Needle (2010)

February has arrived and with it, my first retirement check from the government; truly an awesome moment… February is an important month to me, as my birthday is on the horizon and I am sure to have another amazing horror themed birthday cake (definitely one of the highlights of the year). February 1st is also National Signing Day for college football teams, and I have to say my Mountaineers had a very impressive class, one that should help keep Morgantown rocking as we head into Big 12 action. Enough on that though, to start the month out, I decided to kick back and review the interesting flick Needle (2010) prior to heading off to bed.

Plot/ After the death of his father, archaeology student Ben Rutherford inherits an 18th century mechanical device known as "Le Vaudo Mort". At a college party, he flaunts the machine in front of a group of his closest friends and later discovers that the machine has a sinister past and may harbor supernatural powers. After class, he returns to his dorm room to find that the contraption has been stolen. One by one, Ben's friends begin to die in strange and horrific circumstances. Now he must reunite with his estranged half-brother, Marcus, a forensic photographer, and delve deeper into their father's past to work out who is behind the grisly murders. As the terror mounts and the clues seem to suggest the unthinkable, a surprising twist will reveal the identity of the killer.

This teenage / college driven flick is definitely more of a mystery / thriller than straight horror movie. Overall, there are a lot of good things to say about this, the acting is solid, character development good, effects are decent and the storyline is decently original (at least the implement of death). Yes, the pacing is a bit slow as it focused on the characters and story more that the killings, there is little gore and the ending was rather anti-climactic.  In the end, if you like character or story driven thrillers give it a shot, you can do worse. If you are a gorehound, stay away.