's more a thriller than a horror.Was it bad, no it wasn't because some killings were rather good and even one is a bit gory but the ending was really a bit of a letdown. This was John V. Soto second feature and it was okay. the reason I bought it was because my wife is a huge 'V' fan and Jane Badler is one of those V icons that appear here in this flick. She did well although some did give a mediocre performance. But overall it wasn't a flick that you will tell about the next day as to say this is a must see. It's one to warm up just before you are going to watch the real stuff. Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

My advice can only be please read as many reviews as possible before deciding to watch this movie. I had just recently rented 'The Resident' (Hilary Swank) but returned it without watching it on the basis of a few IMDb negative reviews. I then rented the Needle on the basis of a series of positive reviews (IMDB). This was a mistake. In my opinion at least, the film appeared to go to lengths to give the impression it was a quality production, whilst there were just too many flaws to bear this out / sustain interest. The acting seemed a little wooden, the actors themselves appearing a little inhibited / self conscious...conscious that they were indeed acting, the scenes having a kind of 'reality show' feel about them. As mentioned earlier, the array of accents was confusing. I watched it for about 15 minutes. Seemingly out of context, an isolated 'f' word made it's debut. It really seemed incongruous, as though its use was requested to substantiate the young, student centred horror genre the film was appealing to. (watched 'Devil' recently - apart from how one may judge the film, so refreshing to get away from this word, even temporarily).In any case, there seemed to be no sense of build up of suspense or expectation. The scenes didn't seem to build on one another through a common thread of direction or focus - seemed a little like a concoction of events (student defiance of teachers - ie in lecture hall, parties / relationships,etc) were thrown in to convince us that these were indeed compulsory elements of any teen based horror movie. However, these, as again mentioned earlier, seemed only to detract from any developing theme.After a while, I could say, well this has happened, and that just happened and that guy just suffered a horrible death etc etc ...so why aren't I interested in what's coming up next? Perhaps I could have given the movie more time, but the movie just wasn't working, for me at least.

I found this movie shallow. The plot is thin, and generally "dumbed down", with the acting mediocre. Actor Travis Fimmel (the estranged brother and photographer) came across as quite unconvincing, as if he was hardly affected by the scenes of gore, and his expressions were often incongruous. Michael Dorman (his brother) started well, but his acting in the scene of desperation near the end was lame (reflecting poor directing) and poorly executed.I suppose the little bit of sexual titillation (played by the two attractive female students) was deemed likely to increase the ratings and to create some side interest. All in all, the movie doesn't really "work".