American psychologist John Holden arrives in London to participate in a symposium aiming to expose witchcraft and devil-worship as a fraud, with attention centered on a cult run by a Julian Karswell. Debarking his plane, Holden learns that the symposium leader, Henry Harrington, has suddenly died and he is now in charge. What only the audience knows is that Harrington was clearly killed by a demon, apparently summoned by Karswell to avenge his persecution. Despite both threatening and cajoling behavior by Karswell, Holden determines to proceed, though the only cult member willing to talk about his experiences is in a prison psychiatric ward, catatonic after allegedly killing yet another cult member. However, Harrington's niece, Joanna, believes, based on her uncle's notes, that Karswell may indeed have some satanic powers derived from an ancient tome in an obscure language which he has been able to translate, and attempts to warn the skeptic Holden. Karswell's mother also attempts to warn Holden off. However, the thing which begins to most get to Holden are the occasional, but mounting, sensory and mental disturbances he begins experiencing after an encounter with Karswell, and the discovery that, during this encounter, Karswell secretly slipped a slip of parchment with a curse in runic symbols on it into Holden's belongings, a parchment identical to one Harrington recorded having had passed to him in a similar manner shortly before his death... [N.B. Holden at no point stays at the Karswell estate].
4.5.将赌博算牌人与虐囚军士的身份摆放在一个人身上，创造出一种内在永恒的撕扯：赌博看似狂欢却内里要求克制，军士看似严谨纪律却唯有癫狂才可生存。国家责任与个体道德，绝望与救赎，正像是《出租车司机》数十年后的延续，唯有悲剧性的自我牺牲与毁灭，才勉强创造出刹那闪烁却又即刻消散的微光。为死者复仇，亦或者为往昔估价，是永远无法成功的徒劳。在赌博场兴奋喊着USA的人们，为已然碎裂的梦，标上时代空洞的注脚——那里没有责任，也没有痛苦，那里只剩下自我麻痹的幻觉，以及必然苏醒的虚无。
nonononono除了监狱里的几个镜头和奥斯卡伊萨克 这部电影浪费了我宝贵的两个小时
极度克制的影片。可能就是因为克制到了极点，反而显得有点拘束。亮点在对监狱鱼眼镜头的展示，配上美式摇滚，真的让人在不寒而栗的同时又充满着新鲜刺激。爱情的片段更多的种“润滑剂”，给这部充满了克制、压抑的影片一点温度，不过可能也正因为此，影片的力度才显得不够，看完有种意犹未尽之感。
美军监狱里的刺激场景使拉斯维加斯的赌场黯然失色。
where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
又是布列松+救赎主题，施拉德好像一辈子都在拍一种电影。只是这种强烈的新教气质，真的不是我的菜
男主的表演好棒，起初面无表情的赌博机器，发现小伙子去报仇丧命时候的微张的鼻翼，最后发现喜欢的人来探监时候会心一笑
又慢又平，或许结尾🈶惊喜，但现在看电影没人等到结尾。
赌场构造了一个对于性和金钱极度压抑的红黑空间，而沙发，西装的物象，还有反常的视角和怪异的叫声，让这个片有了《双峰》的味道，故一切念头和动作就有了双峰式的合理，亦可称之不合理。最后长达五分钟，两指隔窗而交的，是红、黑和受到极刑至血肉模糊又再度恢复新生肉体，以罪为界，以爱相连。
就是这个导演！能把他的所有主角都拍成beta（褒义
不愧是写出出租车司机这样经典character study的大师！自我救赎的焦灼作为他永恒的命题，放在今日，依旧不过时，尤其是那几个主观广角镜头，真的能把人看得如痴如醉。
86+ 冷靜克制，深渾雋永。我們總是賭上命運，拼著我們的孤勇做一些自己以爲正確的事。所以泰爾最後放棄了算牌，放棄了秩序和平靜（或許不是真正的平靜），而選擇了終結那骯髒成罪的過去。隔著屏幕的指頭點觸摸，猶如現代的拯救亞當，把整部電影升華成爲震撼人心的神跡。
如果不是夜深人静的时候，我可能会真的看不下去。
两块磁铁没有吸到一起啊 因果殊途不能同归 奥斯卡还能接这样的片子？ 老马丁制片人也不行啊
男二萌萌哒 当年夜班经理小弟弟长大拉
要么老老实实拍玩牌，要么老老实实拍复仇，这又是复仇又是玩牌。。。
极度克制的影片。可能就是因为克制到了极点，反而显得有点拘束。亮点在对监狱鱼眼镜头的展示，配上美式摇滚，真的让人在不寒而栗的同时又充满着新鲜刺激。爱情的片段更多的种“润滑剂”，给这部充满了克制、压抑的影片一点温度，不过可能也正因为此，影片的力度才显得不够，看完有种意犹未尽之感。
从头喊到尾的usa，最后监狱成为归宿，一边反思一边讽刺，像是没有力气了。
7.5 lol Paul Schrader....
三星半，救赎情节类型电影，主角能玩牌的设定可以换成任何其他技能，身边的小兄弟几乎就是他内心的样子，在寻求复仇的同时完成自我救赎，失去了现在的一切却又拥有了全新的自己和感情，漂亮的完成了正面反讽主义的影片，伊萨克越来越像克鲁尼了
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