Needle

Plot

Ten years earlier, a man on a phone call is killed gruesomely, after the person at the other end of the line accuses him of stealing an important archaeological artifact.

Present time, college student Ben inherits a mysterious mechanical box called 'Le Vaudou Mort' from his father, who died two years earlier. He shows his friends Ryan, Nelson, Jed, Mary, Kandi and Isabel. Before leaving, Nelson takes a group photo. The following morning, Ben realises the box has gone missing. Nelson and Ryan ask their archaeology professor, Professor Banyon, about the box. She reveals that it was only used as a theatre prop, but agrees to alert them if she has any information.

That night, when Ryan is out on a run, an unknown person cuts his face from the photo that Nelson took and inserts it into the Le Vaudou Mort, confirming that it was stolen. The person then pulls a wax figure from the box and slashes it with hot needles. Ryan bleeds to death after gashes appear on his body. When the police find his body the next day, Ben's estranged brother Marcus, who was the crime scene photographer, immediately recognises him.

The next night, Nelson's face is cut from the photo and inserted in the box, before the limbs are torn from his wax figure and he dies from being dismembered gruesomely. Professor Banyon introduces Ben to archaeology expert Dr. Halmanay who tells him that the Le Vaudou Mort is a revenge apparatus. Isabel becomes the next victim, when the killer stabs needles in the wax figure's eyes.

After Marcus and Ben also discover Professor Banyon dead, they find out that their father, Samuel Rutherford stole the Le Vaudou Mort from his friend Robert Shaw ten years earlier. They conclude that the killer is exacting revenge on his sons and their friends. They head back to Isabel's house to warn their friends, only to find her body.

Marcus and Ben visit their old neighbourhood, where Robert Shaw died. Marcus ventures inside and finds the Le Vaudou Mort, before being knocked unconscious. Mary's mother calls Ben, informing him that she has not arrived home. Then Ben spots Kandi's car and finds Jed's body, his mouth slit from ear to ear. He goes inside to warn Marcus, only to be knocked out by Kandi.

It is revealed that Kandi is Robert Shaw's daughter and her father was killed by Ben and Marcus' father. She explains that she wanted Ben to feel what she felt when her father died, killing his friends first to prolong the agony. Mary has also been held captive and Ben is held at gunpoint. Kandi inserts Mary's picture into the La Vaudou Mort and begins to poke her wax figure. Ben stops Kandi, but she drags him outside. Mary frees herself and cuts Kandi's face from the picture, creating the wax figure. As Kandi attempts to kill Ben, holes appear in her chest, and she dies.

One month later, Marcus and Ben have reconciled and venture out on Marcus' boat to throw the Le Vaudou Mort into the ocean, so that noone will be victimised by it again.

Cast

Michael Dorman as Ben Rutherford

Travis Fimmel as Marcus Rutherford

Tahyna Tozzi as Mary Matthews

Jessica Marais as Kandi

Trilby Glover as Isabel Du Pont

Chanel Marriott as Lucy

Khan Chittenden as Jed

Luke Carroll as Nelson

Nathaniel Buzolic as Ryan

Jane Badler as Professor Banyon

John Jarratt as Paul the Coroner

James Hagan as Samuel Rutherford

Ben Mendelsohn as Detective Meares

Malcolm Kennard as Detective Reddick

Murray Bartlett as Tony Martin

Quinton George as Mr Joshua

Caroline McKenzie as Eliza Shaw

Sam Longley as basketball coach

Igor Sas as Dr. Halmanay

Release and distribution

The film premiered at Cinefest OZ in August 2010, and has since screened at the British Horror Film Festival and Screamfest Horror Film Festival, as well as the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. Needle had a limited eight-screen release in Australian cinemas on 28 July 2011. The film also had a successful release in Turkey on 29 July 2011 where it opened at No.4 at the box office on 62 screens. Needle played for 13 weeks eventually grossing US$259,185. At 1 September 2012, Needle has been sold in 82 countries worldwide with rights for major territories going to Lionsgate (USA), High Fliers (UK), Telepool (Germany), Playarte (Brazil), SND (France), Shochiku (Japan) and Sony (Australia) Needle was made for $3m and filmed over six weeks in Perth, Western Australia. It had its Australian TV premiere on Saturday 12 December 2015 on Channel ONE (Network 10).