- Directors: Spencer Cohen, Anna Halberg
- Actors : Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika Vandanapu, Jacob Batalon, Wolfgang Novogratz
- Studio : SONY
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
- MPAA rating : PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
- Media Format : Blu-ray, Subtitled, Digital_copy
- Run time : 1 hour and 32 minutes
- Release date : July 9, 2024
Fans of the
genre know that a film being bad isn’t the worst thing when it comes to horror,
especially when compared to being boring or forgettable. I wouldn’t say Tarot
is necessarily boring, but it isn’t good or bad enough to be memorable in any way.
Even having seen the film, I have to force myself to even remember why it was
as unimpressive as it was. Beyond the bland cast and generic premise, Tarot is
never even remotely scary. While some horror films get audiences invested by
convincing them to care about the characters in peril, Tarot just had me
longing for a quicker demise.
The film follows
a generic group of twenty-something co-eds who rent a mansion in the Catskills
for a birthday celebration, only to unintentionally invite a demonic threat
after playing with an ancient looking pack of tarot cards found on the property.
As Talk to Me showed, a group of friends playing with dark forces
together can lead to some horrifying material, but in this case, it just results
in comedically generic and watered down horror when the symbols on the cards
begin to come alive and hunt each person who received it.
Most of the
friends are stereotypical and contrived characters, including some obnoxiously
ineffective comedic relief from MCU supporting cast member Jacob Batalon,
though the ‘final girl’ protagonist is Haley (Harriet Slater). Haley is the one
to read the tarot cards and becomes the unofficial expert when the attacks begin,
and they realize it is due to the cursed deck of cards. There is a bland
mission to destroy the deck while each of the friends are hunted down in watered
down horror sequences. Honestly, there isn’t much more to the plot, even though
it seemingly takes forever for even this basic narrative to play out.
Tarot is
the kind of horror movie that thirteen-year-olds might watch during a sleepover,
which is why some of the casting choices may have made sense to the studio. But
for those who are actually fans of the genre, this is insultingly generic and
lacking enjoyable qualities. I did not enjoy the experience watching it, but it
was pretty much exactly what I expect from a PG-13 studio-released horror movie
these days.
The Blu-ray
release of Tarot comes with a digital code to redeem a copy to stream
online through Movies Anywhere. The disc itself has a few extras, including a
making-of featurette and outtakes that are funnier than any attempts at comedic
relief in the film.
Entertainment Value:
3/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 3/10
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