American Cinematheque Presents/Vitagraph Films
There's an unmistakable "Seven" vibe pulsing through "Tattoo", a grisly crime thriller directed by German TV scribe Robert Schwentke.
But unlike any number of previous pretenders to the David Fincher throne, this serial-killer chiller gets the creepy atmospherics down cold.
In fact, if it hadn't been for the English subtitles and the (unknown to North Americans) cast, the flesh- and blood-laden picture might have had a modest commercial future outside of the art house arena.
The unsettling mood is established in the opening frames as a naked and bloodied woman staggers down a city street late at night moments before becoming fatally engulfed in a fiery blaze.
It turns out the woman is the latest casualty in a bizarre series of murders that leave the intended victims partially skinned (Schwentke obviously also has great affection for "Silence of the Lambs"), and it's up to the gruff, obsessed Minks (Christian Redl) and rave-frequenting new recruit Marc August Diehl) to nail the perps.
During the course of their investigation, the seemingly mismatched pair are soon led to a macabre ring of tattoo "collectors" who are willing to pay big bucks for suitable-for-framing, intact works of skin art.
While the storytelling threatens to get a little too weird for its own good toward the end, Schwentke's solid cast and a visual talent for nailing the unsavory, noir-soaked milieu compensate for some of the more gratuitous eccentricities.
Like its title, "Tattoo" (which, happily, bears no relationship to the 1981 Bruce Dern movie) manages to leave an indelible impression.
There's an unmistakable "Seven" vibe pulsing through "Tattoo", a grisly crime thriller directed by German TV scribe Robert Schwentke.
But unlike any number of previous pretenders to the David Fincher throne, this serial-killer chiller gets the creepy atmospherics down cold.
In fact, if it hadn't been for the English subtitles and the (unknown to North Americans) cast, the flesh- and blood-laden picture might have had a modest commercial future outside of the art house arena.
The unsettling mood is established in the opening frames as a naked and bloodied woman staggers down a city street late at night moments before becoming fatally engulfed in a fiery blaze.
It turns out the woman is the latest casualty in a bizarre series of murders that leave the intended victims partially skinned (Schwentke obviously also has great affection for "Silence of the Lambs"), and it's up to the gruff, obsessed Minks (Christian Redl) and rave-frequenting new recruit Marc August Diehl) to nail the perps.
During the course of their investigation, the seemingly mismatched pair are soon led to a macabre ring of tattoo "collectors" who are willing to pay big bucks for suitable-for-framing, intact works of skin art.
While the storytelling threatens to get a little too weird for its own good toward the end, Schwentke's solid cast and a visual talent for nailing the unsavory, noir-soaked milieu compensate for some of the more gratuitous eccentricities.
Like its title, "Tattoo" (which, happily, bears no relationship to the 1981 Bruce Dern movie) manages to leave an indelible impression.
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