Baskin: La porta dell'inferno

I saw the premise of the film and was interested. Adding to my interest was the fact that the film was foreign. I was curious what a Turkish horror movie would look like.

The movie starts out with an amazing film score that sets this tone for an early 80s euro giallo style.

It takes a while for the Horror to begin as we watch a group of cops go through some strange events before the real deal goes down.

And when the horror sneaks up to ya, it's very freaky and deranged, almost torture porn like. It made me squirm in my seat.

I must admit that overall I thought the movie was far too corny. It could be the culture gap, or it could be the Tarantino like built up to the horror with a lot of dialog, that may have been more interesting in the native language.

Can't really say that I like it all that much, though it made me uncomfortable, it was not in a scary way.

If "being a good horror movie" was purely a matter of inserting cruel images, nightmarish scenery and petrifying characters in your movie, then "Baskin" inarguably was one of the greatest horror masterpieces of the past 2-3 decades. This film is literally chock- full of grueling gore and the decors are so disturbing that viewers with a weak stomach won't even be able to digest them. Unfortunately, however, "being a good horror movie" is also about a solid script, originality, a coherent structure and a minimum of empathy with the lead characters. These are all elements that I missed in "Baskin" and which prevent me from labeling as a true genre delight. What remains is nevertheless a more than remarkable and grotesquely violent horror movie from Turkey. This country has a rather bizarre tradition when it comes to making horror/cult movies. During the 70s and 80s they mostly just made shameless and unintentionally hilarious imitations of famous blockbuster, like "Turkish Superman" or "Seytan" (a blatant copy of "The Exorcist"), but since a few years there's a new generation of Turkish horror directors and at least they want to uplift the quality level of their national horror cinema a bit. The protagonists in "Baskin" are five police officers and, I don't know whether it was director/co- writer Can Evrenol's intention or not, but the film doesn't exactly draw a positive image of the Turkish authority figures. They're sitting in a filthy roadside diner, telling vulgar stories about their meeting with (male) prostitutes to each other and collectively harass a young waiter. Kind of like Joe Pesci did in "Goodfellas"; they pick on a poor sucker because he dared to laugh with their stories even though he wasn't invited at the table to laugh. A few moments later they decide that the physically ill person of the bunch can drive the van and they have a little karaoke party in their service vehicle. Doesn't really encourage you to trust the Turkish police, now does it? They subsequently receive a vague radio report that leads them to an abandoned mansion where a satanic sect is in the middle of holding a black mass. The high-priest is excessively cruel in his execution rituals, but there also seems to be a link between the events here and the recurring nightmares of the youngest cop Arda. I've read a review on "Baskin" that described the film like a compound between the narrative styles of David Lynch and Rob Zombie. The comparison definitely makes sense, although our pal Can Evrenol is not (yet) as skilled and experienced as those two. Many, many sequences are truly sickening to watch, with explicit footage of eye-stabbings, slit throats and cut open stomachs. One last thing I simply have to mention - and genuinely applaud – is the terrific casting work! Particularly the supportive roles are masterfully cast; most notable two actors with faces that were seemingly made to have a career in horror cinema (although this may come across as very disrespectful because they both obviously suffer from a physical condition that makes them look that way). Mehmet Cerrahoglu depicts the high-priest and he's the kind of actor who only looks scarier from the moment he removes his mask. The other actor is named Seyithan Özdemir and he is credited as "giant man/frog hunter". He instantly reminded me of 1940s actor/horror icon Rondo Hatton! I would strongly advise Mr. Özdemir to pick up a few words of English and purchase a plane ticket to Hollywood, as he can surely make it big in Hollywood with a mug like that.

If you are tired of modern horror films filled with cheap and forced jump scares constructed in a way of muting down the sounds and then throwing an explosion of loud noises in your face to try to scare you, and are rather interested in watching a film filled with tension, dreadful atmosphere, interesting characters, symbolism and pure nightmare images look no further. Baskin (aka Police Raid) is a Turkish horror film directed by Can Evrol (in his directorial debut) and is based on short horror film of the same name. Story follows a group of police officers who stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building. Sure, probably not an original scenario. You might feel like you probably seen this before, but it is the approach and execution that allows this film to rise above most of today's horror films. Tension is always present in Baskin, and it's dark and dreadful atmosphere builds all around you and won't let go so closing your eyes will mean nothing but surrender. Also, instead of a group of stupid, drunk and naked teens, this time we have a group of mature, experienced police officers and seeing them being overwhelmed with terror is even more frightening. There is a scene in which one of those police officers enters a room only to behold scenery so terrifying he loses his mind and starts screaming. There were no jump scares, just genuine terror. Maybe the last 20 minutes were kinda disappointing compared to the first half of the film, but Baskin is still overall a strong horror ride. If you are not a fan of violent and gory films, better skip this one. But if you're open minded and enjoy all types of horror movies you should definitely pay a visit to this hellish nightmare.

A twisted, surreal & nightmarish journey into the bottomless depths of hell, Baskin is an extremely disturbing, utterly unusual & overly ambitious tale that feels like something that came straight out of the abyss and, thanks to its stomach-churning violence & gore as well as multitudes of themes & symbolisms, it isn't an easy film to decipher in one sitting.

The story of Baskin follows a squad of five police officers who, after dining in a restaurant, receive a distress call from a nearby town and head there to investigate the issue. But once they reach the crime scene, an abandoned building that used to be a police station during the Ottoman era, they find themselves inexplicably trapped in a world of madness & suffering.

Co-written & directed by Can Evrenol in what is his feature film debut, Baskin is adapted from his short film of the same name and is one phantasmagorical ride from start to finish that's as bizarre as it is bewildering. The plot is filled with flashbacks & dream sequences and in between lies some real nasty stuff as well that's definitely not for the easily-distressed.

Each frame of it is instilled with a foreboding sense of doom and its dilapidated sets, sophisticated yet eerie camera-work, shaded colour tones, steady pace & stimulating score, all contribute greatly in enhancing its overall impact, and is all the more amplified by the gruesome brutality that Evrenol puts on the screen, for the level of violence that's on display here is absolutely sickening.

Performances are good even if the characters aren't that well-defined. More than individual inputs, it's the chemistry between the five actors that makes their characters believable. But nobody even holds a candle to the performance that comes later in the story from a first-time actor. Playing the antagonist, Mehmet Cerrahoglu chips in with a show-stealing work and makes for one intimidating villain.

On an overall scale, Baskin is one of the most shocking, disturbing & emotionally upsetting films of the year that's drenched in dread, revels in suffering & bathes in body horror. The labyrinth-like structure of its plot does go over the head sometimes but there is still an intriguing quality to it that keeps the interest alive until the very end. A convoluted mess but also an undeniably powerful experience, this Turkish horror about five cops who inadvertently wander into hell isn't for everyone. Enter at your own risk.

Baskin comes from a country for which horror genre outings are quite atypical to see. Despite not having much to compare with locally, it is clearly a passionate and well-made horror even when examined against countries that contribute to the genre much more frequently. Not terrific, but a great start to a young filmmaker's career.

The film is about a set of five cops who are patrolling their neighbourhood at night. They receive a call for backup coming from a part of town associated with many fantastic and far-fetched story. Upon entering it, they find themselves in a place none other than Hell.

I was quite entranced by Can Evrenol's direction, it was surprisingly confident for a first feature, daring to aim for difficult scenes and set-ups right off the bat. The opening 15 minutes in the restaurant were my favourites. They use numerous very long, very slow takes, which captured a sense of slow building dread despite the hilarious conversation going on between the cops. His flair for beauty and the abstract persists later on as well, especially in scenes where he combines multiple perceptions of reality (loved the room filling up with water). I am definitely a fan of his after seeing this movie.

I do think that the first third of the film is its strongest, because oh the sense of undefined dread. Once the cops enter "hell", the movie is still entertaining but becomes more of a torture-porn outing, without that much story. I like the reference to the mythological hellish trials and tribulations from Greek mythology, but I would have preferred a stronger plot. The circular reference of the film kind of bothered me, because it is an extremely common trope of "characters in limbo/hell" movies (like House Hunting, Haunter, etc), and I would have liked to see something more original.

The acting was quite fantastic for the budget. All of the cops did a great job, the likable ones managed to be truly likable, the hateable ones easily made themselves repulsive to the viewer. The physically "unique" actor who played the master of the hell domain was very creepy and good in his role, with zero prosthetics to boot! Great casting choice.

Overall, Baskin could have used improvements in terms of storytelling, but it is absolutely worth seeing as a piece of horrific art, morbidly beautiful to watch. 7/10