Baskin (2015)

"Turkish Hell"

Turkish director Can Evrenol's debut feature film finally gets a UK Blu-ray release, all nicely uncut, courtesy of Severin Films. 

Five cops get way more then they bargained for when they are directed to a crime scene at a remote house where a black mass has opened a gateway to hell. Lots of horrible things happen. But do the cops enter hell when they enter the house, or have they actually been there all along?

As anyone who has seen the director's follow-up film HOUSEWIFE (2017) will testify, Can Evrenol is developing a very nice line in weird, nightmarish, non-linear horror cinema, with ideas as ambitious and extreme as the relentless makeup effects we get to see for much of the third act of BASKIN. 

This means that if you like your horror cinema to be wrapped up nicely at the end you won't be very happy with this. However, if you like your horror extreme and the explanation for what was actually going on left to your imagination then this is the film for you.

BASKIN is based on a short film that went down extremely well when it premiered at London Frightfest a few years ago. The short film is on here as an extra, and is actually worth watching before the feature, as if there's one major criticism that can be levelled at the feature it's that the material does feel steamrollered out a bit. 

That said, there's no denying that BASKIN the movie delivers some properly disturbing nightmarish horror for much of its running time, exhibiting a relentless desire to fill the screen with the stuff of nightmares.

The other extra is a making of. For those interested, the package is exactly the same as the region A US IFC / Scream Factory release, including the 5.1 and 2.0 sound options.  The Severin disc is region free and comes with a nice slipcase. 

For those also interested, the music score (by Ulas Pakkan) is rather good, and if you buy the CD it also includes the catchy song the cops play on the radio 20 minutes in, so you can sing along on your own road to hell. 

Can Evrenol's BASKIN is out on Region Free Blu-ray from Severin Film from Monday April 12th 2018