Trailer for Tobe Hooper’s ‘Djinn’
by Nia Edwards-Behi
Earlier today the trailer for horror legend Tobe Hooper’s latest film Djinn hit the internet. Apparently the Abu Dhabi-based production company Imagenation has had to reassure horror fans that the film is actively in post-production, following rumours that the film would be shelved due to it being ‘politically subversive’. Whether these are real concerns or a nice attempt at drumming up publicity is impossible to tell, but it’s not as though Hooper hasn’t given politics a kicking before in a dusty setting.
Djinn tells the story of a couple moving back to Abu Dhabi from the USA, only to find an unwanted entity dwelling in their family home. It’s a lengthy trailer, and the majority of it seems to be more soap-opera than ghost story, but my word, it is intriguing. Some might say this looks boring, but I whole-heartedly disagree. Haunted house tropes a-plenty, yes, but how refreshing to see an under-explored mythology explored, and in its native setting. Now, the cynic in me wonders if the setting is solely due to the funding, and that the film will be nothing more than an exotic rehash of well-worn genre conventions. The trailer has piqued my interest, though. It makes me want to tell my inner cynic to shut the hell up and see what Tobe’s got in store for us.
The trailer’s spoken partly in Arabic and not fully subtitled, but the general narrative and tone is captured succinctly. My favourite part has got to be the Suspiria-esque lighting design in part of the end montage. I’m not going to hold my breath that this will be the grand, triumphant return of a horror master, but I’m certainly anticipating something interesting.
Well, whaddya know? Unfortunately, literally as I’ve been writing up this story, the trailer’s been taken from YouTube thanks to a copyright claim. Was it a sales trailer not intended for public viewing? Was it a clever, intentional leak? Hopefully it’ll emerge again soon!
Editor’s note: we managed to track down the trailer below, with no subtitles at all unfortunately. Whether it’ll be online long, who knows…
