I did recognize the cultural divide between myself and the characters in the movie. I wasn’t bothered by this because I often watch foreign movies. It’s more of a decision made between her husband and their therapist.ĭespite the collaboration, Djinn will come off as a foreign movie to most viewers, myself included. It’s part of her character, since Salama doesn’t agree with returning to the United Arab Emirates. Salama leans toward speaking Arabic when speaking with her family and when she’s forced into it. For example, when Salama (Razane Jammal) is speaking with her husband Khalid (Khalid Laith), she tends to lean toward speaking English, and she does this when she is speaking to other characters. The language spoken depends on the characters in the film. The finished film is spoken in both English and Arabic with English subtitles. It’s produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi while being written and directed by American filmmakers. This movie is a collaboration type movie. Now that this is out of the way, I’ll try to talk about the movie itself. The movie doesn’t seem like something that was directed by one of the masters of horror, who has been making horror films since the 1970s. For that reason, I was slightly let down. I will be honest when I say that I did go into this movie with expectations because of this fact. I’m always a sucker for supernatural type movies, so I figured I’d give it a go.ĭjinn is directed by Tobe Hooper, who is famously known for his work with the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and original Poltergeist. ![]() I scrolled past this movie on Netflix streaming, and I remembered hearing the term “djinn” from some episode of Supernatural a while back. Their new home, however, has been built on land with a dark past, and it seems that their presence has caught the attention of a benevolent creature. Locals seemed engaged at the public screening caught, though condescension to one’s target audience won’t make lasting friends.After the death of their infant son, a married couple returns to the United Arab Emirates for new opportunities and to be closer to family. Joel Ransom’s lensing is flat, and the editing doesn’t help the desultory proceedings. Perhaps if the script had injected a little life into the proceedings, then the protags would emerge from the land of blah, but as it is, any characterization they’re given comes from an unimaginative menu with zero surprises. Salama is uneasy: Could it be the constant fog (cheaply done)? The strange concierge (Malik McCall)? The disembodied baby cries? Meeting bizarre, black-clad, plastic-faced neighbor Sara (Aiysha Hart) makes her only more uncomfortable, and then the “Rosemary’s Baby” parallels really kick in, when she and Khalid are invited to Sara’s apartment to meet the neighbors (alas, Ruth Gordon is nowhere in sight).Ĭhills are nonexistent and frights minimal, thanks to thirdhand concepts such as the djinn’s habit of crawling and mumbling, “Grudge”-style, along floors and walls. A tall apartment block is built on the space, and that, of course, is where Salama and Khalid are housed. ![]() Salama is reluctant to go, but her family is thrilled to have her return.Ī clunky flashback shows a ghostly fishing village, apparently nowhere near water, haunted by djinns. ![]() Hubby Khalid (Khalid Laith), an orphan from way back - hint hint - gets a transfer back to the UAE. Shift to New York, where guilt-ridden Salama (Razane Jammal) feels she’s to blame for her infant’s death. The prologue tells of a baby who is half-human, half-djinn (a shape-shifting demon), taken from his mother, who now searches the world for her offspring. Given the mix of Arabic and English, “Djinn” is strictly for the Emirati market, along with more obsessive Fangoria fans. Hooper’s lack of engagement isn’t helped by unimaginative f/x and leaden dialogue. Produced by high-power Emirati shingle Image Nation and Dubai-based Filmworks, this limp attempt at local horror takes elements from “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Grudge” and others, thrown together into a cheesy, ham-fisted ghost story about an Emirati couple moving back from the States and tormented by a vengeful wraith. Few would guess Tobe Hooper’s been making pics since the 1970s, given how outright bad “Djinn” looks.
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