Skin Art (1994)

The world's youngest Vietnam vet (Kirk Baltz, who looks 35, tops) sublimates his memories of torture by tattooing young Asian prostitutes. All goes smoothly until a new recruit reawakens his long-dead feelings of love and pain. Writer-director W. Blake Herron really tries in Skin Art — why, the first 10 minutes alone allude to Peeping Tom and Tristan and Isolde — but he's weak on the follow-through, resorting to some absurd Grand Guignol touches by the end. C-