Skip to main content

Djinn (2013) - Tobe Hooper



The Middle East doesn't have that many irons in the fire when it comes to horror movies. That's why I really like Djinn. It isn't a fantastic horror movie but it's interesting and well made. The United Arab Emirates funded this movie being helmed by Texas Chainsaw Massacre creator Tobe Hooper. He's a great choice. Hooper's experience really draws the fear of each horror movie he makes and this movie is no different.

Salama and Khalid are a young Emirati couple who move back home from America after the accidental death of their infant child. They move into a large high rise in Ras al-Khaimah and start their lives together. Something just doesn't sit right with Salama. The atmosphere and aura surrounding Ras al-Khaimah is really creepy. A dense fog has settled and looks to be staying. Salama begins to hear and see things. That's when the fun begins.

Djinn gives a great, realistic look at the ancient creatures. It takes from the writings in the Qur'an that mention the Djinn as a separate race from the humans. Us westerners know them a Genies. Though, this movie doesn't really have anything to do with wishes. From what I can gather they represent Demons and beings from the underworld that love to terrify and kill humans.

I recommend this movie to those looking for something different. Tobe Hooper is a great slasher director and this marks a rare occasion when he's trying to be subtle. There are a few snags. My biggest gripe is with their annoying neighbor. The movie has a solid story-line and makes for a good feature. Check it out.In Turkey the movie is known as Cin

The film is the first supernatural thriller film in both English and Arabic languages.
Djinn had a budget of $5 Million

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t...

Le Diable au Convent (1899) - George Melies

Le Diable au Convent is longer than the two previous Georges Méliès ventures into short form horror. This particular French short shows the Devil himself running a convent and terrorizing the poor old nuns that live there. However he is finally vanquished by the good of Faith. This is yet another Méliès classic, showcasing the art work that really goes into his short film-making. This is one of the earliest examples of a horror movie that could rely on its elaborate set design and artistic design. Everything in this film, although horribly aged, has been packaged extremely well. If you are a fan of production and set design then I would highly recommend just about anything that Melies has his name on. Though nothing that is considered too extreme actually happens, Satan does have his way with a convent. The satanic imagery itself must have kept this film on the traveling carnival circuit. It certainly wouldn’t fit into the good moral bag that society shoved i...

Spookies (1986) - Genie Joseph, Thomas Doran, and Brendan Faulkner

It's impossible to get a decent movie when you take two films and just squash them together. That is essentially the story of how this movie came together. The film started as Twisted Souls. However, according to the financial backer they didn't have enough horror. So they ended up hiring another guy to come in and add a monster in virtually every scene.  This movie started out being directed by Brendan Faulkner and Thomas Doran. It basically is the tale of two sets of teenagers that arrive to a strange building surrounded by a strange cemetery. It was your usual tale of teenagers in a big hows with a few monsters. Then they brought in Genie Joseph and added even more. Like a haunted birthday party, a murderous cat-man, zombies, and an old wizard. It really became a smorgasbord of horror with a very thin plot-line leading it around. This movie is hard to summarize in a conventional way. It just packs so much.  The most interesting part of this movie are ...