Baskin (film)

Baskin
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written by	Can Evrenol Cem Özüduru Erçin Sadıkoğlu Eren Akay
Produced by	Mo Film
Starring	Mehmet Cerrahoğlu Ergun Kuyucu
Cinematography	Alp Korfali
Edited by	Erkan Özekan
Music by	JF (Ulas Pakkan & Volkan Akaalp)
Production company	Mo Film
Distributed by	The Salt Company International IFC Midnight (United States)
Release date	September 11, 2015 (2015-09-11) (Toronto International Film Festival) January 1, 2016 (2016-01-01)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Turkey
Language	Turkish

Baskin is a 2015 Turkish surrealist horror film directed by Can Evrenol, based on his 2013 short film by the same name. It centers around five police officers who have inadvertently wandered into Hell.

First screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2015, the film marks Evrenol's feature film directorial debut. Actors Muharrem Bayrak and Gorkem Kasal, who had performed in the short film version, returned to star in the full-length film, joined by Ergun Kuyucu, Fatih Dokgoz and Sabahattin Yakut as the five police officers that make up the film's main cast of protagonists. First-time actor Mehmet Cerrahoglu has received positive reviews for his noteworthy performance as the villain, The Father.^[1] Cerrahoglu suffers from an ultra rare skin condition which gives him his unique physical appearance.

Plot[]

Five police officers, Remzi, Arda, Yavuz, Apo, and Seyfi, are dining at a restaurant, during which they start discussing sex. Their meal is interrupted when they receive a distress call from Inceagac, a town known for being the focus of strange rumors. During the trip Seyfi has a terrifying vision of a bloody figure and accidentally drives their van into the water. Stranded, the officers eventually make their way to Inceagac, where they find themselves in an abandoned building (back in the Ottoman days, this used to be a police station), captured by cult members and are subjected to a number of increasingly bizarre and surreal scenarios. In the end, they realize they have all inadvertently wandered into Hell.

Cast[]

• Ergun Kuyucu as Boss Remzi
• Muharrem Bayrak as Yavuz
• Gorkem Kasal as Arda
• Fatih Dokgöz as Apo
• Sabahattin Yakut as Seyfi
• Mehmet Cerrahoglu as Baba / The Father
• Sevket Suha Tezel as Master Creep / The Servant
• Fadik Bülbül as Sister Butcher
• Mehmet Akif Budak as Diner Footboy

Production[]

Baskin was directed by Can Evrenol, who also co-wrote the film, and is based on Evrenol's earlier short film of the same name.^[2] The film was independently financed and shot in Istanbul by MO Film, with a budget around $350,000. It was a 28-night shoot, with no days shots, with a month of pre-production and a post-production stage of 2 months. In an interview with Fangoria, director says: "Our permits were at times iffy, so we were always stressed about the authorities finding out what the hell we were doing in some of our crazy locations. We had naked people on set in the most conservative areas of town. That was a constant stress. Also, the time limitations for certain scenes made them really difficult, and that single underwater shot cost us almost half a shooting night."^[3]

Release[]

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Home media[]

Capelight Pictures released a Limited Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-ray combo pack in Germany on April 29, 2016.^[4] It was later released in the United States by Scream Factory on August 9, 2016, as a two-disk DVD/Blu-ray combo pack.^[5]

Reception[]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 78% based on 41 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 6.66/10. Its consensus reads, "Baskin complements its gory thrills with heavy atmosphere and deliberate pacing, adding up to a horror outing that plays with the mind as enthusiastically as it ruins the appetite."^[6] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[7]

Shock Till You Drop praised the film and drew comparisons to the work of Italian horror director Lucio Fulci, writing "BASKIN feels like a steroidal version of a vintage early 80’s Fulci film; not a rip-off or an homage by any stretch, but an heir to the same philosophies of filmmaking, the same desire to create an unrelenting, dreamscape of Grand Guignol and emotional response."^[8] Noel Murray from Los Angeles Times called the film "well made and imaginatively upsetting", while noting that the film's excessive gore might not be for all tastes.^[9] Tom Huddleston from Time Out London awarded the film 4/5 stars, calling it "[an] atmospheric, genuinely nightmarish Turkish horror movie". Huddleston praised the film's visuals as being "painstaking and horribly beautiful", while noting that the film's thin plot, and minimal character development.^[10]

Richard Whittaker from Austin Chronicle offered the film similar praise, writing, "From the opening moments, he [Evrenol] creates an unnerving mood and a sense of complete cosmology that the humans within it can never fully comprehend. That final sequence is truly squirm-inducing, not least because he changes tone so completely from the opening and middle sequences, from verite, to fast-cut scares, to long, languorous, brooding shots of this incredible antechamber to hell that he has created."^[11] Ben Kenigsberg from The New York Times gave the film a positive review, comparing it to A Nightmare on Elm Street for its themes of childhood and dreams, and its lavish use of violence and gore.^[12]

The film was not without its detractors, with some critic complaining about the plot lacking any narrative sense. Dennis Harvey from Variety wrote a mixed review, stating "Of interest as a rare modern Turkish horror film, Can Evrenol’s debut feature will be a must-see for fans at fantasy fests, but its initial promise dissipates in a muddle of repetitious phantasmagoria and too little narrative or character development."^[13] David Rooney from The Hollywood Reporter criticized the film for its nonsensical narrative, writing, "[Baskin] offers little in the way of narrative involvement or scares but doesn't stint on sustained, stylized revulsion."^[14] Jake Dee from Arrow in the Head gave the film a score of 5/10, stating, "After an engrossing opener to capture the imagination, too many downturns and repetitive horror tenets are unveiled that detract from the intriguing freshness of the opening. The film is shot well, acted believably and features an unnerving musical score and bouts of violence that are sure to impress some. But when all is said and done, it's hard to come away from the film with anything other than the assurance that director Can Evrenol has a great movie in him somewhere."^[15]

Awards[]

Baskin won the Best New Director award at Fantasticfest, and The Director's Award at Morbido Fest in 2015.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Baskin at AllMovie
• Baskin at IMDb
• Baskin at Metacritic
• Baskin at Rotten Tomatoes
• „Ein Schlag ins Gesicht der türkischen Popkultur“ – Interview with Can Evrenol (in German)

Baskin (short film)[]

• Baskin (2013 short film) at IMDb