For Halloween, we all have our favorites and usually the classics get their pedestals polished, as it should be. But this Halloween, I suggest broadening your horror horizons with some hell from a foreign country that will hit you with more creeps than a night in a Eurotrash disco. If you are one of those who are willing to forfeit a genuinely scary movie because subtitles intimidate your abilities, pass on this one.
However, for the others, the Turkish horror film Siccin 2 will deliver in spades.
Also known as Sijjin 2, 2015’s Siccin 2 is a frightening follow-up on the first Siccin (2014), terrifying in its own right, but I chose the second installment because it delivers some of the most gut-wrenching emotional scenes, excellent acting and a storyline of substance to go with its demonic majesty.
H.P. Lovecraft once assured us that the major pinch in horror lies in the unknown and when it comes to foreign cultures we are not familiar with, the unknown is already the foundation for the grotesque journey. Siccin 2, like its predecessor, hits the fear G-spot in anyone with a pulse with efficient imagery to haunt your mind for a considerable amount of time after.
The story concerns a happily married couple, Adnan and Hicran, who lose their toddler boy in a disturbing and mysterious accident (a scene that will have any parent gasping). Subsequently, Adnan becomes increasingly distant from his wife and blames her for their son’s death, but this is the least of her concerns. Hicran starts investigating her past to see how it could connect to the death of her son when she starts suspecting that the djinn are involved in the supernatural circumstances of her baby’s death. But how…and why?
Siccin 2 holds no punches and is unapologetically perverse while wrapping its black magic devices in a well-wrought story told through excellent acting. This high standard only elevates the validity of the film, while lending it a professional and thorough presentation.
The sound and score of the introduction credits alone are bone-chilling, deliberately jump scaring flashes from the first film just to show you what you already missed. Siccin has some of the creepiest images ever seen in classic supernatural horror and the make-up and effects are some of the best out there.
Co-written and directed by Alper Mestçi, the world of Islam and its deep-rooted mysticism is explored while we follow the heartbroken Hicran on her journey to uncover the curse that plagues her family. Not only does this film introduce us to the culture and its darker magic, but it cunningly covers psychological evils such as jealousy and envy that drive people to commit abject evil to get what they want.
Siccin 2 starts with a disturbing suicide and continues to run at that solid pace, conjuring its scenes with a well-balanced cauldron of slithering terror, high emotion and engaging mystery that culminates in a traumatic twist that breaks the self-control of the protagonist.
If you are into the occult, enjoy the practices of other cultures or just love that thrill of feeling your heart explode in an escalating fashion of apprehension, Siccin 2 will leave you smoking a good cigarette afterward.
I do believe that horror is subjective, but on a personal note, this is one of the very few horror films that has ever inspired true foreboding in me. I certainly hope it does you the same favor.
--Tasha Danzig
