Tarot Blu-ray Review

 

• 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