The Horror Show
Baskin
by Can Evrenol
I've been an extreme horror fan most of my life. This means if something is advertised or recommended as being “shocking” or some kind of endurance test, I will go out of my way to see it. I heard about the new Turkish horror film Baskin a little while back and was instantly interested. Now that I've finally gotten the chance to see it I can say that while it was different than I was expecting, I was not disappointed.
Baskin centers around a group of cops who end up on the fast track to horror and destruction. The camaraderie of the characters comes through right off the bat. They aren't overly likable characters, but I buy that they know each other and their overly aggressive bullying nature sets the scene for later. After all, a lot of bad things are coming their way.
After running off the road, the cops find themselves on a journey straight into hell. Some kind of portal has opened and no one is safe at any time once this sets in. Up until the chaos begins, the film moves along at a slower pace, with the officers still on the job and investigating a strange building. I don't mean slow in a negative way at all, as it's always entertaining and makes what is to come all that more jarring and effective.
There's no real effort to ease the viewer into what eventually happens and this is exactly how it should be. Once the crash happens, everything has become a nightmare. It hits like a ton of bricks and doesn't let up from there. The film, overall, takes on the experience of a dark dream, where there are different layers with evil lurking around every corner. When the characters first begin to come into contact with all the demons and monsters that are after them, the tone becomes incredibly hopeless. We as the audience see this other world of horribleness just as scared and confused as the characters, thrown into a realm we can't understand.
Perhaps the film's boldest achievement is giving off a genuine sense of fear. None of the situations they find themselves in feel like standard “scary movie” fodder and a lot of thought was clearly put into the antagonistic forces. There is a real sense of terror attached to what may happen. The idea of all-encompassing evil, one that is completely out of one's control, can be a tough sell. It's easy for a project to grow tiresome if it's all take and little give. However, every once in a while a film takes this chance and pulls it off and I definitely consider Baskin to be a skilled example of this. These characters are in a mess and all they can do for most of it is just watch it play out and it ends up being extremely entertaining.
Some of the online buzz describes the film as being an extreme, boundary pushing work, but I don't quite see it that way. There's a large amount of viscerally disturbing material and a few moments that are more than a little unsettling. The cruelty and violence that the characters are subjected to is not glossed over and no punches are pulled, however, if you go in just expecting a beginning-to-end torture and gorefest, you may not get what you were looking for. I, however, went in with this mentality and still thoroughly loved the film.
Baskin is mostly a suspenseful tale until the engine gets revved, and at that point it's fully committed to its hellish intent. There is plenty of the red stuff and more than competent gore effects, but the terror itself is where the emphasis lies. The design and dialogue of the monstrous creatures is fleshed out perfectly and even if the viewer doesn't quite comprehend exactly what’s going on, it’s easy to believe that the baddies are motivated and authentic.
All in all, I left Baskin an impressed fan. I so believed every ounce of the fear and torment the main characters experienced and the overall atmosphere. Every player did a valuable job and kept the film feeling emotional and fresh. It's a wild trip into the depths that stands on its own imaginative feet and is able to be more unsettling than a lot of films out there. I don't want to ruin how it all turns out, but it culminates with a combination of brilliant performance, brutal intimidation, and an oddly satisfying finale.
P.J. Griffin
The Horror Show Menu.