Baskin (2015) #483

Baskin Movie Trailer

"Baskin", the debut feature film by director Can Evrenol, is perhaps one of the most surreal and mind-blowing movies of 2015. It is a phantasmic trip through the bowels of Hell, drenched in a creepy atmosphere from beginning to end. Style is as tantamount while the narrative is effective in its simplicity. Mr Evrenol’s use of orange and blue tones help create stark and engaging visuals, a wise choice over the typical straight blackness.

The film is overflowing with symbolism and Turkish cultural references, with so many little clues easily slipping by without being noticed. The movie is entertaining as hell but if you recognize the symbolism, then the film is that much more rewarding. Beware, the narrative is not presented in a linear fashion, sometimes looping back around in an unexpected way, making "Baskin" one of those films that you will need to watch more than once, when you're ready, to be able to fully enjoy. I love that every detail has a purpose.

A spoiler free review, "Baskin" follows a Turkish police squad during a seemingly typical night on patrol during the night in some rural area that's never truly defined. They begin their night at a family-owned restaurant, experience some odd events on the road, and finally end up in an Ottoman-era police station in the haunted town of Inceagac. The night is a steady decent into Hell itself and its frightening denizens caught between agony and ecstasy. Hell is very sexual and violent, and escape is impossible.

Housewife (2017) #447

“Housewife” was one of the feature films screened at the 24^th annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. Its single screening was filled to capacity and was well received by those in attendance. There is an overtly obvious nod to Lovecraft’s style of cosmic dread in the film as well as use love of cults. I enjoyed the film well enough and was glad that I chose this film over the other offerings at that time slot.

“Housewife” is the second feature film from Turkish writer/director Can Evrenol. His first film, “Baskin”, was seeped in folklore and symbolism which made that particular movie possibly somewhat confusing for people unfamiliar Turkish culture. “Housewife” feels slightly more approachable for the average viewer; it’s not as visually dark, there is less, if any, hidden Turkish references, and the cast speaks English, although with slight to thick accents.

 “Housewife” may be an ode to the stylish European horror films of the 1980’s and 1990’s. The visual palette and the use of colors in “Housewife” help draw the viewer in; warm amber and orange hues conflict with scenes of shades of blue and black, from moments of innocence and sex to trauma to hypnosis. The first two thirds of the movie are focused on trauma, memories, and sexual connection while the ending is purely unexpected horror.

Narratively “Housewife” is a chaotic tale about a woman named Holly who is barely tethered to reality ever since her childhood when she witnessed her mother kill her sister and father. She has a phobia of toilets, she is lying to her husband about wanting children, and her former best friend ran off with a cult. When that friend comes back into her life and is invited to meet the cult’s leader, Holly and her husband lives’ and turned upside down from revelations from the past and a very cultish, cosmic future.