When a group of friends rented an old house to spend one night together and found an old tarot deck, they didn’t think that this deck would cost them their lives and that this night would be the last.
Directed by Spenser Cohen & Anna Halberg, the horror movie Tarot, The Death Card is presenting the tarot cards that are usually used for prediction of future, as an evil tool that can destroy the lives of the group of friends.
The 90-minute movie starts smoothly by presenting the characters and a brief about their lives. To add some thrill to their night, the friends decided to open the firmly closed room in the basement, where they found an old tarot deck.
Haley (Harriet Slater) offered to read the cards for each one including herself – not knowing the sacred rule of Tarot that a person should not use someone else’s deck. So, by doing this, Haley unleashed the evil powers of the deck.
Through the events, we know that this tarot deck belongs to a witch who lived very long ago. She was loved and respected until she made one mistake, so the king of her time ordered the killing of her daughter.
To revenge, the witch gave her soul to the devil and put all her evil powers into the tarot deck. So, anyone who receives a reading by this deck will face death.
The death scenes of the movie were innovative; each one of the friends dies with an incarnation of one of the cards that appeared in his reading. The Fool scene and the Hermit scene were two of the good scenes.
The final scene was also a good one. Usually, horror movies that include ghosts and black magic end with a priest trying to expel evil spirits. However, in Tarot, The Death Card, Haley succeeded in destroying the witch by giving her a reading with the cursed deck, so the witch’s magic turned against her.
However, the script is not strong enough and the characters are shallow without convincing past or motives.
The movie is visually striking and delves into the mysterious world of tarot cards and their ominous meanings.
The directors were able to create thrilling moments and good jump scares, but they were quick and needed some time.
The cinematography effectively captures the dark and enigmatic atmosphere surrounding the protagonist’s encounters with the tarot cards.
However, the plot feels somewhat predictable, relying heavily on clichés associated with tarot readings. In fact the directors blended all the clichés of horror movies including featuring “a group of young friends gathered in a creepy house, opening a closed basement to find old weird stuff, getting cursed after using the cards and trying to run away from the death chasing them”. This plot was featured in hundreds of horror movies.
However, despite this, strong performances from the cast help maintain engagement throughout the film.
Overall, Tarot, The Death Card offers an intriguing exploration of fate and mortality but falls short in delivering a truly original narrative.
