Poker Night starts off with a bang and doesn't let up. It follows a somewhat frantic pace, but, by way of crafty storytelling, manages to be much more than just another mindless hack 'n' slash film. In fact, labelling Poker Night a hack 'n' slash film at all, is doing it a disservice. There is far too much thought and creativity put into the story, for that.Flashbacks are a central focus in Poker Night and they're cleverly utilized. Each veteran cop who partakes in poker night, takes the viewer on a journey back in time, imparting wisdom that directly pertains to protagonist, Beau Mirchoff's survival. What's interesting is that Mirchoff acts out each cop's flashback, rather than the cops themselves. It's a unique approach that I really enjoyed.Poker Night does an outstanding job of visual storytelling and it's cinematography suits the story perfectly. The score is equally impressive.The cast is solid, with strong performances around the table, no pun intended. I especially liked Michael Eklund as the psychotic serial killer. When unmasked, his eyes were perfect for the job. Very sick stuff.Arguably, Poker Night's greatest strength is how it merges several genres (thriller, horror, suspense, action, comedy) into one, while avoiding the whole "jack of all trades, master of none" moniker. It takes a well thought out story to accomplish this and shouldn't be overlooked.For instance, I was completely shocked in several scenes and burst out laughing in several others. Especially the killer's "family life" flashback, where he was still wearing his killing mask. I felt like a manic lunatic watching it myself. Good stuff.In closing, Poker Night is not the greatest individual thriller, horror, suspense, action or comedy movie of all time. What it is, is one of the only movies I can think of, that combines all of these genres into one film. That alone makes it unique and well worth you 105 minutes.It's fragmented yet seamless, it's tricky, it's unpredictable, it's stylish, it's clever.And most of all, it absolutely deserves a higher score than 44%. Throw in a big name actor and the score probably doubles. Again, stupid but true.Definitely recommended.

After watching this movie, I thought to myself. Wasn't that bad. Movie keeps you on suspend the whole time. Keeping you on the heroes side the whole movie. A must see on those rainy or snowy nights. Poker night brings a mix of action packed, suspense with a slight twist to it. If your the type a person that likes to see a main character do his thing, no matter how hard things get. Then this is film will fill that void that you have when you constantly looking online for movies to watch. Beau Mirchoff definitely plays the role well. Along with your SOA star Ron Perlman. Give this movie a shot don't just go off all the reviews you have or have not read.

Poker Night is the name of the movie but there's not a lot of poker being played in it if there are poker fans out there who might be thinking that this is another ROUNDERS (1998) or something, it's not.It does, just like poker, demand your very full attention to try to figure out what's going on though.I'd call it a mix between UNUSUAL SUSPECTS and SAW.Before I saw it I was wondering why it was labelled a action-movie because the cover and plot summary suggested otherwise to me, but it gets clear quite quick why because even though there aren't a bunch of shootouts or car-chases the pace of the movie is VERY fast. You really need to have your thinking cap with this one it's really not a movie for a late hangover where you just want relaxe your brain cause chances are you will lose the plot and miss a lot of subtle information that passes by, which happened a bit to me but I was able to pick up luckily but I think I might need to watch it at least one more time to fully grasp it.Visually it's gorgeously gritty and acting is fine overall, well worth seeing for sure even though yes it's hard to keep up at times.

I'm not a fan of slasher films, but intrigued with the description, which involved a rookie detective listening to stories of veteran cops at a poker game; stories that later come to help him escape a life-or-death situation, I gave this movie a shot. The protagonist is an immediately likable and sympathetic rookie detective, portrayed subtly and effectively by the young actor Beau Mirch. (On a tangent: I love it when directors cast people the actual age of the characters in the roles as it's rare to see anyone under 30 playing anything other than high schoolers.)Narratively, the story invokes a now commonplace introduction - starting at a climactic moment to come, without context, then backtracking to the events leading up to that initial moment presented. The film also makes use of voice-over from the get-go, combining a gritty detective film noir element into the overall feel of the film. The stakes and the plot lines in this movie are so deeply woven, intertwined, and conflicting that you find yourself wanting so many things for the characters, while constantly trying to learn who these people are and how they got here to begin with. From a writing perspective, POKER NIGHT writer/director Greg Francis has pulled off quite a feat in that he seamlessly weaves in and out of miniature stories told by the police officers he's in a rite of passage sort of poker game with, then weaves that in with the core storyline - which involves the protagonist's detainment and quest to escape a life-threatening scenario, to save another central character's life, and to understand who the masked antagonist, why he is so intent on wreaking heartless havoc, and why he's targeted a detective of all people in the first place.The movie does incredibly well to constantly bombard you with questions, leading astute viewers to not only to consider all the questions the protagonist clearly has, given the situation he is in, but questions like what big twist the writer has set you up for. It's something you know has to be coming, but the writing does well to give you just enough clues to help you form multiple plausible theories you go back and forth between, and which constantly evolve, just like a real detective on a tough case would face.Stylistically, the movie feels like a combination of FIGHT CLUB and BOONDOCK SAINTS - equal parts dark and fun, with unique, confused and courageous characters enduring a violent journey into unchartered territories. It also brings dark, gritty, nihilistic, noir elements to stage, the way a movie like SE7EN did. All in all, it's hard to reduce the movie to any it's this meets this sort of characterization, as so many memorable elements of so many memorable films seem drawn upon and juxtaposed to unique and memorable effect.POKER NIGHT is a baffling work in that it carries with it a grounded story with a clear villain and high stakes, but set in a world that feels like it should never make its way to the suburbs - which is an element I suspect many viewers will find particularly disturbing. This is the story of a detective being tried as a rookie in his first real bind - which is perhaps the ultimate bind to be in, up against a character so driven by completely self-indulgent motivations, and such a mastermind of this world he's created, that he may as well be the devil himself.The masked menace simultaneously disgusts while in some subtle form tapping into a deeply buried part of the modern man who's living in a highly structured world and whom may, on some primal level, want to break the bounds of societal expectation and live a life by a code of one's own invention; a sort of amoral Nietzschian Übermensch character - fully developed in its sense of having defined what it wants to do and doing it, regardless of the obstacles or consequences. To create a character that is that is so deplorable, yet so intriguing that you want him to stay alive long enough for you to decipher and understand him better, because you wonder, on some level, if a piece of this thing is inside you – kept at bay because of your principles, ethics, beliefs, and societal controls. Being able to incite such introspection in viewers is the mark of an extremely well crafted villain. I think it's that smidgen of that evil being that you can identify with and on some unspoken level understand, that makes you have enough respect for this heinous villain that you want to hear his story. At the same time, you find yourself praying that the protagonist, utilizing the wisdom that's been imparted to him by his mentors at the poker game, can beat his formidable opponent through wit, calm under pressure, and relentless determination. I won't speak to any "big twists" in the movie, as merely saying that term implies a certain structure and makes the movie less fun to watch, but rest assured - your expectations will likely be defied and your detective skills will be tested, throughout the confusing, frustrating, and violent, and disturbing journey that POKERNIGHT takes you on.I wish this movie had been packaged differently because what to me appeared to be a throwaway low budget horror movie was instead an interesting and exciting journey into a world you don't want to be in but can't help but grasp something coming out of.Oh, by the way, Gus from BREAKING BAD plays one of the cops! That in itself makes this thing worth watching. :)I recommend this movie, though only to very mature viewers who enjoy smart thrillers and layered storytelling.