Djinn (2013)


REVIEWER RATING: 
4/10


Plot: A couple returns home to discover their new apartment is inhabited by a malevolent being.

Tobe Hooper is truly a master of horror. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist, Lifeforce, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 are regarded as some of the greatest horror films of all time. Hooper could do no wrong, but then the 90's happened and his films started to take a dive. He directed some TV shows and direct-to-video films for a while before releasing "Toolbox Murders" in 2004. His latest film is "Djinn" (2013) and after watching this, it seems the title "master of horror" will only be used to describe his 70's and 80's work.

It's not that I completely hated Djinn, but it just didn't stand out at all. It has the typical, "house built on an ancient cemetery" setting just with a little twist. The acting and story are fine, but some of the editing is questionable. For example, the first scene establishes our main characters in a counseling office. It gives us the location of the film and does a good job setting up the plot. The scene after that goes directly to the desert and feels like it should have taken place before the opening scene. They are new characters that we never see again. It's obvious the scene is there to set up the ghost backstory, but it just didn't make sense. The following scene goes back to the couple arriving in the new country. It's 10 minutes in and I am already confused.

There are no performances that will win Oscars, but for a horror film it's more than decent. The story is pretty bland and typical, but the thing that gets me is the execution. There is a pretty good looking spirit in this film and it's CGI more than half the time. We get some shots of it close up and you get to see this good looking practical effects face. It was a pretty big letdown, but after seeing how everything else was executed in this film, I wasn't shocked.

Overall, without posting any spoilers, (I try not to in each and every review I post) this film is a letdown. I wasn't expecting much, but I at least thought it could be interesting. Tobe Hooper doesn't make his presence known at all in this film. Djinn is no different than any other film on there and I would only recommend it if you are on a Hooper movie marathon. There are some good ideas here, but when I see a computer generated spirit crawling on the ceiling, I don't get scared.
OVERALL: 
Overall, without posting any spoilers, (I try not to in each and every review I post) this film is a letdown. I wasn't expecting much, but I at least thought it could be interesting. Tobe Hooper doesn't make his presence known at all in this film. Djinn is no different than any other film on there and I would only recommend it if you are on a Hooper movie marathon. There are some good ideas here, but when I see a computer generated spirit crawling on the ceiling, I don't get scared.


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