A Trio of Devils and Djinns!
by
Kristin Battestella
Layfolk
beware! These millennial pictures both foreign and domestic have
supernatural inns, suspicious country homes, and demonic genies with
more than their fair share of devilish tricks, tempts, and perils.
House
– Sheriff Michael Madsen (Reservoir
Dogs) and two couples at a
rundown out of place Alabama inn encounter serial killers and the
supernatural along with the promise of “Rest for the weary soul”
in this 2008 heavy. Despite cliché driving montages, rainstorms,
dirt roads, and yuppies with no cell phone reception, this isn't a
standard teen slasher romp and feels more in the spirit of seventies
horrors beware thanks to old time fixtures, chiming clocks, an Art
Deco patina, and out of service “Ma Bell.” The dining table is
set, the inn staff is old fashioned in their language and attitudes,
and the power goes out just as the killer outside has trapped
everyone on the awkward inside – askew angles and distorted
camerawork reflect the internal tensions and panic. Newspaper
clippings and flashes of past sins piece together the in limbo
abstracts as our players are divided by maze-like trickery, meat
lockers, ice perils, and fun house horrors done without any hollow
jump scares. The dialogue isn't always good, and the flashy overkill
is unnecessary once the tale is in hand – trust your story instead
of laying on the distortions. Perhaps this is the struggle of what to
keep or lose in adapting the Ted Dekker and Frank E. Peretti novel,
for the editing can be uneven, leaving people in peril to see what's
happening to others or backtracking when there is immediate action.
Back and forth shouting is tiring, and the scares resort to typical
wet dark basement tunnels when the house upstairs has a unique,
otherworldly character. The finale is also slightly busy, with
obvious who is who good versus evil manifestations, creepy kids,
purgatory debates, and a battle for one's soul at stake. Fortunately,
the older cast does well as the tense vignettes reveal ill histories
and cult symbols. With all this weird, the audience has to see what's
what before the killer's timeline is up and his demands are met.
While not perfect, the bizarre, multi-layered story here has enough
intriguing substance for some post-viewing discussions.
Sheitan
– Paris clubs and an invitation to a country retreat promise saucy
fun in this 2006 French horror parable starring “housekeeper”
Vincent Cassel (Eastern Promises). Granted, some characters
are typical homophobic horny jerks. The dated fashions, club scene,
and subtitled slang feel nineties poser, too – boss dig it fly
homie where's your crib, et cetera et cetera. Quick editing and
strobe camerawork is too in your face, but most of the quips and
cruising stupidity is bemusing. It's Christmas but warnings of not
deserving forgiveness for knowing what we do are ignored, and
Cassel's Joseph is a little too touchy with the young ladies – he
squirts some symbolic goat's milk directly into their mouths, too.
This isn't his usual handsome self either, but a creepy, grinning,
country bowl legged racist with a dog named Cerberus and forceful
authority of other bizarre, deformed villagers. Their chateau is old,
crumbling past its glory with weird doll parts, effigies, and goats.
There's nudity of course, but incestuous tales, bestiality, and a
hidden, pregnant wife add a discomforting weirdness to the quirky
humor and modern Jean Rollin spirit. Symbolic apples, snakes,
vultures, gluttony, and Magi motifs accent names such as Mary,
Joseph, Eve, and Styxx while religious table talk asks who's a
believer or a sinner. While the ninety-four minutes could have been
trimmed in slow, titillation spots, the plot confusions leave whether
something satanic is at work in this crazy house or not open to
debate. Try hard ignorance and bad sex flashbacks sidetrack from the
escalating story at hand, but these dumbasses are so desperate for a
good time they never wonder why a girl would pick up strangers in a
club and invite them home for Christmas. Hello! Flickering lights,
creepy bathtubs, locusts, chases, and finale twists bring the
violence to a gross head alongside some insane visions and
mutilations. To some this may be more eccentric rather than horror,
but there is some seriously disturbing imagery nonetheless.
Wishmaster
– I Dream of Jeannie
spoiled
us on the nature of granting wishes, and a malevolent, puckish Djinn
runs amok in this 1997 Wes Craven produced dark fantasy starring
Andrew Divoff (Air
Force One) and
Freddy Krueger Robert England with a cameo from Candyman Tony Todd.
Opening scrolls telling of unholy potential immediately set a fiery
mood alongside an 1127 Persia apothecary, potions, cauldrons,
mystical gems, and alchemy. Present day rock outs, tennis yuppies,
and smarmy auctioneers are dated, yet there's a frightfully fantastic
mixing with modern industrial thanks to maze-like museums, living
statues, and slimy cadavers. Some hokey effects also feel too
eighties, but payphones
and answering machines that say Pacific Bell and Bell South, whoa!
Skeletons and more effective gore accent the too good to be true,
“All you have to do is ask” tricks, leaving the regretful and
maimed in our djinn's wake. He's not lying in saying he only bargains
with what people give him – reminding viewers to speak carefully
when wishing someone was dead or offering to sell one's soul for a
cigarette. Such suspense is fine on its own without circling zooms
and crescendos, for we want to see the antagonist's personality,
interconnected visions, and growing powers. Ironically, we like Tammy
Lauren (Homefront)
less, but she isn't stupid or made a bimbo while investigating the
Zoroastrian myths. Although the escalating creepy crawlies are fun,
the plot descends into set chases, explosions, and ineffective
shootouts with some deus ex machina in outwitting the djinn. The
ancient prologue, first act release, and collecting of restoring
skingraphs or eyeballs are also similar to Dracula
2000 and
The Mummy – evil
flirts, shops, preys, leaving boils along the way. This girl power
action horror pace feels like a precursor to more recent spectacles,
and while we chuckle at the un-scary B movie fun, it's pleasing to
see the non-Western horror of this demented little cautionary tale.
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