The Seamstress (2009) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

CANADA 2008
Director: Jesse James Miller
Cast: Kailin See, David Kopp, Lance Henriksen, James Kirk, Lara Gilchrist, Sarah Mutch, Richard Stroh
Rating: R
Release Date: 6 October 2009 (USA)
Running Time: 1 hour 17 minutes

The Movie Review

The Seamstress film still 1


THE SEAMSTRESS
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

An isolated island, a killer on the loose, a bunch of teenagers. I just could never resist watching movies with such premise. There's something cheesy about those movies that appeal to me so, and I expected to see just good-enough movies to spend the afternoon with. But who would've thought, The Seamstress is above average, it's good! Besides The Seamstress also put one more element in it, the supernatural element.

The Seamstress centers on Allie (Kailin See) who seeks help from her five friends to look for her missing father in an island called Sanzu. Her father (David Nykl), a seasoned reporter, is investigating a serial killer who has killed many children which tragically resulting in desperate mass of people who look for any odd people to point them as the killer. One of the unfortunate targets is a teacher who they burnt to death. Afterwards, a supernatural element known as the seamstress is brought into being by her curse to take revenge upon those who are guilty of killings. Dina (Lara Gilchrist), a friend of Allie's, initially object to her intention to search for her father, but since it's located on an Island and Jason (David Kopp), who secretly falls for Allie, offers his boat and so off they go to Sanzu. But the seamstress and Sanzu Island hold more secret than they could've ever imagined. What will befall to these young people in Sanzu?

It's a wonder how filmmakers keep on picking the wrong actress as the main lead of such good horror movie. Did the writers intent for the audience to root for Allie or for the killers? I absolutely root for the killer, I would pay her myself to whack Allie off the screen. How could the audience take side on such childish, stupid, self-centered, and selfish character? And because of her trait, it's hard to believe how her friends take upon her as their leader and follow her like sheep follow a herd dog. Kailin See's performance doesn't help much either, she's good but she's still the weakest link in The Seamstress. Quite different with the performance of Lara Gilchrist, she gives very convincing and lively performance, wait until you hear her screaming, it's really moving and very sad. And the cast is also help by James Kirk (from Final Destination 2 (2003)), he's some sort of comic-relief and a wise friend, he keeps the scene flowing naturally. Of course, Lance Henriksen is good, but not his best here.

However, as annoyed as I am, I was willing to overlook all of that, because The Seamstress really blew my mind. It's a solid slasher movie. With the combination of the isolated island, the darkness of the woods, the nighttime (but no total darkness of lighting failure), the supernatural element, and the suspense and of course the gore, The Seamstress manages to keep me awake from my overly sleepy condition. The pacing is wonderful, tight and quite fast without being confusing. And the way the director takes use of the night time but still giving us clear view of what happened is very good. I admit, several elements were arguably borrowed The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Ring (aka Ringu 1998) and even the artwork poster was from Saw (2004) series, but it doesn't matter as long as they didn't overdo it and the result is an intense amusement of fear.

And speaking of Saw series, it's such a shame the way they copy Saw's poster style. Because of what The Seamstress has to offer is much more entertaining than all of those sick killing fetish of Saw series, with the exception only of the 1st Saw (now that's a good one). Anyway, there is gore--more precisely bloody scenes though than gory--in The Seamstress, but most of them are off-screen. You see, Jesse James Miller, apparently has a talent of making a scene intense and filled with tension without resorting to graphically gory killings or excessive violence. And this why I admire The Seamstress. Heck! There's even no nudity in this supernatural horror film, because putting on some women skin in it, would just ruin the tension being built.

The Seamstress is a solid rent for sure. And the one of the last frames which located in the woods did make me gape for a while, cool scene. I'm waiting for another work of Jesse James Miller, hopefully he will make even better quality movies.

>Go on a trip to the islands of massacre: Surviving Evil (2009), Growth (2009) and Pinata: Survival Island (2002).