Tarot (Blu-ray Review)
We have seen some interesting new horror films this year. From the queer representation of I Saw the TV Glow to reboots of The Omen to the refresh of vampire horror in Abigail, horror fans have had something to savor. Tarot came and went quickly but made a few bucks in theaters. Now we have it on Blu-ray and Digital to check out at home. How are the scares within Tarot? The fortune couldn’t be clearer! Look on below for more in-depth on Tarot, and as always, don’t forget to click the cover art at the end to purchase a copy of Tarot!
Film: 
When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings – never use someone else’s deck – they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings.
At a creepy mansion celebrating Elise’s birthday, Haley, Grant, Paxton, Paige, Madeline, and Lucas all go on a search for beer as their party runs dry. Among the hunt, the group breaks into a locked room to find a box filled with Tarot cards. Haley can (of course) read fortunes with Tarot cards, and against the “golden rule” of Tarot reading – Not using a deck of cards that aren’t yours, Haley reads everyone their Horoscope. Elise receives The High Priestess, Lucas – the hermit, Madeline – the hanged man, Paige – the magician, Grant – The devil and Paxton – the fool. When tasked with doing her own reading, Haley pulls the death card. Grant and Elise naturally have also just broken up, so she says he pulled the devil card because of that. Each one takes with them the same generic thing from each reading, mostly just using the exercise to have fun.
Upon leaving the house and returning to college, Elise is almost immediately killed by a terrifying embodiment of The High Priestess who crushes her with a ladder. Dismayed, the friend group comes together to figure out the murder. Along the way, discoveries about who or what may have killed Elise point to the fateful Tarot card readings each received from Haley. When Lucas is attacked and killed by The Hermit in the subway, Haley and Grant lead the others to Alma Astron, whom they found online. A Tarot expert, Alma links the cards to the 18th century and shares her own experiences with the very same deck in the late 80’s.
There is not a lot going on in Tarot that you can’t see coming. The whole idea of check your brain at the door does suit you in this film, however. A lot of horror films do work on the idea of you looking into these films as an escape from your actual fears. Even if you have covered eyes or your own reservations to feel reviled while watching a scary movie, you no doubt have a film in your favorites that has been savaged by critics. Now, critic I try not to be exclusively. I truly love the art of film and even in some cases, the bad can be good. I did not find Tarot to be bad at all. This is the type of film that resides with other films like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark or even going back a ways with Poltergeist. This is a subgenre I like to call Starter Horror. Films like Tarot play a very important part in introducing younger people to the genre. These films aren’t all gore and terror in your face. There are far more jump scares than anything, and when these Tarot spirits appear they are genuinely creepy. But there is nothing here that a child of 12 could not handle without some prompt beforehand.
I don’t mean this as a glowing recommendation for everyone. For me, the film moved quickly, held my interests, save for some unforgivingly dark moments that I literally couldn’t see, and entertained me. I give a lot of credit to Jacob Batalon and his character Paxton. They give the film its humor and he was the character I was hoping would survive the film! More of him in other films please! We also have a talented cast of young actors who can’t save the film’s cheesier dialogue, but don’t seem to be shy about trying to act either. Every young actor here puts a strong effort into their performance. There aren’t going to be any surprises for old horror pros like me, but for a quick escape, or for younger viewers, Tarot most certainly turns a friendly card for a Sunday afternoon!
Video:
Note: Stills are provided for promotional use only and are not from the Blu-ray
Encoding: MPEG-4/AVC
Resolution: HD (1080p)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Layers: BD-50
HDR: N/A
Clarity/Detail/Depth: Perfectly capable, but also unfortunately sometimes too dark, Tarot comes to Blu-ray with an efficient digital transfer. Detail is evident in daytime scenes with depth of field working its magic on some nice locations/sets. Some clarity becomes iffy when you get to the many scenes playing out in the dark with a loss of detail in those dark moments. You’d have to watch the film in a pitch-black room to see everything clearly.
Black Levels: Black levels give way to mild crush in some of the sequences. The kill sequences were a tad frustrating to watch in the daylight, because I couldn’t see much of anything, but closing my curtains made it a tad easier. If you like your films dark, this is one to witness. If you don’t like squinting to see the dark details, this may become a task for you.
Color Reproduction: Tarot has a decidedly autumnal color palette with browns, reds and oranges looking warm and lovely. Other cool tones pop up accurately, but they are not as abundant as those fall tones.
Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are accurate and pleasing on human characters. I can’t say much for the CGI ones though!
Noise/Artifacts: Clean.
Audio:
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1 , French (Canada) DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Dynamics: Tarot’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack packs some heft and some great dynamics. Not to be outdone, the sound field is fairly busy for not being an immersive mix. Surrounds and the subwoofer play nicely together, delivering the good with score and sound effects.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: The bass department really delivers with the jump scares and music cues. The film uses the quiet to create a sense of tension and when the bass drives the point home, you definitely feel it.
Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds keep things spooky with atmospherically appropriate sound effects and work well to keep you on the edge of your seat. Other sound effect present themselves in these channels as well as off camera dialogue.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is perfectly intelligible and easy to hear!
Extras:
Extras for Tarot are on the slim side and seem to only last what feels like a few moments. A slipcover and digital code accompany the release.
A Twist of Fate: Making the Film – A short piece that is self-explanatory from the title. This isn’t very long but tries its best to be informative.
Circle of Friends – A feature about the friendships in the film.
Killer Outtakes – A mildly amusing set of gags.
Summary:
Tarot not surprisingly got ripped to shreds by critics and some audiences too. I went into the film blind, and had a good time with it. It’s not going to set the world on fire or anything, but I think overall the film delivers some solid chills and some spooky scares for tweens and teens. For adults, you may still be amused, like I was, but it may be worth a rental before you add it to your collection. Audio is great and besides the darkness so is the video quality. Worth a look!
