- Title: The Djinn
- IMDb: link
Written and directed by the team of David Charbonier and Justin Powell, The Djinn plays on several classic horror tropes including children and monsters and the unforeseen price of asking for wishes from a demonic source (Hint: it’s never a good idea).
The film takes place entirely within the apartment of the mute pre-teen Dylan (Ezra Dewey). On night when his father (Rob Brownstein) is at work, Dylan makes use of a satanic book of spells left over from the apartment’s previous tenant and makes a wish. To see his wish granted, he’ll need to survive an hour of being hunted by a malevolent creature known as the Djinn (a mix of CGI and performances from multiple actors including John Erickson, Donald Pitts, and Tevy Poe).
The Djinn doesn’t stray too far out of the basic set-up. Dylan makes his wish and then will have to face the consequences for the remainder of the 88-minute running time. The mostly-silent film makes the most of its modest budget with some interesting aspects to the creature while relying on Dylan’s fear to create the tension to carry the film through until the end. It’s a solid genre film that horror fans may enjoy, although it relies more on psychological tension than special effects without ever fully fleshing out the Djinn as a full character.
Watch the trailer