Il cartaio (2004)

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Dario Argento (screenplay)
Dario Argento (story)

Release Date:

2 January 2004 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A serial killer with a vice for Video Poker.

Plot:

A Rome policewoman teams up with a British Interpool agent to find a crafty serial killer whom plays a taunting game of cat-and-mouse with the police by abducting and killing young women and showing it over an Internet web cam.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Serial Killer | Internet | Policewoman | Detective

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Stefania Rocca	...	Anna Mari
Liam Cunningham	...	John Brennan
Silvio Muccino	...	Remo
Adalberto Maria Merli	...	Police Commissioner
Claudio Santamaria	...	Carlo Sturni
Fiore Argento	...	Lucia Marini
Cosimo Fusco	...	Berardelli
Mia Benedetta	...	Francesca
Giovanni Visentin	...	C.I.D. Chief
Claudio Mazzenga	...	Mario
Conchita Puglisi	...	Marta
Micaela Pignatelli	...	Professor Terzi
Luis Molteni	...	Pathologist
Carlo Giuseppe Gabardini	...	Anti-Hacker #1
Alessandro Mistichelli	...	Anti-Hacker #2

Also Known As:

The Card Player (International: English title) (USA)
The Card Dealer
The Cardplayer (Australia)
Untitled Dario Argento (Italy) (working title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:16+ (Quebec) | UK:18 | USA:Not Rated | Argentina:18 | Netherlands:16 | France:U | Australia:MA | Italy:VM14 | Singapore:M18 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Medusa Produzione

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ti piace Hitchcock? (2005) (TV)

Yeah, it's alright....

Of course it's not Dario's best, but it's not his worst. I give it a 5.5, leaning more on the 6 side.

Anna Mari (Taras Kostyuk) is a policewoman working with an Irish policeman (Liam Cunningham) and a young poker champ (Silvio Muccino) to catch a killer who kills his young female victims if the police loose a game of video poker.

This movie seems like an okay mix of "Silence of the Lambs", "Saw 2", and "CSI".

The music, like in all of Darios films, is great. The look of the dead bodies are also fantastic and spooky.

However, Phoebe Scholfield and Jay Benedict (both first time writers) did a horrible job of the dialogue. In fact, I didn't like most of the writing. It was confusing at times but as long as you don't think too deep into it, you can enjoy this as a neat little screaming-and-crying-girl flick with great special effects and so-so kills. They're so-so because most of them are offscreen and similar, but towards the end they get great and unique.

So you could easily enjoy this if you just want to pass the time, but don't expect another Argento classic.