Review: ‘The Djinn’
There were two films released this year and both were the products of writing-directing duo David Charbonier and Justin Powell. Both films, The Djinn released on May 14, 2021, and The Boy Behind the Door just two months later on July 29, 2021, are two very different stories with their own individual atmospheres yet oddly enough they feel like a packaged set. Despite their differences in quality, story, themes, and amounts of passion that went into the productions, you can watch them both back to back and not only see the fingerprints of the pair that made them but you will get the feeling that one is an afterbirth of the first.
This may be a review for The Djinn but I feel that it is impossible to properly discuss it without also discussing The Boy Behind the Door because watching it alone, and then watching it as a companion piece results in two very different opinions. At least, from my perspective. The Boy Behind the Door is perfectly capable of standing on its own and does so with incredible suspense that will keep you clenched tight in your seat the entire time. It is a must-see, but The Djinn isn’t so lucky. The quieter, shorter feature comes off as its experimental half-brother that likes to half-ass its homework until it’s too late to turn it in. Taking on a look, feel and tone of a short film that was designed to be expanded into a feature-length one, a blueprint that never got fully mapped out, it never reaches its full potential and needs its smarter, more focused sibling to help them out.
Despite being released first, The Djinn was actually made after The Boy Behind the Door and yet it’s the one that comes off like first-time filmmakers testing the waters. There is a dreadful atmosphere and tone, with both films revolving around a boy, who is alone for the majority of the runtime, that is forced to deal with a horrible situation that forcibly exposes them to very adult themes but as I said, it never takes what it has and properly runs with it but rather sleepily walks its way through the story until the end credits start to roll.
The Djinn opens with young Dylan, a mute and asthmatic boy, walking in on his mother’s suicide. She’s standing in the kitchen with her backside to him, and only after he realizes what she’s doing, does she turn around and face him. It cuts to black and we jump ahead just a few months later as Dylan and his father are moving into a new home. This right here is the whole focus of the story, so just keep that in mind. While exploring his new home, Dylan finds an old book that offers instructions on granting people’s wishes explaining that a creature called a “Djinn” will appear to grant your deepest desire. Dylan waits until his father goes to work to get busy, and he asks exactly what you’d expect a mute little boy to ask for– he asks for a voice.
When the djinn arrives Dylan finds out that there is a catch to getting what you want. The djinn will only grant you your wish if you can survive one hour in its presence as it viciously tries to kill you. This is why you need to always read the fine print. A fairytale framed in a modern setting, the message can be boiled down to “be careful what you wish for.” There are heavy themes at play that stay way past the line of playing it safe, but I think that really all comes down to the runtime. Coming in at just 82 minutes, there is no room for anything but the plot. No time to diddle dally around, and no time to expand on what could have been some incredible psychological warfare between a boy consumed with guilt over something that wasn’t his fault, and a mythical creature that can literally bend reality.
I’m actually unsure of how to properly describe my feelings for this film. It’s short, slow but also compact, and features an incredible performance by Ezra Dewey but it never goes anywhere beyond the safe and decent resume builder that it ultimately is. At the same time, I find it impossible to simply cast it aside as a mediocre film. Whether it’s the aesthetics, tone, or the fact that there is actually an incredibly fascinating film somewhere in here, it has struck a chord with me.
Final Verdict
The Djinn is a fascinating movie wrapped inside a constipated one and while I wouldn’t say it’s by the numbers, it’s very predictable. There is a haunting and painful presence that vibrates throughout the whole story that’s amplified by Dewey’s terrified facial expressions, this alone makes it worth a viewing, and the story itself is captivating with room to branch off into many different directions but the way its executed makes it seem like an unoriginal supernatural thriller.
Is this film worth a watch? I’d say yes. I’d recommend it to someone but not to anyone looking for anything other than a slow creeping story accompanied by little to no dialogue.
(3 / 5)
To a lot of fans, this is the film that killed the franchise. It says a lot that the next installment is yet another retcon. Halloween VI: The Curse of Michael Myers attempts to explain Michael’s unrelenting evil, which lead to mixed opinions from longtime fans. There are two cuts of the film, theatrical vs producer’s. For a lot of people, the latter is the only one worth mentioning. Aiming to be as accurate as possible, I will be talking about the producer’s cut. Let’s begin!
Plot
We start Halloween VI with a six-year time jump from part five. Jamie is now barefoot and recently pregnant, running away from Michael as he wants her baby. While she manages to hide the little one away, Michael finally gets his hunger satiated by killing her. The moment is one of the most brutal ways in the franchise up until that point. Rest in peace, Jamie, you held your ground for as long as you could, the sequels were just too relentless.
The movie then cuts to a whole different scene going on. We have a new family living in the Myers house and their youngest child is hearing voices telling him to kill his loved ones. Tommy Lloyd is watching the family, played by none other than Paul Rudd in his first-ever theatrical role. Tommy still carries trauma from the events all those years ago when Laurie Strode was babysitting him. So when he finds Jamie’s baby, his part in the story becomes even more essential.
Dr Loomis also stars in what was Donald Pleasance’s final role before his passing. He and Tommy try to stop Michael once and for all before the cycle can repeat itself. As it turns out, Michael is a victim of a druid cult which makes him want to kill his family members every Halloween. Thorn, the cult in question, thinks they can control Michael and make him do their bidding. This results in catastrophe and Michael goes berzerk and kills all the cult members. Once again, it’s one of the most gruesome montages for the franchise up until that point.
Tommy and Kara are left to face Michael on their own which they manage to do with some corrosive liquid and good luck. However, nothing stays dead in this franchise as it’s soon revealed Michael somehow escaped and this time Dr Loomis might not be so lucky…
Overall thoughts
I would say for me personally Halloween VI definitely ranks somewhere near the bottom. The whole point of Michael is that there is no rhyme or reason to his killings and this film tries to go against that. I am glad the mistake was rectified by the upcoming installment. There were still some good things about it, such as Paul Rudd’s acting that reveals some raw talent as far as I’m concerned, as well as some direction choices and musical score. However, I also think it absolutely deserves all the criticism that it gets.
(2.5 / 5)
We’ve reached the final episode of American Horror Stories, season three. After the ups and downs of the season, I didn’t know what to expect. I felt that we were due a big finish, Killer Queens. But I feared we were in for a big letdown.
As it turns out, The Thing Under The Bed was neither.
The story
We begin our story with a little girl named Mary, who is scared of something under her bed. She sneaks out of her room, only to be caught by her father and sent back to sleep. And of course, there is something horrible waiting for her under her bed.
This scene cuts away to a woman named Jillian. She has strange dreams, including one about Mary. But her husband, Mark, doesn’t want to hear about it. He’s only interested in a little lovemaking because he wants a baby. Jillian doesn’t, which makes total sense because she’s already married to one. But her irritation with her childish husband goes away when he goes away. And by goes away, I mean he’s sloppily devoured by something vicious under their bed.
What worked
In short, this episode just worked. The acting was professional and believable. The cinematography and lighting work were wonderful, adding spooky effects and startling moments without impairing visibility.
Best of all, the story was solid. There were no plotholes to be found. Our main character, Jillian, was relatable and sympathetic.
This was maybe my favorite part of the story. I thought Jillian was a remarkably sympathetic character. She was dealt a hand she never asked for, having her husband slaughtered in their bedroom. I don’t think she missed him, so much as she was afraid of the legal ramifications of being caught with literal blood on her hands.
Then, when it would have been safest for her to just lay low and save up for a good defense attorney, she instead goes into unlikely hero mode. She does her best to save people, putting herself in legal and physical danger. It’s hard not to root for her.
It’s also a little hard not to root for the antagonist, too. I don’t want to ruin the twist for you, so I’m going to tread lightly here. But it’s great when you have an antagonist who might be off their rocker, but also maybe has a point.
What didn’t work
I can only really think of one complaint with this episode. And that is how frequently one character says the word Chickadee. And if you’ve seen the episode, you know what I am talking about.
I get it, he has a pet name for his daughter. It’s adorable. It’s meant to convey that the two of them have a healthy loving relationship and I get it. We all get it. Blind monks get it. But the fact remains that no parent on Earth calls their kid by their pet name every single time they speak an individual sentence to them. It was just too damn much.
All in all, this was a good episode. It was a classic story, turned on its head, told by professionals from start to finish. And I hope that if there is another season, we see more stories like this one. But after the efforts put into this season at large, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last we see of American Horror Stories.
(4 / 5)
If you’ve watched enough short-form horror anthology shows, you’ll notice that some stories are mainstays. Each show seems to put on the same sort of episodes, with the occasional surprising storyline that we’ve never (or at least rarely) seen before.
Leprechaun was an example of a repeated story—the story of a greedy thief whose punishment far outweighs the crime.
The story
We begin our story in 1841, with a drunk man leaving the bar one late night. He’s distracted by something glowing at the end of the well. When he reaches down for the glowing thing, he falls in. Moments later, he screams.
We then cut to the modern day. The well is still there, and now it’s surrounded by a dying town. In this town lives a young man named Colin. He’s married, his wife is pregnant, and he’s out of work. Like many of his friends.
Desperate for cash, Colin and his friends decide to rob a bank. They put together an Equate version of Ocean’s Eleven, and break in one night. But, of course, they find that the gold is nothing more than bait. And the creature waiting for them is something they never expected.
What worked
The first thing I want to point out is how real this episode felt. At least to anyone currently living in the same small town they grew up in. These characters felt like guys I went to school with. Guys I would see at the bar.
I appreciated the real anger and frustration these characters are feeling. Especially Colin. He’s bitter, and maybe he has a right to be. He did exactly what he was supposed to do to succeed. He went to school and invested in his career, and yet now he’s out of work and struggling to support his family. I probably don’t need to tell you how that feels. Because of this, we can all kind of understand why he was tempted to rob a bank.
I also want to talk about the fact that this was, as I said, an often-explored story. That can be a bad thing, but it can also be a good thing. This story is told over and over because it’s a good story. A relatable story. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
What didn’t work
That being said, this version didn’t try to do much to break out of the mold.
Because we have seen this story so many times, most of us could tell the story themselves. I would have expected something new, or some twist. But, in the end, the story didn’t bring anything new to the discussion.
Maybe because of this, the ending left a lot to be desired. Trapped in the basement of the bank, everyone just sort of stares at everyone else, until the thieves give up. And that’s it. The ending wasn’t scary, shocking, or funny. It was just sad, on multiple levels.
Overall, this was an okay story. It was entertaining, if not surprising. I would compare this episode to homemade macaroni and cheese. Everyone’s got their own version, they’re all pretty good, and none of them are exciting.
There’s just one episode left in this season of American Horror Stories. Let’s hope they’ve saved the best for last.
(3.5 / 5)
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