Baskin

Baskin

Starring Gorkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu, Muharrem Bayrak, Fatih Dokgoz

Directed by Can Evrenol

The Story:
Five police officers in Turkey answer a call for backup in a mysterious town, and when they arrive on the scene they don't see anyone around.  Upon investigation, they discover they've stumbled into a deadly cult participating in a Black Mass that seems to take place in Hell itself.

The Synopsis:
Some of the most intense horror films have come from overseas.  "Audition," "Martyrs," "Inside," "Frontier(s)," "A Serbian Film" and "The Babadook" show how different cultures and countries can produce some incredibly unnerving tales of terror.  Now it's Turkey's turn as they've produced "Baskin," a tale that blends "Hellraiser" and "Silent Hill" into a tour into the deepest depths of depravity and Hell itself, forcing you as the viewer to go along for the ride.

The story itself is a rather cerebral one, one that incorporates some very heavy-minded themes that cannot be fully expressed here without giving away major plot points, but needless to say it does a good job at being an "Inception"-type story with dreams within dreams, but also very rooted in reality and also gives a very existential feel.  We're introduced to the five protagonists in a restaurant, and most of them are very well-worn in the world and holds very loose morals.  The film focuses on the youngest of the police officers, Arda (Gorkem Kasal), who suffered a traumatic event in childhood, being raised by the boss of the police station, Remzi (Ergun Kuyucu).  The two share a deep bond that goes farther than a typical nuclear family, and this is the main focus of the film.  The remaining police officers are your typical horror fodder, knowing them just well enough to care, but knowing in the end it's not going to end well for them.

The film takes a while to get going, which usually is a bad thing, but here it really sets up their relationships and stories, so when the literal Hell hits, it's all the more damaging.  The visuals are stunning as they are unnerving, the hopelessness palpable, and the terror unrelenting.  At the heart of the cult is the strange Father (Mehmet Cerrahoglu), a freakish-looking man who has a keyhole in his forehead, who ushers the officers to the afterlife after they open their minds and hearts to the things beyond.  His presence alone is creepy as all get out, and the tortures he forces upon his prisoners is the icing on the proverbial cake.  This isn't a film for the faint of heart, as it's extremely dark (it was all filmed at night, with no daylight to be seen) and grips you by your innermost being.  Which, for a horror aficionado, is exactly what you'd be looking for.

The Summary:
"Baskin" is one of those foreign horror films that any true horror fan would love to see, even if it sticks with you after it ends in a very unsettling way.

The Score: A-