Djinn

I have been keenly awaiting the release of this film for a while now mainly as the film has been shot & takes place in U.A.E (where I reside) & is based around the legends of Jazeerat Al Hamra in Ras Al Khaimah! To add to the excitement, Tobe Hooper, the man behind Poltergeist & Texas Chain Saw series is directing this film. Unfortunately Djinn kinda disappointed me; the predictable plot, excessive use of not very good CGI & cliché jump scares was kind of fail. Tobe Hooper manages to create an intense environment & tries to build up the predictable suspense while throwing in some random sequences but ends up rushing into climax without any acknowledgement of what was actually happening! The actors did a fine job in certain sequences. Nevertheless given the budget & a fresh attempt on an almost unused supernatural anomaly, Djinn is not a terrible film, but could have been better though!

The name of director Tobe Hooper will forever remain associated with the horror classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". This is somewhat unjustified and disadvantageous, because he also made many other memorable films in the genre, such as "Eaten Alive", "LifeForce", "The Funhouse", and "The Mangler". On the other hand, it may also be a blessing, because everyone forgot that his last films - and more specifically his very last one, "Djinn" - were incredibly bad.

"Djinn" is unbelievably boring. There may be a few good ideas and potentially controversial elements in the script, but they never come to the surface because Hooper doesn't have the courage to genuinely shock his audience. The story is about a New York couple who return to the United Arab Emirates - where their roots are - after losing their newborn baby. This is especially against the will of the wife, Salama, because she has no job there, and then she is also becomes haunted with the myth of the djinn; a monstrous creature hiding in the body of a baby looking for its "mother".

"Djinn" dethrones "Morturary" as the worst Tobe Hooper movie I've seen so far. As far as I'm concerned, the "The Toolbox Murders" remake from 2004 remains his last glorious piece of work. There's zero action, suspense or horror-worthy special effects/make-up in "Djinn". You don't feel any empathy for the characters, and there is endless talking in English and Arabic.

The movie has a nice folklore traditional Emirati story , and depends on some of the beliefs of Islam regarding the realm of Jin (There is no D in Jin) . It is directed by Tobe Hooper which I believe is the only reason that you might consider watching this. The most horrible thing about this movie is the cast , some are horribly unwatchable and there is no chemistry whatsoever between them. The dialects and accents are just too silly to mix together in members of the same family. The transition from speaking Arabic to speaking English is just uneasy to hear. The movies starts okay then the plot just plateaus for a veryyyyy long time until you are hit with the stupid ending. Bottom line is, if you don't speak Arabic I do not recommend watching this , and if you do speak Arabic I also do not recommend you to watch it.

I saw Djinn, the 1st Horror thriller shot in UAE. and featuring Lebanese , Egyptian and Emiraty and Saudi actors.

Beside the scenes of classic "jumpy" feelin, the acting is very bad. Chemistry between the actors is practically inexistent, the story is revealed in the 1st scene. and there is no build up. I have to say that the Saudi Actress, Aiysha Hart who did a great job! Some effects are good, but borrowed from other movies, such as "scene of birds bumping into windows...or the crawling "Um Al dwais" weak cinematography. Dubai has much better scenes than shown. We need to compare the movie to international standards, especially with the amount of money spent on it. and the full access to all needed materials and actors. and hence why the movie rating is 3, in my opinion.

Simply put, this movie was directed by a master of horror. And though everyone is entitled to failures, I feel like this one didn't have to be. This could've been a groundbreaking film for Hooper. Sadly it was the opposite. But not by the fault of Hooper. We can't possibly know what his true vision was, because what we got was a very salient example of the damage a room of executives can cause. Hooper and Djinn never stood a chance.