In The Card Player, Dario Argento, the undisputed Master of Horror, reinvents the giallo for the digital age, channelling the anxieties of a newly networked world into the taut framework of a macabre police procedural.

Argento’s career-long obsession with sight, surveillance, and the camera as an instrument of violation finds a startling new form: the webcam as a murder weapon and the screen as a crime scene. It is an unflinching reckoning with horror in an age where anyone can watch anything - and anyone can be watched.

When a sadistic, faceless killer begins abducting young women across Rome, he issues a monstrous challenge to the police: play high-stakes poker online via webcam. Win, and the victim is released. Lose, and her death is streamed in real-time. Inspector Anna (Stefania Rocca - Nirvana, One Way) and Irish Interpol Agent John Brennan (Liam Cunningham - Game of Thrones) must hunt a “ghost in the machine” predator who treats murder like a spectator sport.

Part of the “Evolutionary Argentos” - this overlooked relentlessly tense horrific thriller reveals the Master at his most contemporary, confronting our rapidly changing world. Shameless Films is proud to present an exclusive new 4K HDR Dolby Vision encode of the definitive restored version, finally honouring the director’s original vision.

REVIEWS:

"Even as it strips away the maestro's signature baroque surrealism, the film succeeds […] tension builds with the slow turn of each digital card, providing a highly entertaining, methodical police thriller"

The Spinning Image

“Argento crafts true suspense here, making the digital arena feel just as dangerous as a dark alley"

InsidePulse

"The movie functions beautifully as a psychological battle of wits. The performances by Rocca and Cunningham hold the fragile, high-stakes narrative together, grounding the technological terror in real human anxiety"

Screen Daily

SPECIAL FEATURES

ON DISC

● ‘WATCH ME WHEN I KILL’ - interview with Dario Argento

● ‘ON THE SET OF THE CARD PLAYER’ - behind the scenes footage of Dario Argento on set

● ‘PLAYING THE GAME’ - interview with Stefania Rocca

● ‘GAME OVER’ - interview with Fiore Argento

● ‘SHARP CUTS’ - interview with Walter Fasano

● ‘TAKING RISKS’ - interview with Franco Ferrini

● ‘A CHIP AND A CHAIR’ - interview with Antonello Geleng

FORMAT

UHD

RUNTIME

104 Minutes

ASPECT RATIO

1.85:1

REGION

Free

LANGUAGE

English or Italian with English subtitles & additional SDH

STUDIO

Shameless Films