The Haunted Casino is a casino themed horror film released on DVD. Casino based horror movies are an unusual genre that has a significant amount of potential. All horror movies involve at least a degree of paranoia, and casinos with their eyes in the sky and their floor walkers and pit bosses can also be fairly paranoid locations. Everything might seem fine on the surface, but scratch the veneer and you might discover hell.
So how does The Haunted Casino live up to this promise? The film was first launched in 2007, but then it was called Dead Man's Hand. The title was an allusion to a poker hand which is said to consist of two black aces and two black eights and an unknown hole card. It got its reputation as it was the hand that Wild Bill Hickok was holding during a game of Draw Poker when he was shot dead.
The film was subsequently released under the revised title of The Haunted Casino in 2010. It was directed by Charles Band who had directed a series of horror films including the Puppet Master and Subspecies series.
The theme of the Haunted Casino involves a young college boy who inherits an ancient and decrepit casino which is located in Nevada in the suburbs of Reno. He had been left the casino by an uncle he had vaguely heard about yet never met. Forty years had gone by since the casino had last been open.
The new owner along with his love interest decided that they would restore the casino to its former glory but suddenly their plans are interrupted by an apparition; two ghosts turn up. The ghosts turn out to be those of two mobsters which are determined to find two million silver dollars.
The plot develops into a situation where the casino's owner and some of his friends are forced to play for their lives, yet every time they make a bet the house wins. Although the ghosts, played by Michael Berryman and Sid Haig are quite effective, the film is less than riveting and does tend to peter out rather than achieving a climax.
Certainly this was not one of Band's best efforts, but it is worth watching if you enjoy B movies: One and a half stars.
The Haunted Casino is a casino themed horror film released on DVD. Casino based horror movies are an unusual genre that has a significant amount of potential. All horror movies involve at least a degree of paranoia, and casinos with their eyes in the sky and their floor walkers and pit bosses can also be fairly paranoid locations. Everything might seem fine on the surface, but scratch the veneer and you might discover hell.
