The Rogues' Tavern: A stormy night at the movies

Is this worth your time?

If you like movies that feel like a dusty paperback mystery you found in a thrift store, sure. Grab a drink and don't expect it to change your life. If you need high-speed pacing or modern production values, you're gonna hate this thing in about ten minutes. It’s definitely not Avatar, that's for damn sure. 🏚️

The whole thing is basically a bunch of people stuck in a hotel during a storm. Classic stuff, right? The dialogue is a bit stilted, like they are all reading off cue cards that were written in a hurry. But honestly, that’s part of the charm.

The vibe

The lighting is super dark. Like, 'did they run out of lightbulbs' dark. Every time someone walks into a room, they look like they’re being hunted by a ghost. It’s got that grimy, pre-war mystery energy that I usually dig.

There is this one guy, I think it was Wallace Ford, who just seems to be having a grand time acting more stressed than anyone else in the building. He’s sweating bullets in almost every shot. It’s pretty funny if you watch him closely.

Random notes from the couch:

• The sound of the rain is clearly just a bucket of gravel hitting a tin roof. 🌧️
• The killer's mask? Let's just say it looks like something you'd make in a basement at 3 AM.
• I swear the same hallway prop appears in like five different scenes.
• The pacing is weird. It drags, then suddenly everyone is screaming.

It’s not as polished as The Return of Peter Grimm, but it’s got way more teeth. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy you see in A Final Reckoning, even if the stakes here feel a lot smaller and more claustrophobic.

I found myself wondering if they even had a script for the ending or if they just figured it out as they went along. Some of the reveals make absolutely zero sense. But who cares? It was raining outside my window too, so the atmosphere was spot on. 🕵️‍♂️

If you have an hour to kill and you don't mind a little bit of nonsense, give it a go. Just don't go looking for deep meaning. It’s a B-movie through and through, and it's happy to stay that way.