Baskin

 A bunch of cops gathered at a greasy spoon talk about gambling, football and whoring well into the night - a well written scene, with a good ear for dialog; I've had to endure very similar conversations at work ages ago, and this didn't exactly bring up great memories. You get a good sense for the characters, including the boss (Ergun Kuyucu), the rookie (Gorkem Kasal), and the asshole (Muharrem Bayrak). Well... the biggest asshole, anyhow, but definitely not the only one - when he goes all Joe Pesci ('What do you mean I'm funny?') and turns on an innocent bystander, the others actively encourage him or look on. 'This guy, you know, he's such a joker,' even as he beats the shit out of a kid who made the mistake of getting too friendly.

 Baskin is a 2015 Turkish horror film that does not expect you to root for its characters. Even the point-of-view character, the rookie, kind of sucks through inaction. ACAB.

 Soon the gang is called on to respond to a backup request from an abandoned building in a 'cursed' part of the boondocks. Their designated driver, who's already had some sort of panic attack, crashes the van, and after some more misadventures they make their way to the derelict building where the call originated and find that it's been taken over by some sort of satanic cult; They get captured, and much torture ensues.

 But Arda, the Rookie, keeps going back to a nightmare where he's chased by the ghost of a childhood friend, there are frogs everywhere, and wasn't the creepy monk-like guy who's torturing them the same guy providing the meat at the diner where the movie begins? And, and, and...

 There's a lot going on in this movie, but either I missed a few things or its elements do not come together in a satisfying way. Even as surreal horror, it's not concerned with tying its themes together coherently (other than "bad people get punished") or providing any mysteries to work out. The story's just there to provide a string of horrific setpieces.

 It's great in the early going, when the deliberate pace is buoyed by a sense of dread you could cut (and slit, and stab, and gouge, and disembowel) with a knife; director Can Evrenol and cinematographer Alp Korfali do a brilliant job with lighting, creating beautiful looking scenes with bright, lurid colors.

 It's a bit unfortunate that the movie goes a bit downhill once the monsters make themselves known. There are some cool bits of dream-imagery, a few servings of decent gore, and a very laudable mean streak and willingness to push things pretty far; but by the end it doesn't feel like it's enough even with Kasal indulging in a bit of Bruce Campbell-style overacting. Without anyone to root for, and the tone too grim to enjoy our heroes' comeuppance, it feels a bit... pointless. There's a twist, of sorts, but not enough to make the movie feel like a journey.

 I'm glad I watched it, but after a very strong start I felt it lost its way.