Tarot in Movies

Teheuti

Yineth said:
Actually, they showed the World in the reversed position and the Reader was flipping over to reveal the Fool. No death card there :)

But I agree with what you're saying. Shock value using Tarot gets old quickly :p
Click to expand...
The Death card appears later in the trailer.
 

Mycroft

"Visitor From The Grave"

A superb little scene from 1980's 'Hammer House of Horror' (which should have some amongst you humming Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum-Da-Da already) this episode was entitled "Visitor From The Grave". It's one of those times where you just have to applaud the film-makers as they've really made an effort to smash stereotypes, dispense with cliche-ridden formulas and fully address pernicious attitudes of bigotry and discrimination towards anything that falls outside the scope of normal everyday experience.

So, do we have;
A mysterious looking woman dressed in 'gypsy' attire seated at a velvet-clothed table? Well, yes we do.
Is she speaking in a (very) dodgy attempt at an Eastern European accent? Yep again.
Does the death card make an appearance for no apparent reason? Oh, it's bang in the middle of the shot.
Is there a nice closing shot panning slowly in on the Devil while creepy music plays? Well of course there is.
Does the lady say "The cards never lie"? Disappointingly no, but she does say "I have seen it all in the future" so I think we can give half a tick for that.

By now you are probably thinking "Well this is all very interesting, and extremely well-written - but what deck are they using?" Given what's gone before you would be forgiven for thinking it's an RWS or a Grimaud etc - but you'd be wrong, you'd be so wrong! I don't remember this deck ever making any other on screen appearance, so to celebrate this fact let's have an amazingly exciting competition.

These are three stills from the scene shown below;


If you can name the deck (and are first to post the correct answer) after only picture then you are the winner and may download and print out the badly photo-shopped "Expert Tarot Identifier" badge from here;


If it takes you two pictures then you have a consolation prize of the full version of the great theme tune from 'Hammer House of Horror' here;


If it takes you three pictures then you need to spend more time with your nose in some extremely large and heavy tarot books, but there is still hope.

If you are one of these people (and you know who you are) who after looking at all three pictures, then waits for somebody to post the right answer, before exclaiming "Oh yeah - I thought it might be that, I was just about to say that". Then you are quite frankly fooling nobody - and if it later transpires that you downloaded a badly photo-shopped "Expert Tarot Identifier" badge and have been wearing it whilst doing the shopping at Tescos, then there will be repercussions, oh yes indeed, repercussions there will be.
 

Lokisen

The HBO series "Carnivale" from 2003-2005. One of my favorite TV shows ever. It used tarot cards respectfully, I thought, and kept them in the show as a running theme [didn't drop them after like just an episode or two]. The deck used in the show is a classic Rider-Waite with the card names written in French. [The show takes place in the 1930s Great Depression] When I say that I believed that the show used tarot cards respectfully, I meant that "Carnivale" used the cards in such a way as to not simply predict the characters' futures, but also to, more importantly, uncover psychological, deep-seated issues and conflicts with which the characters were battling. The cards weren't there for simple parlor tricks or sensationalism, such as in cheesy teen horror movies like "The Craft."

"Carnivale" also built its opening credits around a tarot motif--was one of the most wonderful title designs I've ever seen--well deserving of its Emmy. The tarot "deck" in the title design allegedly isn't real--it's just a series of classic, "masterpiece" paintings fitted into tarot card form; nonetheless, the effect is visually beautiful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouTCtwNIYaQ

Another show that used tarot cards [albeit only occasionally] was "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," another show I've always loved. I'm thinking specifically of the fourth season episode "Primeval." The show even cleverly created a false tarot card called "Manus," that is, "the hand." The deck "Buffy" used was, I believe, a Giant Rider-Waite. [It also had a blue plaid back--wasn't there a famous RWS set like that produced in the 1970s?]
 

Zephyros

Mycroft, is it a Visconti?
 

Sever

It looks like a Visconti-sforza. It took me two stills. I couldn't see the cards at all in the first picture. But then death jumped out at me in picture two! Da-da-da-dum.
 

Richard

It's a Visconti. Here are four cards I recognized from my LoS edition.
 

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lisaxtiffany

At the end of Stephen King's Pet Sematary the dad is flipping cards on the kitchen floor and pulls the Death card right before he gets killed.
 

victoria.star

If it has been mentioned, my apologies.
In Wolfman (2010, del Toro, Hopkins) the Ancient Italian is used.
 
Mystic Mondays Tarot App Can't remember the name of this RWS book!