Do you miss the good old days when you hung out with friends, sipping Coke, eating pizza, and enjoying classic movies and shows like “Twilight,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Hannah Montana,” “Final Destination,” “American Pie,” etc.? Well, this one is for those classic vibes!
After ” Abigail, ” I recently made it a rule, after “Abigail,” to watch horror films only on the big screen because the atmosphere pays off, especially when there are no distractions.
All right, so before we get to the details, here is a spoiler alert!
The movie starts with a group of friends—Haley, Grant, Paxton, Paige, Madeline, Lucas, and Elise—renting a mansion in the Catskills for Elise’s birthday. They’re dumb teenagers, so they want to try out stuff that isn’t theirs! But hey, who’d have thought creepy-looking tarot cards would actually be haunted? With tension in the group following Haley and Grant’s recent breakup, they decide to distract themselves by having Haley read their horoscopes with a box of strange tarot cards discovered in the basement. Although Haley states that using someone else’s deck is against an unspoken rule in Tarot, they decide to proceed, as Elise urges.
Now, here’s where the fun actually begins. The deaths start happening exactly as the readings predicted. One by one, everyone starts dying. The best death so far was Lucas’s. Read as the rule-breaker, he gets The Hermit card, where Haley also mentions that the Hermit’s light may take him down the wrong path. Lucas is later attacked by The Hermit in a train station and is killed by a speeding train while attempting to flee. Haley notices each death corresponds to the tarot readings, and the group suspects something is amiss with the deck.
We learn about the history of the ghosts in bits and pieces, and then together, in the second act, the group decides to visit Alma Astron, an expert on the occult and tarot readings they found online. She identifies the cards as belonging to an astrologer who served a Hungarian Count in the late 18th century and would predict the future for him.
After a reading that predicted his pregnant wife and child would die in childbirth came true, the grief-stricken Count ordered his men to kill the astrologer’s daughter. The astrologer, enraged with grief, did a reading on the Count and his close friends, dooming them to death, then killed herself and cursed the deck to kill anyone who used the cards. Alma reveals the cards are responsible for several tarot reading group massacres, including an incident in London that she narrowly survived. Alma urges the group to destroy the deck if they want a chance at survival, which is still at the mansion.
The film’s horrific but, at the same time, too much fun. Reminiscent of “Final Destination” movies. Although scary, the thing that takes away the fun a little bit is the fact that they do show the characters realizing they’re being killed in a certain way and that they can reverse engineer and avoid the deaths, which actually would’ve been fun to see them try, but sadly no one actually does it. Instead, they play the UNO reverse card as Haley gives the astrologer a reading with her deck, giving her Death.
Now, look, I loved every aspect of it, and I understand that psychologically, people stop thinking straight when afraid, but they really could’ve done something after the first two deaths. Maybe Madeline could’ve tried to remain in the car, and circumstances would’ve still brought her fate to her. Anything could’ve been done. And yes, I understand that foolish characters are usually there for comic relief, and we don’t really want to see them die, but having them alive really did feel childish, especially after Paxton’s poor decisions by walking off alone.
The rules show exactly how to avoid the consequences, yet no one really tries to figure out the way out after understanding what’s happening and before things actually happen. So, a little more thought would’ve really built upon the rich lore and rules the film established.
Another of the best parts is when Haley, Grant, and Paige return to the mansion but cannot burn the cards and request Alma’s assistance. She attempts to contact the astrologer’s spirit. Despite successfully summoning her, the astrologer can do a reading on Alma, and she is killed by the Six of Swords as the astrologer does Alma’s reading. That’s real horror flexing!
Very great concepts and very great lore. It’s great world-building. All the tarot card characters like the Hermit, Death, the Hanged Man, the Magician, the Fool, the High Priestess, and the Devil are beautiful, scary, and amazing additions to the film.
The music of the film is sexy. Joseph Bishara’s score really kept me hooked throughout. The cinematography is an element that always compliments a horror film; here, it rocked!
Every frame felt like a painting, especially the ones with the ghosts in them. I never wanted the film to end because of such beautiful shots and the cozy vibe it has to itself.
The production design is crazy good, and the cards were beautifully designed! They’d look great as collectibles!
“Tarot,” written and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg (in their feature film directorial debuts), does an amazing job with the film, but I do hope that they challenge the lore even more in future films!
“Tarot” is a visually stunning horror film with a unique concept. While the predictable character choices keep it from reaching its full potential, the film delivers a good dose of chills and boasts a fun-time atmosphere reminiscent of the 2000s.
I’d rate this film a four out of five stars. It’s a stylish and atmospheric horror experience with a creative premise. It’s worth watching for fans of the genre!
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