The Best and Worst Horror Casino Movies

Horror movies can be great, some of cinema’s most loved films belong to the genre after all, but they can also be a shocking mess. Thankfully, even when they’re bad, horror movies can be a fun ride to go on, albeit for a different reason than the good ones. Horror movies also come in many sub-genres, and the sub-genre we’re looking at today is horror movies that also have casino settings or themes.

Lovers of horror will know that while the genre contains some of cinema’s most loved darlings, it also has a penchant for throwing out some absolutely awful messes. While not every movie can be Alien or The Shining, a bad horror movie can still be very easy to watch, just for very different reasons. Venerating the masterpieces and the disasterpieces of horror is a time-honored tradition, but this article will seek to do so with a little bit of a twist. We will present our pick of the top two best and worst horror movies that also contain casino themes or settings.

Now this is a pretty narrow niche, so we’re expanding the qualification of horror a little to include a psychological thriller and a gore-fest as well as more normal horror themes. As for the casino themes, they run strong but are somewhat dated. We’re waiting with bated breath for more realistic modern horror takes on casino themes, which would no doubt involve the characters using an affiliate list of the top casinos online in Italy, or in whatever country they happen to be in, before they are hunted down by some sort of internet-spectre or online casino operator driven mad by the amount of bonuses they’ve had to offer to attract players. Until then, we have the following four movies to keep us occupied.

The good ones

Leprechaun 3

Released in 1995 and starring Warwick Davis as the titular… hero? Leprechaun 3 isn’t always regarded as a good movie, but as far as we are concerned, it fits our bill perfectly and does exactly what it sets out to do. At no point does this movie take itself seriously, and it plays perfectly well into the absurdity of its mixed themes. Once again brought to life by thieves stealing his gold, Lubdan the leprechaun goes on a killing spree surrounded by the glitz and glamor of the Las Vegas strip. This movie is fun and worth a look.

13

This 2010 movie is more of a psychological thriller than the other movies on this list, but it does such a great job of blending horror elements with gambling and casino elements that it bears mentioning on this niche list. The movie is a remake of a French film, 13 Tzameti, and the plot follows a young man played by Jason Statham who accidentally enters a gambling ring where human lives are the stakes. The movie uses themes of greed, desperation and a gritty, realistic veneer to push horror elements and is well supported by a pretty decent cast. As well as Jason Statham, Ray Winstone, Mickey Rourke and Sam Riley are notably involved. If you like seeing men pushed to the edge of breaking in games of chance with human lives as the stakes, this movie might be for you.

The not-so-good

Dead Man’s Hand

Of the three different movies of this name, this one might be the worst, although it is tied at a 3.8 on IMDb with the Western of the same name, so maybe not. At any rate, what could have been a fun premise of some young people inheriting an old casino that turns out to be haunted, is sadly wasted by low production value, lacklustre acting and a plot that… well, it isn’t much of one, let’s just say that. What scares are attempted but don’t land, the dialogue doesn’t help much, and the old casino vibe doesn’t really get much play. We recommend you watch this with some buddies, mystery-science-theatre style, to have a good time.

Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball

Ah, the direct-to-video prequel to a popular action movie, directed by a different person from the original, what could go wrong? Well, if you can find Assassins’ Ball to watch on a streaming service, you’ll find out soon enough. We mentioned we were stretching the horror theme a little bit by including this one, but it turns into such a gore-fest by the end that we think it fits. The casino theme is definitely there; most of the carnage inflicted by the would-be assassins takes place at a neat little underground casino while they all try to kill their target in a farcical fashion. Unfortunately, the characters all seem like caricatures of their archetypes, with the sillyness factor turned all the way up. To be honest, the set might be the best thing about this movie, which is a shame because we love Vinnie Jones.

Conclusion

The blend of horror and casino genres can be a fun ride when it’s done well, and like all horror movies can be a funny ride when it isn’t, especially if you have company to help bounce jokes off. Both casino and horror movies typically make use of themes like risk, greed, desperation and the illusion of control, so blending the two genres together isn’t as far out an idea as it might seem at first glance. Ultimately, the blending of the two and making them both work together is a mark of a skilled director, even when they are tuning the horror elements out and turning the humour elements up, as in Leprechaun 3.

As we said in the preamble, good horror and bad horror can both be equally watchable. It’s just that one will have you clutching a partner for emotional support, and the other will have you clutching your sides with laughter; either way sounds good to us.