Movie Review: Poker Run

Released: 2009
Reviewed: 1.13.10
Star rating: 2 out of 5

Robert Thorne (Ray), Jasmine Waltz (Cheri), Bertie Higgins (Robert), J.D. Rudometkin (Allen), Debra Hopkins (Susan), Jay Wisell (Billy).

Robert and Allen decide to take up Harley riding to spice up their lives and buy a couple of bikes from shady biker Ray. What they didn't expect was that Ray and his buddy Billy are a couple of psychopaths who kidnap their wives and require Robert and Allen to commit terrible crimes to get them back.

Despite the 2 star rating this movie was actually better than expected. Starting off with some good violence and brief nudity the film appeared to have real promise. Moving then into character development and plot setup the film stalls for a little while before jumping into the action. At that point the film got a lot better with good suspense, drama, and horror scenes. The pace is maintained up to the end of the film which isn't exactly a twist ending but is a nice surprise. What didn't make sense was why Ray, who proves himself perfectly capable of killing, is using Robert and Allen to do his dirty work.

Acting was good from Thorne and Wisell who both played their parts as psychopaths very well. Waltz wasn't much of an actress but did her gratuitous nude and sex scenes nicely. Higgins and Rudometkin were okay but just didn't feel like they fit their parts very well and Hopkins felt totally miscast.

Camera work, sets and backgrounds all appeared to be cheaply done. Camera work was disappointing with several scenes so dark they required retuning the TV. Film quality wasn't very good and overall the film didn't feel like it had much of a budget. Special effects centered around gore and violence and were nicely done for the most part.

In all this is a mid-level entry in the Thriller category that supports itself with some nudity and gore. The plot had a few holes and production quality was largely absent indicating a lower budget flick. If you are a horror or thriller fan check it out, otherwise pass. With brutal violence, rape, drug use, nudity, and foul language save this for adults and above.