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| Imagine Entertainment (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 4:3. English DD 5.1. 100 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director:Dario Argento
Starring:Steffania
Rocca, Liam Cunnigham, Silvio Muccino, Adalberto
Maria Merli, Fiore Argento, Mia Bendetta, Antonio
Cantafora
Screenplay: Dario Argento
and Franco Ferrini
Music: Claudio Simonetti
Tagline: A Serial Killer
With A Vice For Video Poker
Country: Italy
AKA: Il Cartaio; Death
Site |
Hastily put together when Dario Argento's follow-up
to Sleepless fell through The
Card Player was originally conceived
as another vehicle for The Stendahl Syndrome's
policewoman character Anna Manni. Her name is
changed to Anna Mari for The Card Player and Italian actress Stefania Rocca plays the role
but the end product is a police procedural with
low key murders that foregrounds the details of
the investigation of a serial killer who uses
the internet to conduct his passion for gambling
and death.
With Claudio Simonetti's techno soundtrack pounding, The Card Player jumps straight
out of the blocks when Anna gets an e-mail from
the kidnapper of a British tourist who had disappeared
the day before. The Card Player as he wants to
be known has a proposal for the police that Anna
gets straight to her boss. Via an internet card
game with a web cam tightly focused on the face
of the kidnap victim, The Card Player lays down
the ground rules that if the police play and lose
he'll kill the victim. If they don't play he'll
kill her. If the police win he'll set her free
and for every hand he wins he'll amputate something.
The game begins and with the Chief's insistence
that they play, principally so they can trace
the whereabouts of the kidnapper, the cards are
dealt. Unable to track the kidnapper's location,
time defeats the police and the screams of the
victim are soon silenced when a large Stanley
knife is produced. The murder largely occurs off
screen. The next day a naked female corpse is
pulled from the river.
Enter Liam Cunningham as an exiled Irish detective
(John Brennan) who is pissed off that the Italian
cops don't want to play cards with the killer.
Anna sides with him. Down at the morgue an all-singing,
all dancing coroner produces the battered and
rubbery body only to have Cunnigham barge in and
conduct his own autopsy. He finds a playing card
in her vagina and a seed in her nose. Pulling
her head back reveals a large slit in the neck
of the corpse. Later that night Anna catches Liam
drunk in the streets as another girl is snatched
while walking down a lane. A new e-mail arrives
announcing the next game but this time a younger
police officer volunteers to play. Amputations
occur as does the silly winning game tune which
rings out in favour of the Card Player. Another
body of water brings another body. This time,
during the autopsy, the lifeless corpse releases
a belly full of bile into Cunnigham's face care
of a trapped pocket of air. He does find another
seed though. A round table discussion with a profiler
down at police headquarters labels the murderer
as a risk-taking hedonist. Cunnigham repeatedly
listens to a loud noise in the background of the
downloaded murder soundtrack. Still, the computer
experts can't trace the killer's whereabouts.
Meanwhile, the decision is made to search video
game parlours for suspects. As Anna and Liam are
about to corral a money winning kid another game
begins. They bribe the kid to come and test out
his skills against the killer. While the kid wins
a hand the victim manages to temporarily get free.
Knocking over the camera during a struggle the
killer shows off his leather gloves before pulling
out the Stanley knife. The video is repeatedly
viewed for clues. Anna and Liam get it on. Post
coitus Anna spies a face in a reflection. She
then finds some missing digits (not hers) and
turns off all the lights. A chase around the house
and into the garden ensues. Liam comes and takes
her back to his place. Then, the Police Chief's
daughter goes missing. The kid is called into
play and goes on to win. The anti-hackers get
a virus. The daughter is found when the kid, doing
a bit of his own celebrating, is accosted by a
sexy girl who's been paid to deliver a message.
He soon has a rope slung around his neck and is
dragged off by a motorboat after being ordered
around by a mysterious electronic voice. Unexpectedly
the manager of the video poker arcade rings to
say that the kid wasn't the guy he meant. Liam
finally recognises the loud sound in the background
of one of the killings which in turn leads him
to the lair of the killer and a sharp surprise
demise. |
| Video |
| Shot with minimal lighting for a gritty reality
feel The Card Player looks nothing
like gelled-up Argento classics such as Suspiria or Deep Red. Being shot in Rome
and Venice you've never seen so many famous locations
looking as creepy and uninviting as they do here.
The shades of black and isolated moments of close-up
photography are typical Argento though and do hold
up well and surprise on more than a few occasions. |
| Audio |
| The Simonetti Euro-beat is ever present and all
over the 5.1 surround soundtrack. It is utilised
very effectively and that's despite the lack of
guitar power chords. However, many viewers may find
Rocca's last action producing some sense of relief
and at the very least a wry smile. |
| Extra Features |
| One 8.00 minute selection of apparently random
behind the scenes images set to a greatest hits
of Argento soundtrack music including Suspiria.
Also four Image trailers including Satan's
LIttle Helper. |
| The Verdict |
The Card Player is no gorefest
but that's not to say Sergio Stivaletti's Apocalypse
(isn't that a great name for a special effects company?)
were idle during it's shooting. There's much probing
of floppy dead bodies and the discovery of the booby
trapped torture centre is a definite flesh piercing
highlight. The finale though goes a long way to
destroying all that had gone before it, bordering
on the completely ridiculous as it does. While the The Card Player might remain a
mild entry in the works of Argento it's still light
years removed from your average hack piece and even
if the internet/murder interface doesn't really
come together it's definitely worth a viewing.
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