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Il Cartaio (The Card Player) (2004)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.2/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 8

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: 2.5/5
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Movie Info

A serial killer with a knack for video poker and a taste for blood taunts a determined policewoman in director Dario Argento's attempt to bring the traditional giallo into the digital age. Detective Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) is sitting at her desk when a message from an anonymous online gambler bearing the moniker "The Card Player" invites her to join a game of video poker. When the game screen loads, Mari is horrified to learn that the stakes of the game are higher than she ever could have

Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.

Horror, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Dario Argento

In Theaters: Jan 2, 2004 Wide

On DVD: Aug 23, 2005

Cast

Liam Cunningham
John Brennan
Adalberto Maria Merli
Fiore Argento
Lucia
Vera Gemma
Stefania Rocca
Anna Mari
Claudio Santamaria
Carlo Sturni
Silvio Muccino
Remo
Mario Opinato
Inspector Morgani

Critic Reviews for Il Cartaio (The Card Player)

All Critics (14) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (10) | DVD (10)

Though it's based on a promisingly outrageous premise ... the film unfolds as a tired, thoroughly conventional police procedural that might as well be titled CSI: Roma.

October 6, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Dave Kehr

New York Times

Top Critic

Fans of the cult helmer who expect the usual gore will be disappointed -- but there are compensations.

October 6, 2004 Comment

V.A. Musetto

New York Post

Top Critic

Plut�t embarrassant.

November 25, 2005 Full Review Source: Panorama

| Comment

Jean-Fran�ois Vandeuren

Panorama

What most disappoints, then, is the film's aggressive ordinariness.

October 16, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

| Comment

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

Argento can't adapt thrills of digital entertainment to the thrills of cinema.

October 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dragan Antulov

Draxblog Movie Reviews Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews

This may be a first for Argento: a movie in which the narrative, not his obvious artistic sensibility or reliance on the repulsive, pulls us through the plot.

September 19, 2005 Full Review Source: DVD Verdict

| Comment

Bill Gibron

DVD Verdict

Click to read the article.

August 22, 2005 Full Review Source: About.com

| Comment

Staci Layne Wilson

About.com

Low-grade Argento gets the red carpet treatment from Anchor Bay. The movie isn't a keeper but the extras are certainly enticing.

August 15, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

Argento, the once great king of giallo, goes down the drain - which is the only royal flush to be seen in this sub-par gambling thriller.

January 24, 2005 Full Review Source: Movie Gazette

| Comment

Anton Bitel

Movie Gazette Source: Movie Gazette

This oddly flat serial-killer picture shows none of the baroque flair that characterizes the best of Italian horror filmmaker Dario Argento's work.

October 8, 2004 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

Maitland McDonagh

TV Guide's Movie Guide

An okay story, a tepid and convoluted plot, no logic and silly dialogue.

July 27, 2004 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment

Jeremy Knox

Film Threat

Watching the online cards turn slowly (sometimes painfully so) in the film is to be reminded of how good Argento used to be when his aesthetic approach was less synthetic.

July 19, 2004 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Il Cartaio (The Card Player)

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Cyber-thriller about a thrill-seeking killer who kidnaps women and then lures the police into a game of online poker to play for the lives of the victims. This one misses the mark, which is a shame because the plot has pontential but it was nowhere near as suspenseful as it could have been. Acting all-round is quite

January 12, 2011

Lee ?

Super Reviewer

The trailer and DVD packaging makes it look like cheap Euro-porn, but it's actually a good Argento movie, comparable to his original animal trilogy of films, Tenebre, Opera, Trauma and the previous Sleepless. It has a compelling mystery, a list of suspects, beautiful ladies in peril, a black-gloved killer, colourful

July 10, 2007