Sean Parker
IFC Midnight has been on a roll this year with its horror releases. In 2021, the company has released the eerie haunted hotel thriller The Night, the dread-inducing post mortem possession film The Vigil, and the nightmarishly creepy sci-fi dream drama Come True. The company’s slate for 2021 has been nothing short of impressive and, being that it’s only April, that’s one hell of an accomplishment. I submit for my fellow trailer patrons, The Djinn, IFC Midnight’s next entry into an already memorable year.
You may be thinking, “Djinn aren’t very scary; they’re just genies, and I saw Wishmaster.” First off, I’d tell you, “Andrew Divoff is fantastic in that, how dare you?” Then follow that up with maybe understanding where you’re coming from because Djinn, or Jinn, have been largely misrepresented in Western culture as loveable genies who are friendly to humans. The reality, of course, is that these are demonic creatures, usually malevolent, that are trapped in objects like lamps or jars in the hopes no one would ever find them.
The Djinn tells the story of a mute boy (Ezra Dewey) who finds a way to call upon a Djinn and wish for the one thing he truly wants most in this world after his father leaves him alone in their new apartment for the evening. The question is: what will it cost him? The trailer has an atmosphere of intensity and a plaguing air of terror about it as Dylan tries to survive his first night in the apartment. I’m a big fan of putting kids in these types of situations for horror films. No, I don’t take pleasure in others’ pain; I just think it makes the stakes so much higher. Consider Poltergeist, The Gate, or The Shining; those movies become so much less effective without the children in them and I think we can expect to be unnerved and unsettled by this one. David Charbonier and Justin Powell, the film’s writer and director team, seem to enjoy putting children in the middle of horror situations as they are hot off of their impressive first feature The Boy Behind the Door.
The Djinn is playing virtually this weekend as part of Panic Fest and the Cleveland International Film Festival before hitting select theaters and VOD on May 14.
So what do you think of the trailer for The Djinn? Do you agree with Sean that it has an atmosphere of intensity and a plaguing air of terror? Let us know in the comments!
