An
Arabic couple still mourning the death of their infant decide to leave America
and return to the United Arab Emirates. While
Khalid (Khalid Laith) goes off to work, his emotionally sensitive wife Salama
(Razane Jammel) is left alone in their swanky apartment. It doesn’t take long for her to realize
something is seriously wrong with the place.
You see, it was built on an ancient village haunted by an evil spirit
(or djinn) who, predictably, has sinister intentions for Salama.
Djinn
isn’t quite successful, but it certainly is an interesting variation on the
usual horror formula. We’ve seen
countless horror movies that draw from Christianity to supply their title
character. This is a rare flick that
draws from Islamic lore, which at the very least is enough to make it
memorable. I also liked that the couple’s
use of English and Arabic was about 50/50, which gives the impression that they
don’t feel at home in either country.
Djinn
was the last film directed by Tobe (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) Hooper. He does a fine job setting up the premise. Before long, it reveals itself to be a slight
reworking of the Rosemary’s Baby formula as it revolves around a couple who
moves into an odd apartment with kooky neighbors that hold ominous dinner parties
and have diabolic intentions. The big
difference here, of course, is our heroine isn’t pregnant, but is grieving the
loss of her baby. There are also some
nods to the J-Horror genre as the sinister specter’s hair floats along ceilings
and walls. Even though much of this may
feel familiar, despite the novel setting, Hooper is still able to make these
sequences work by using odd camera angles and playing with the timing of scares
to keep the audience off guard.
Unfortunately,
the ending is abrupt, unsatisfying, and just plain sucks. I don’t know if they ran out of money or time
or what, but it doesn’t work at all. Nevertheless,
there’s some cool stuff happening here and there. There’s just not enough of it to make the movie
totally worth recommending. It’s a shame
it was Hooper’s final project because it’s one of his best late-era films.
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