Queen of Spades

I stuck with it as long as I could but ultimately couldn't finish the movie.

The entire cast acted like they all took some Benadryl before filming. No chemistry. Low key acting. Nothing particularly scary happens. Done up right it might have been a fun watch.

Fun fact to start off: using a mythology/theme or whatever you want to call it, that other movie(s) have used, does not make this a remake of said movie(s). But I get if you feel there are similarities. They are kind of obvious or come with the territory.

That being said, this is another horror movie that starts off quite interesting and then continues with characters doing something they just shouldn't be doing. But then again, if we didn't have those scene that are extremely cringe worthy ... well the movie(s) wouldn't happen ... so either cut this some slack and go with the flow or don't watch it at all.

Of course there are more flaws ahead and this does not have the best actors (although for horror movie standards they are not so bad either) or the biggest budget. But it works with what it has, the shock effects are working most of the time and the twists are nicely put along the way.

Some really great jump scares in here. Obviously watch with the lights off and off your phone. Had me freaked out several times. Some dark stuff here.

Look in the mirror and say her name three times. Not his name this time, Candyman has been and gone.

The theme of this film will be familiar to horror fans. It begins with four teens witnessing a suicide; the victim jumps off a building and takes a while to die. Then there are three teens, then two - both of the guys are gone. But who can save the day? Not the one who discovered Smirnov - an irresistible if dated cultural reference - that was the second guy to die. Enter Smirnov! This film doesn't really have anything to recommend it until the climax, when we are in "Exorcist" territory with an interesting twist, and this is where it scores.

But did they really exorcise the Queen Of Spades - what do you think?

Queen of Spades had me interested, but while I was watching it I kept wondering how much better could this have been if there was a proper budget attached to it. Clearly no special effects, some make-up and the necessarily distorted voice and that is it, the rest, camera work and actors doing their job.

So all in all a quite practical movie, with an overused plot, the same development of such productions, but I have to admit the execution was not bad. Not great, not good, but not bad, this is why I rated it 4 stars, cause it had something going for it, just that they took absolutely no chances with this film. At any given point during its runtime, you're able to predict the next 2 even 3 moves that will be soon to come, and the ending itself, I mean come on, one last moment to shine and they didn't even go out with a spark.

Queen of Spades is the same movie you've seen during the 80-90s period, so definitely not something to recommend unless you want to hook up on some nostalgia. Again, not the worst of movies, but adds nothing new to the haunting formula.

Cheers!