Cat-and-mouse thriller Pins & Needles can’t escape its flaws. Unfortunately for editor-turn-filmmaker James Villeneuve, there’s plenty of them in his feature-length debut (which had its world premiere last month at the Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival).

On her way back to campus, during an unexpected stop, biology student Max (Dergrassi alum Chelsea Clark of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia) witnesses the murder of two fellow students. The victims were anticipating roadside help from a couple of unassuming locals but, shockingly, the strangers only saw the teens as inventory. Inventory for what, you ask? As Max sneaks around the murderers’ house (after returning to the lair when the diabetic student forgets her insulin), she discovers clues and overhears conversations that help her piece together the nefarious activity.

Readers who enjoy playing video games may be excited to know that Villeneuve has fashioned Pins & Needles as a third-person RPG; complete with puzzles and strategic manoeuvring. There’s even a clever moment where Max has to choose between two items she could use as weapons. The audience can almost envision a “save state” hovering over the final girl. While that sounds like an innovative way to tell a story, these directorial decisions open the film up to choices made by Max that seem repetitive or illogical given the danger around her. While a gamer may be curious to circle back to obvious risks and potential death, watching a presumably intelligent character like Max act on dumb curioisities is frustrating for the viewer. Otherwise, Clark (who was the recipient for the Vanguard Award at this year’s Blood in the Snow partly due to this film) does a serviceable job at holding our attention during Max’s survival. It’s the role itself that isn’t written well, relying on her health condition to create most of her characterization.

However, Max is at least tolerable as opposed to the villains of Pins & Needles. A pet peeve of mine demonstrated by indie horror filmmakers (and a recurring issue I have with previous Blood in the Snow features like Save Yourself  and ROMI) is that the antagonists have too much personality; as if the filmmakers are trying to create the next scene-stealing baddie. The married, violent strangers in Pins & Needles are overacted by Kate Corbett and Black Conflux’s Ryan McDonald for, what feels like, that same tedious reasoning. The apathetic discussions they have about their craft and their grisly procedures are scenes of dressed-up exposition, conducted with overreaching swagger to make the couple seem oddly charming in their disturbing ways. These exchanges drag down an already saggy flick.

Pins & Needles is now available to watch on Super Channel.

**********

Do You Tweet? Follow These Tweeple:

Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie