Let’s check out a Turkish haunting.
After enjoying the Dabbe film from earlier I decided to give another one a shot. Thankfully, this one is not found-footage. We follow Dilek, a young housewife who believes there is something evil in her home. As events become increasingly bizarre, we begin to unfold a long mystery.
The film looks a lot better than the other (mainly due to not being in found footage), but we do have several annoying moments of shaky cam. A problem I have had with both Dabbe films so far is that we are rarely given a clear look at the scary stuff. We get blurred, overly cut, and poorly lit (or strobe lit) images. These images are always accompanied by a series of loud noises, which isn’t scary. I see so many horror films do this I have to wonder if that is all it takes to be considered scary.
We follow Dilek and her husband Omer as Dilek becomes convinced something is haunting her. Dilek is cool character—no complaints. Omer is one of the worst and pointless characters I have seen in a while. He drags the film down. Imagine your loved one is terrified, thinks something is in the house, and there is some physical evidence—would you a) chastise and ignore them or b) maybe believe them? If you chose a you and Omer have a lot in common.
This sort of disbelief from spouses or friends is an exhausted and exhausting trope in horror films. I think it is done in the absence of character development and to run out the clock (this film clocks in at over 2 hours, so it certainly didn’t need the dead air). I found myself waiting for the scenes with Omer to end so the plot could move on, which created an imbalance in my viewing enjoyment.
There are a lot of issues with this film, but I still liked it. I think part of my problem was watching this one right after the other. With a little more time in between the repetition in some of the plot points wouldn’t be as noticeable. Though we do have several shoehorned in ideas (like everything surrounding the Dabbe) that have no impact on the overall story.
The story does suck you in despite the flaws. Several likable characters help propel things forward. I have decided I am sick of twists in film—particularly those not telegraphed. Twists seem to cover a narrative deficit by hoping the surprise of whatever happens keeps the viewer from asking questions. I had assumed the twist was a theme in these movies (and I was right), so I spent too much of the film expecting all the characters to have ulterior motives. Guessing a twist isn’t like solving a mystery (though mysteries are the one area where twists seem solvent) and it isn’t as fun. Maybe this is just me.
We have a flawed film through and through. I got sucked into the story, but I think it could easily be off putting and boring to others. There are some clever ideas here to see, but how annoying do you find obtrusive camera effects and a lot of loud noises?
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