D@bbe: Bir Cin Vakasi

"Dabbe: Bir Cin Vakasi" is my first foray into Turkish horror. In fact I'm pretty sure it's the first Turkish movie I have seen. On the advice of a couple of fellow horror buffs I decided to give it a watch. I was not disappointed.

Director Hasan Karacadag brings us a found footage/hand-held camera style fright-fest that at first seems to follow almost the exact same formula as the first "Paranormal Activity". A family sets up their house with cameras to record the nightly activity of the mother, who is having problems with her sleepwalking.

The bedroom camera captures the mother standing there in the night while the camera fast-forwards the time away. Strange things start to happen all over the house; first, just to the wife, then to the rest of the family, including their friends when they come to visit. This is where the comparison to "Paranormal Activity" ends.

What follows is a terrifying tale of demonic possession and a curse that threatens the lives of the family. The film is relentless as demonic voices and barely seen forces cause havoc all over the house.

I was truly scared and literally on the edge of my seat for the last 3/4 of this movie. The hand-held camera work was really done to full effect, and the climax was truly frightening, with a cool camera-light strobe effect upping the scare factor.

Forget the latest high budget Hollywood bore-o-rama horror rehash. See this instead!

This is a movie in the "found footage" sub-genre of horror or "hand camera" sub-genre horror. Whatever you're more familiar with.

Anyhow, this is about a young family living in rural Turkey. The Husband starts to document his Wife who has begun sleep walking. They decided to do this because it was dangerous for her and she didn't want to go be hospitalized to be examined for it. The periods in which they occur become more strange as the movie progresses as they involve spiritual healers and other seers to try and resolve the problem.

For the sub-genre I was definitely very scared at parts. I like that it worked on creating a tense and scary atmosphere instead of solely jump scenes. I've seen my fair share of the sub-genre from movies like Rec, Noroi, Evidence, etc. This movie you can tell was very influenced by the Paranormal Activity movies but it adds some originality from its influence as well as style. However the setting and tone seems much more darker then those ones and more cultured and less American. Which work in its favour and also slightly against its favour too.

The acting was great, no characters were annoying, perhaps a bit too much emphasis on the screaming at parts but what horror movie doesn't have that? The effects at some parts weren't as sharp as other found footage movies. However they were still above average for this genre as I've seen some TERRIBLE found footage movies with BAD special effects and for what this had sure it could have been better but it still wasn't that bad. It was its weakest point though.

The story while not groundbreaking had enough substance to keep me interested throughout the whole movie and not make me lose focus for the most part. The plot could have developed a bit more faster in the beginning but it was still done with enough pace that it didn't bother me too much. I actually really enjoyed the props and occult props and story ideas that were implemented

In short: If you use the correct formula with lights out, loud noise, big TV you'll be scared for sure and have a good time with this one. Just don't sabotage it by watching it in the day though.

Rarely , a sequel would outshine the original and Dabbe 3 is a fine example of that.Much of the story and the surprises wouldn't be a surprise at all because the Audience would have a fair idea and knowledge to predict the plot and premise of the movie.

The Grudge, SAW, The Ring, Insidious and Paranormal Activity are examples. What if Paranormal Activity 2 or 3 had been the first movie of the series? Well, Hasan overcomes this pretty huge shortcoming and strikes with a bang with this 3rd movie.

And the fact that it is based on an actual event just freaked me out. My exposure to this dark world has grown since Dabbe 1.

Though a fan of the genre, who enjoys a good fright and watches lot of horror movies, I was squirming in terror throughout. I even yelped in fear.

It is a taut, horrifying and a SOLID horror movie. One of my all-time favorites. I watched it again over last weekend. I had to stop midway and watch the rest on the next day since I was terrified.

A must-watch if you are a fan of the Genre; It will be in your top 10 list!

This was one of the scariest movie I watched which had entities, perfect atmospheric setting and excellent movie progressions. This definitely makes Paranormal activity make look mediocre. Unexpected twists, great acting and intriguing story makes it must watch for horror fans looking for something different than mainstream Hollywood horror.

I did not think of what movies inspired the first two Dabbes - in this case I do not have to think what was the inspiration, it is more than obvious. Paranormal Activity is the "winner". For better or worse as they say - as in if you were really into the style of those other movies (Blair Witch was succesful, but Paranormal took the whole thing to a new level - all sequels included).

I am not really a fan of the found footage thing, but this is quite solid if you are a fan of it. The jump scares and the sound cues (quite annoying if you ask me, but horror has to be "created") are here to be enjoyed ... the special effects overall are decent too.