:
Liam Cunningham,
Liam Cunningham,
Adalberto Maria Merli,
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:
Dario Argento,
Dario Argento
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: Not Rated
: Anchor Bay
: Foreign, Horror, Italy, Italian Horror, Cops, Giallo
: 104 min.
: English
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A serial killer with a knack for video poker and a taste for blood taunts a determined policewoman in director Dario Argento's attempt to bring the traditional giallo into the digital age. Detective Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) is sitting at her desk when a message from an anonymous online gambler bearing the moniker "The Card Player" invites her to join a game of video poker. When the game screen loads, Mari is horrified to learn that the stakes of the game are higher than she ever could have imagined, as an unidentified female in an over-pixilated web-cam window screams for her life. Though the chief initially refuses to take part in the killer's horrifying game, the death of the innocent victim leads Mari to seek more unconventional means of tracking the murderous gambler. As the killer continues to taunt police, British policeman John Brennan (Liam Cunningham) is brought in to help solve the case. When the killer ups the ante by kidnapping the police chief's daughter, it's only a matter of time before the killer and Mari herself are locked in a pulse-pounding, life-or-death game in which anyone could hold the winning hand. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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| Jokers--and Murders--Aplenty
by talltale
October 23, 2005 - 8:38 AM PDT
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4 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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Dario Argento embraces the internet (a little late, perhaps) with THE CARD PLAYER, and for while it looks as if he might have produced one of his better efforts. This police procedural, featuring not very bright or interesting cops, concerns a thrill-seeker who must finally resort to engaging the crime squad in an interactive poker game in which, if they lose, he'll kill the victim (helpless females all: no surprise, given Argento's past oeuvre).
As usual in the work of this writer/director, logic, plot and characterization all take a back seat to the killings (relatively restrained by the standards of this Italian slasher-meister), and you may stick around just to discover who the killer is (you'll easily figure out the profession before you learn the identity). Argento grows less florid as he ages--but also less interesting. It would be wonderful to see him catapult back into prominence with some good, old-fashioned, trashy fun like "Trauma." Given his track record over the past decade or so, this does not seem likely. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.29)
17 Votes
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